Friday, December 19, 2008

Publicity Presentations

Thanks to an extremely talented woman, Dr. Cheri Moore, I will be giving presentations on publicity to groups nationwide. The first presentations will be the end of January in San Bernandino, CA. What I'm really excited for is Dr. Moore has developed a unique way to look at publicity. Watch closely for the buzz to start!

While I'm in San Bernandino, do you want me to stop by your group or meet for a quick bite to eat? Send me an email at sabrina (at) premierauthorcoaching (dot) com and we'll set something up!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Author Coaching

I have been pondering my career and the parts I love and the parts I could live without. As I have pondered these past years I have come to realize that I truly enjoy calling the author at the beginning of a campaign and discussing their book and their own life with them. I love figuring out what is unique about each person and what topics might catch the attention of media and reviewers. I love planning out when each media group should be called and exactly who in each media group should be called. I love developing the hooks and topics of discussion. I love educating authors on the literary industry. I love teaching them how to talk to media and the basics of an interview like -don't chew gum, relax, smile when you are talking if you want to sound charming etc.

I'm just not so crazy about actually making the calls to set everything up.

I know there are people who absolutely love the telephone time. I know there are people who excel at that task. I'm not saying I can't get the job done. I'm just saying that it's not my favorite part. So after years of doing it all, I have decided to make a bold step. I am now offering author coaching services.

I will continue to send the authors who want someone to do everything for them to a full time publicity company (and I have a favorite of course). But those authors who want a more hands on approach or who can't afford $5,000/month for a regular publicist will now have a resource for education and inspiration about the crazy literary world they are involved in.

To see the details, go to www.premierauthorcoaching.com. I can't wait to talk to you about how you can promote your book!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

How Much is Too Much?

As I ruminate on my career as a publicist, I think about the broad variety of clients I have worked with over the years. The one topic that is standing out in my mind is the authors who would send 10-20 emails each day as well as faxes and telephone calls dispersed among those emails. At some point, there has to be a line drawn and things have to stop!

I can appreciate the thought of an author wanting to stay in touch and be in the loop for their campaign. I can appreciate wanting to make sure every detail is taken care of. I can appreciate the need to be reassured. There does come a point however that the media just isn't being contacted because the publicist is too busy answering emails!

Because of the problem email can be, I actually had to count email time as campaign time and reiterate over and over again to the client that their constant contacts and insistence that I respond immediately were preventing me from doing my job. I also instituted a division of day to protect the best interests of all of my authors. In other words, I would work on one client in a time frame and not answer emails or do any tasks not related to that particular client. Yes, it sent some authors into a frenzy but I couldn't be productive otherwise.

On the other hand, I have heard of publicists having zero contact with their clients and that is never acceptable. A good medium in my mind is a weekly report summarizing all the activities of the week on Friday. There are details to be cleared up during the week but if a detail will not directly impact an event or action within the next 7 days, it is not urgent and a response can wait.