BRAVE NEW BOOK WORLD IS NOT FOR SHRINKING VIOLETS

As a seasoned book publicist who doubles as a literary agent, I sometimes stumble on evolving trends that give me a unique perspective into the publishing business. Here is an example. This afternoon I've been calling chain bookstores in the Los Angeles area trying to set up a signing event for an author who is a publicity client. A few years ago this was a fairly simple process--call the store, tell them when the author would be in town, set up a signing date 6 weeks to 2 months in advance of the event so that the store could order books and announce the event in their newsletter.

Not so easy now. The events managers I spoke to wanted to know what the author's connections were to the bookstore's neighborhood. Could the author provide a 150+ mailing list with LA zip codes? It seems the competition is so fierce for signings in big metropolitan areas like LA that authors have to come equipped with their own fan club--folks who the store can be certain will show up and buy books.

This situation speaks to just how competitive the book business is--from query to book promotion--you've got to be head and shoulders ahead of your brethren if you expect to make it. If you are fortunate enough to snag an agent who is fortunate enough to snag a publisher you are still not home free. Often times the publisher's publicity staff is small and overworked and you will be expected to play a huge part in the publicity program to get attention for your book. Sometimes that means contacting all your Facebook friends and asking them to come to your book signing. You may need to call Aunt Lucy and Uncle Herbert too--authors can't be shrinking violets anymore.

Traditional venues for book reviews and media interviews are shrinking, unfortunately--especially book reviews.

Galley Cat, a fabulous source of book publishing wisdom says, "Space, resources, and freelance budgets are shrinking at traditional book review outlets. But one thing hasn't decreased: the number of incoming galleys."

Check the photo above: Galley Cat says, "You are looking at the July fiction reviews bookshelf of the Philadelphia Inquirer. These are the galleys that the Inquirer is considering for reviews during the month of July. Mind you, this is only the fiction section; the nonfiction section has a cabinet with just as many galleys waiting for review. This is only for the month of July, and these are the survivors after a severe winnowing down of all the galleys the newspaper received for this month." [Note: Yen Cheong, Viking/Penguin assistant director of publicity and author of the excellent "Book Publicity Blog," is collecting photos of book reviewers' "to be read" piles.]

Sobering, huh? But this is important information for any aspiring author. You need to know that publishing a book is a mammoth achievement. If you want to capitalize on that achievement, you need to do everything in your power to become a publicity-oriented author. Write a blog, give speeches, visit schools, keep yourself informed by reading everything you can get your hands on. Books are still being published, books are still being reviewed and authors are still being interviewed. It's just much harder in this brave new world.

THE "USED-TO-BE YEARS" OF BOOK PUBLICITY

PUBLICITY--THE PIONEER WOMAN SHOWS US HOW IT'S DONE--2010 STYLE

The other part of my career, the one I don't talk about much here, is my role as book publicist. As we slowly build our literary agency, it's book publicity that pays the bills. Today I'm paying homage to book publicity and how it's changed.

Every few months I meet three other "freelance" book publicists at a cheap and yummy Chinese restaurant in NYC. We've been doing this for over 15 years--after C left Ballantine, D left Putnam, I left Rodale and ML left show-biz publicity. We talk about the biz, about how we're each doing, about the authors and publishers we service. But mostly we talk about CHANGE. Sometimes we wax nostalgic about the "used-to-be-years" when we could do a whiz-bang author tour that included national television interviews, three or four or more radio and television interviews and at least one print interview and a book signing in each market. We remember when we could sit down with the producers of the BIG shows like "Today" and "Good Morning America" and get at least one interview for our clients per season. Life was good. My friends and I complain that it's hard to get an editor on the phone or pitch a radio producer. "Everything is voicemail and email!"we cry.

Oh, how things have changed. Sitting down with the producer of a national television show? Maybe--if you're the PR director for Random House or the press agent for George Clooney. Author tour? Hardly. It's just not worth it, not when you can do radio-telephone interviews and guest blogging. Book signings? Yes! But these are usually in the author's home town or in markets where he or she is traveling.

Now, there are exceptions. I've been very impressed with what Ree Drummond, "The Pioneer Woman" has been doing. Ree is probably the best blogger in the universe and she wisely parlayed her fabulous cooking-confession-parenting-marriage-lifestyle blog into a colorful cookbook for William Morrow Cookbooks. The girl is a publicist's dream and kudos to Morrow for recognizing that. Morrow put her out on the road on a 27- city tour, including Tulsa, Denver, Phoenix, Little Rock, Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, Chicago and New York City. She schmoozed with Whoopie Goldberg and the ladies on "The View" and cooked for the hosts of "Good Morning America." I noticed that her "tour" always included book signings and presentations, but was short on interviews. Who needs interviews when you sell hundreds of books at every bookstore / venue you visit?

Ree's is an interesting case because suddenly this woman is a celebrity. It's because of her blog. She attracted a steady stream of readers with her brilliant, useful and colorful posts. When she was named "Blogger of the Year" a few years ago, it was time to become a book author. The entire arc of her career and heady success could be seen as a case study of what book publicity has become.

So when we four publicists who've been in the trenches since the 80s moan about the changes, we need to slap ourselves and get social--social media I mean. It's how things work now.

"SIMPLY TOO BUSY...."

MEMO

TO: Our Loyal Readers

FROM: The "Just When You Think You've Seen It All" department

RE: A doozie of a query

DATE: Today

Breezing through email queries this morning--some good, some bad, one just right--when I received the following: "Please forgive this form letter, but I am simply too busy writing every literary agent in the publishing industry to take the time to inquire individually."

"Huh?" thought I. "Inquire individually? What the heck? Isn't that my name in the 'To' box? And she's 'too busy?' This is supposed to make me what? Pant for her prose? Pul-eeze!"

"Please furnish (she continues), under separate cover (Like an email under an email? Huh?) your contact information and submission requirements. Further, since I'm in communication with so many agents, please don't take this as a rejection of your abilities if I don't respond."

Now I'm really nervous! Will my "abilities" make the grade, cut the mustard, meet with her approval? What if I never hear from her again? How can I mingle in publishing circles, hold my head high or even continue writing this blog?

Comes the coup de grace: "As you know, this is a large and extremely active industry (really?)and I can only afford the time to correspond with those agents most closely aligned with my talent, genre and goals."

"Damn! I just don't think I fit the bill here, said I (quite gleefully)." DELETE.

So, what do ya'll think of this? Is this writer on the level, somewhat demented, but on the level? Or is someone out there playing a mild hoax?

CHARGE OF THE WRITE BRIGADE

Just a brief note to tell you that an interview with me is running on the new authors' site, "Charge of the Write Brigade."

Take a look at this site--kind of cool.

SOMETIMES IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!

I'm muttering to myself this morning because the cats are out sunning themselves and Jon is still in Chicago.

I'm catching up on queries so I can then catch up on partials and finally get to manuscripts. Today's mantra in my mind is, "Sometimes it's just not fair!"

It's not fair to authors that we agents have our own little quirks, likes and dislikes and that we can dismiss a perfectly good query--maybe a great query--because of our biases. I have so many queries to go through each day that I have a standard "boiler plate no thank you." I very seldom diverge from this. But I just rejected a fine query for a police procedural and it gave me pause. The author may truly be the next big thing, but I rejected him. Why? Because the topic of the novel is the kidnapping and murder of little girls. Can't do it. Sorry. It's my own little problem. I can't deal with child abuse.

I can't deal with animal abuse either, nor most religious topics, nor angels, nor swords and dragons. It's not that those topics aren't hot stuff with some editors and publishers, it's just that I can't stomach them. Yet I continue to get scores of queries each week on these topics.

So, my words for the day are, "Take heart." When you get a rejection it may not be that you have a lousy query. It may be that the agent simply hates your topic, not your writing. It happens! Don't take it personally. Read agents' write-ups in the books; read their websites and blogs and then send to those who really like your topics. It will save us all a lot of muttering.

AN INSIDE TRACK TO WRITERS CONFERENCES

BookExpo America (BEA) is just around the corner. It's sure to be a hot time for agents, authors, editors, publicists, sales people, marketing pros, book distributors, buyers, and everyone else associated with the world of book publishing. This year BEA is being held in New York City and in the days leading up to the actual BEA weekend there will be two excellent writers' conferences: BEA Writers Conference is co-sponsored by Writers Digest and the BEA; Backspace Writers Conference is "the new kid" among writers conferences, but is developing a sterling reputation.

One of our readers, Debbie Schubert, is fortunate enough to be attending BOTH of these events and has agreed to be our eyes and ears. Check back after BEA to read about Debbie's impressions of these prestigious conferences. She's going to guest blog here.

I'd be interested in hearing from others out there who have attended or are planning to attend various writers conferences (not just BEA-related). Send me a quick email with details? kae@ktpublicrelations.com

"DETACHED, BITE-SIZED YIPPITY-YAP"

Thanks to Adam Heine for bringing our attention to this take on the "Twittersphere."
Great stuff!!

"If we can't Twitter, we don't exist!!"

True or False?

The jury is still out on the ultimate value of Twitter, but you can be sure we'll continue to evolve on this blog. Hey, I'd better Twitter about that!

MORE FROM STEPHEN KING

Lorri Lynch in USA Weekend's popular "The Who's News Blog," talked to Stephen King last week. I love King's comments about popular writers:

"Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful. People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."

When Jon was in graduate school he took a course in children's literature. Many of his classmates were librarians and teachers. These educators told how Stephen King's books were literally "used to pieces" by their students. Most of these educators loved King's writing--some did not. What they all agreed on was that Steven King GOT KIDS TO READ. For that , he should be canonized.

PATRICE SARATH--PART II

Editor's note: We'll wind up our conversation with Patrice in this post. But first, let me praise this author to the skies. She not only writes well and with passion, she's dedicated to the craft and business of writing. She has educated herself by reading, attending writing conferences, talking to other writers, editors and agents. And all along the way she has been learning. She is also very helpful to fellow writers. Visit her website http://www.patricesarath.com/

Do you plan to continue your focus in fantasy, or will you venture into other genres?
I think Gordath Wood holds clues to that. It combines fantasy, romance, and mystery because I love all those genres. I have been developing other projects that take these elements and toss them together in different ways.

How do you bring your characters to life?
Connie Willis http://conniewillis.blogspot.com/ once said at a convention, "People! Your characters are not real!" Which is true of course, and hey, it's Connie Willis, she should know. But if writers do their job right, then characters bring themselves to life. I actually don't know how I do it. Some people go through those personality profiles for their characters, but I think that would suck the life right out of them. As in so many things, I'm winging it here.

[Kae’s note: Sounds like Patrice, like Stephen King, may have some “boys in the basement.”]

Who are your five favorite authors, and why?
My influences are Jane Austen. J.R.R. Tolkien, and Alexandre Dumas. Then there are the contemporary writers who I love and in absolutely no particular order, Barbara Kingsolver, S.M. Stirling, Jane Smiley (Horse Heaven, of course). Sharon McCrumb for her giddy Elizabeth books and her gorgeous Appalachian mysteries. Stephen King -- no one can touch him when he's at the top of his game. Neil Gaiman. I could go on, but I think you said five. Oh wait! Michael Crichton! Can't forget him.

How did you come up with the idea for Gordath Wood?
I used to ride horses in the part of Connecticut and New York where the book takes place. It's the best place to ride in the world. You could get lost on those trails. And so...I wrote a book about getting lost on those trails.

What do you like best about writing?
I get to make up worlds and people for readers to enjoy. I have heard from a couple of readers that they couldn't put the book down. I love that. That's so cool.

What's the least favorite part of your career?
Well...the actual writing part. Whoever said that writing is sitting at the typewriter and opening a vein is absolutely correct. It's not easy and it can be extremely painful. Also, rejection letters suck. But it's part of the gig.

What advice would you give to new writers?
Funny you should ask that! I'm doing a once-a-week series on my Web site called Writing Lessons about what I've learned as a writer. I hope I can pass along some words of wisdom to writers young and old about getting the words down and whipping them into professional shape.

What do you do for fun?
I like to go hiking, go to movies, cook, rollerblade. I do yoga but I wouldn't call it fun (I have a complex relationship with yoga). I enjoy hanging out with friends and family. I'm starting riding lessons soon, after being away from the horse world for far too long. I would like to say that I knit and do crafts, but I'm really the most uncrafty person in the world.

MORE ON GORDATH WOOD

Go to http://litsoup.blogspot.com/. Author Patrice Sarath reveals valuable writer's insight in this post. And, stay tuned. We'll be featuring the jacket for Patrice's upcoming title in the Gordath series, Red Gold Bridge.

WE'VE ADDED A LIST OF A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE BLOGS

You'll note a new addition to our blog today--a listing of some of our favorite blogs.

Jon discovered Miss Snark a few years ago and we both read her every day when she blogged. Her blog is no longer active, but you should visit her index and see what she wrote about all things important to writers. Miss Snark really set the bar for bloggers. Irreverent, scathing, and hilarious, she told it like it was. Miss Snark was a made-up person. We don't know who she is or even it Miss Snark was a HE or perhaps a gang of agents--that's always been my suspicion because no one agent could have blogged as often and as well as she did and gotten any real agenting work done! Love ya, Miss Snark and miss you very much!

Evil Editor is good, covering everything from an editorial viewpoint. If you don't know him, let me make the introduction. Go see what he has to say!

We'll be adding more blogs in weeks to come and talking about why we love them.