In my previous post of this series on poets and publicity, I provided some information and resources that hopefully help demystify the book marketing/PR process and help poets overcome the beliefs and knowledge gap that might be holding them back from leading their own efforts.
As I mentioned there, generally, poets bristle at the idea of publicizing their own books for three primary reasons:
- They have beliefs that get in their way.
- They have a knowledge gap that gets in their way.
- They have a lack of bandwidth that gets in their way.
Since we covered No. 1 and No. 2 in previous posts, let’s now dig into No. 3, the lack of bandwidth.
I think about lack of bandwidth in terms of both human and technological resources. While the human resources tend to be prohibitively expensive — hence how we got to the DIY approach in the first place — I’ll list some ideas below, after the more affordable tech resources that can assist you in your efforts, that you perhaps hadn’t thought or heard of but that may be helpful to you.
Technology Resources
I am a big fan of tools folks can avail of for free, especially because so much around publishing ends up having hidden price tags, whether covered by you or your publisher. So here are some tools, most of which I personally used to promote Head of a Gorgon, that are totally free (even if they have additional features you may choose to pay for):
WordPress or other website/blogging platform. Having a single place where folks can learn all they need to about you, your book, and other publications, as well as how to reach you is probably the most important tool in any author’s toolkit. It doesn’t have to be perfect or even that beautiful, to be honest; it just has to work and contain all the information folks need.
Buffer or other social media management tool. Social media management tools let you prepare social media posts en masse and in advance, including timing them so you don’t have to actually be on or engaged with social media 24/7 (unless, of course, you want to, but … you probably shouldn’t for your own sanity’s sake). One new feature I particularly like about Buffer is its Drafts mode, which allows me to store unlimited posts on the back burner and then move them into the free but limited 10-post main queue once I’ve cleared out space from there as those items post.
Canva or other graphic/video design tool. I created my media kit, several presentations, social media posts, and even my book trailer video through Canva for free. Keep in mind that on the video in particular, I’d never actually done one; I learned everything I needed to in order to put one together with royalty-free stock video and music through this “Canva Book Trailer Tutorial” by Megan Fuentes of Writer’s Atelier on YouTube, which includes links to free stock video and music!
YouTube or other video platform. I started my own Head of a Gorgon channel on YouTube to post my book trailer, create my book’s playlist, and compile all the various event videos of me that were floating around there or previously had no home into a playlist. I’m thinking of doing more with it in the future, but even if I’d only posted my book trailer, I think it’s worth it for creating permanency and for obtaining the metrics.
VistaPrint or other promotional materials printer. If you create, as I did, any kind of book-related swag (e.g., stickers, bookmarks, postcards, etc.), finding a place to upload your designs without having to go into a brick-and-mortar just to get them printed up can save a bunch of time.
Premade cover art website. While I very much wanted to and therefore did invest in a cover artist who could bring the very specific concept I had in mind for Head of a Gorgon’s cover to life, there are actually a bunch of websites that provide affordable, premade cover art that lets you skip the whole process of searching for an artist, getting rates, likely not being able to afford the rates, and then having to settle for premade anyway. Your publisher may even be willing to chip in on this if they don’t provide you with a cover artist or a stipend to cover one of your own choosing.
A cameraphone. Need a headshot? Try getting a loved one to snap some shots of you in portrait mode.
MailChimp or other email marketing service. I don’t do email newsletters now that it’s not part of my job, but if you use them as part of your book publicity strategy, there are great free tools out there like MailChimp that are really easy to build in, even for the relatively inexperienced.
Excel/Sheets/Trello or other task-tracking/spreadsheet tools. Publicity requires a high level of detail and recordkeeping, so any tool that allows you to do this and makes it easier is going to save you a lot of time and headaches.
Human Resources
Let’s say you’ve come to terms with the fact that you’ll be handling your PR effort without a publicist. There are still plenty of folks out there who can assist you in ways that can free up some valuable bandwidth to focus your efforts on publicity outreach and who are far more affordable than publicists. Here are some of them.
Web designer. If you’re afraid of tech or don’t have the time or bandwidth to learn, a website designer might be a good resource to invest in — especially if you’re starting from scratch and have absolutely no web presence to speak of.
Social media intern/services that blast announcements. Some folks actually enjoy social media and/or are looking for opportunities to handle someone’s social media in order to build their professional portfolio in this area, so finding someone with a social media moral compass aligned with yours who might be able to assist or take this off your hands entirely can be a great investment. I would recommend paying folks to do this even if you call them an intern, mainly because it’s the right thing to do but also because it is actually work and part of what makes it count more formally on a resume. There are also some book-related social media services that will blast announcements on your behalf at certain times and with certain frequency that you can look into; I can’t recommend any personally because I haven’t used them and prefer a more customized, proven approach, but they may work for folks. As with anything else you’re considering paying for, do your research.
Book blurbers. Ideally, you have well-established connections to fellow poets in the community who will be willing to read your book prior to release and say some nice, informative things about it that can be included on the cover and in your book marketing materials. This is something you actually can’t do on your own, so unless you intend not to use them at all — which is the case for some books I’ve seen — reach out to folks you trust in the community to help with this effort. Note that this should be done free of charge; decline anyone you might reach out to who tries to charge you for their blurb.
Editors. This is another area that can’t really be sourced through technology, so unless you are secure enough in your own editorial skills and vision to handle it on your own or plan to not bring someone separate from your publisher aboard for this purpose, you should think about whom you might know or comes recommended in the community to help with editing prior to creating your advance review copy (ARC). Editors tend to be pretty affordable. I happen to be one of them.
Videographer. If you don’t have confidence in your tech skills or ability to create a video on your own, whether using a camera/cameraphone and/or stock video with a tool like Canva, you might want to reach out to an actual videographer who can craft a storyline based on you and your book as well as produce the video itself. These folks can be pricey, so keep that in mind.
Cover artist. If you’re provided an allotment through your publisher, they provide folks to you, or you have a particular vision for your cover in mind but don’t have the art or design skills yourself to be able to pull it off, you’ll work with a cover artist to produce the art for your book. Like publicists, the cost can vary wildly, and they can decline to work with you (i.e., some don’t do commissioned projects), but I found quite a few relatively affordable ones, so if you need recommendations, please feel free to reach out.
Graphic designer. Again, if you don’t have the tech skills or confidence to learn even through the most user-friendly of programs like Canva, investing in a graphic designer who can build out a suite of branded materials, from your media kit to your email newsletter template, book swag and more, would likely be a good investment.
Photographer. I happened to work with professional photographers in a past job who did me a solid and provided me with great headshots, but there are some reasonably priced professional photographers out there who can get some headshots of you for your book marketing material if you’d like to spend a few hundred on the effort.
Book marketer, booktuber, bookblogger, bookvlogger, booktok-er, etc. There are a lot of limited/specialized/a la carte book marketing/book tour services available that require another’s platform, audience, and expertise. I frankly don’t know enough about it and have heard mixed things as well, so I didn’t pursue these avenues, but they may make sense for your efforts. Again, do your research first before throwing your money at anyone for this.
“Street team” of family, friends, and/or colleagues. I’ve seen some folks amass groups to help spread the word about a new books, and while I personally didn’t do this, it does seem to be seen as mostly positive by writers asking folks to help them in this way. Writers should understand and be aware that they’ll have to provide a lot of the verbiage and materials around this to the folks helping them spread the word, but the actual labor, to my knowledge, is free.
Intern to handle lists, emails, newsletters, mailings, etc. This was something I seriously considered and might have pursued if I was still connected to some of the highly reliable, detail-oriented students I once worked with at a former job. Delegating some of the publicity tasks to a student who’s interested in writing/publishing — again, paying them in some way for this effort — can be helpful for both parties; the poet gains an extra hand and additional bandwidth to conduct PR campaigns, while the intern gains experience they may not have as well as insights into what did and didn’t work with your campaign that they can apply to their future work.
I’m always interested in hearing of other tools and resources that poets can use to help publicize their books, so if there’s anything I didn’t mention or something that did or didn’t work well for you, please feel free to let me know in the comments section.
While handling publicity for your own book(s) is truly a grind — I would never deny that fact — it is possible to handle it yourself and even succeed at it. I’m living proof! I’ve reached out to more than 300 outlets thus far in my journey and have landed coverage/placements with more than 50, which is actually a much better success rate I’d ever imagined I’d be able to get — and even better than what some of the publicists I interacted with when I was searching for help indicated they might be able to land. So shoot for the moon, and know that even if you happen to miss, you’ll still end up among the stars!
###
If you like what you’re reading and want to support my effort to bring this info to you and our fellow writers, please consider ordering my latest book for yourself or, if you already have it, for a friend! I don’t have a tip jar, but the link to the book is right here; your order will support me and the small press that believed and invested in my work. Or you can order directly from me by reaching out through the Contact Me page if you’d like a signed and/or personalized copy.
Raegen Pietrucha 