Julie Schoerke, Book Publicity, Part II, Senior Seminar
Interview with Julie Schoerke.
Part II. Book Publicity Senior Seminar.
JKSCommuncations, founded by Julie Schoerke, is an established freelance literary publicity agency. Julie and agency publicist Marissa DeCuir specialize in providing publicity and promotion for YA/MG books and authors.
Here Julie responds to questions submitted by members of The Elevensies.
[Alissa Grosso.] My question is (and this may be a trade secret that the publicist does not want to reveal) what strategies are employed to reach the teen market? I think this is a market that is unique from the traditional adult market and distinct from the children's market as well, and I would be interested in seeing what the thoughts are on reaching these readers.
JKS: Hi Alissa. This is a great question!
Absolutely the teen market is different from the adult market. For example, book tours to bookstores probably won’t work as well for YA authors because their readers aren’t going to show up on a Thursday night or Saturday afternoon for a meet and greet unless the author is pretty famous.
So, doing stock signings at bookstores and talking to the people who will hand-sell your book (especially in independent bookstores) may be a better use of your time. Getting on panels at educational conferences attended by librarians and teachers is a good idea.
While 70% of all adults now get their reading recommendations from Internet sources rather than print publications, teens almost exclusively get their recommendations from the internet rather than through magazines and newspapers. So you better have a great presence! For example, Cynthia Lietich Smith does a wonderful job of connecting with her teen fans as well as librarians through her Cynsations blog. She just hit the New York Times Best-seller list. Cheryl Rainfield is another great example of an author who has built a strong platform as a book reviewer (recently named one of the top 30 on the Internet) and has a large fan base for her books as a result.
Helen Hemphill, author of THE ADVENTUROUS DEEDS OF DEADWOOD JONES, wanted a book talk video. We had high hopes of creating another e-trade-type video with a baby dressed up as a cowboy talking about her Middle Grade book. The baby we worked with wasn’t up for being a star that day, so we took the handkerchief off of him, put it on my rescued golden retriever mutt, put peanut butter in Goldie’s mouth and created a trailer that looked like the mutt was giving a great review of the book. Doing fun stuff like that will get the attention of kids.
I’ve got one client who tells every group she speaks to that she doesn’t want them to check her book out at the library - she wants them to buy it. But the good news is that statistics show for every book purchased by a library on average, six sales of books are leveraged. So, when we work on YA books, we really target librarians and want them to know about our books.
[Shawn Goodman.] The big question I have is which of the most commonly talked about strategies for promotion are tried and true, and which ones are experimental, trendy, or just plain shots in the dark?
JKS: Well, the book business is changing so fast that probably between the time I write this and you read it, something will have changed. Tried and true has been the book tour. Three years ago on-line reviews would have been considered fringe promotion. Now, on-line reviews are the thing and book tours are starting to become dinosaurs because publishers aren’t paying for them much any more. Skype is making it possible to “visit” bookstores without an author leaving his or her sofa!
Six months ago authors laughed when we’d suggest putting some of their content on the internet, now we have prospective clients asking us if we’ll make sure it happens for them.
Shawn, the bottom line is that you want to connect with the people who may, are or have read your book…that will never change. How you connect with them is what is morphing at lightning speed right now.
[Sheela Chari.]
1. Are book trailers still worth the money?
JKS: Depends on how much you spend for the book trailer and how clearly you’ve thought through making the video go viral. We work with several companies that make book trailers for our clients and we’ve been able to figure out ways to get them made for $1,000 or less with a production company that makes content for television. You can also make a book trailer yourself if you’re patient enough…it’s probably not going to be great quality unless you really know what you’re doing. But, I think the key to a book trailer is making it entertaining and less than a minute and a half long.
2. What are some ways to market to teen readers (and middle grade readers) off the internet?
JKS: In a word, gatekeepers. Marketing to the adults to get the books in front of the kids - librarians and teachers - is really important. School visits are great! You generally sell a number of copies and the kids become long-term fans of your future books too (assuming they like you and your current book of course!). You can promote yourself to parent/teen book clubs. The hard fact, though, is that kids are on their computers and it’s usually the way that they directly find out about the books they want to read.
3. What elements are essential for a successful web site?
JKS: I’m so glad you’re thinking in these terms, Sheela! You need a home page with your photo and a jpeg of the book cover; you need to have links for ways your book can be ordered - make sure that you include an IndieBound link so that the independent bookstores that hand-sell your book can reap the benefits and get some on-line sales as well.
Your bio is important. Obviously make it interesting for your readers (it’s not a resume!). Include the catalog copy of the book and reviews. I especially like to see great blurbs sprinkled on various pages, as well as having a “what people are saying” page.
A contact page is crucial. Make it easy for your fans to send you an email and for the media or people inviting you to make personal appearance to get a hold of your publicist. Also include a section for your electronic press kit; your blog, if you choose to have one. For your blog, it’s also helpful to understand Search Engine Optimization issues.
4. I hear the best time for promotion is about 3-6 months before your book release. Is there anything we should be doing now? (A year or so before).
JKS: Yes. Get your website done. I can’t tell you how many authors are scrambling and frantic at the last minute because their website wasn’t ready when they thought it would be.
Start interviewing publicists. If you can, plan a trip to meet the team at your publishing house. I was having lunch last summer in New York with one of my clients’ in-house publicists and she said she had 70 books she was working on and had only met three of the authors (one being my client). She said it’s naturally easier to get excited about your project if they have a connection with the author. It’s worth the trip for a brief meeting.
5. Any tips for approaching bookstores? Is it better to arrange for signings by yourself or as a group?
JKS: I have really strong feelings about this. Independent bookstores can be your best friends. They will promote you, having signings for you, take out ads in the newspaper and spend money on extra staff to get ready and possibly some refreshments or decorations. Independent bookstores are really struggling right now. It’s important for an author to not only think about how the bookstore can help him or her, but how he or she can be a good friend to the bookstore.
Make it clear to the people in the bookstore that you appreciate them, you will work to make the event good and that you will be loyal to them, such as putting a link to them on your website and talking them up in your social networking. Twitter abut your great experience there!
When you do a book signing, think about buying a couple of $15 gift cards ahead of time from the staff and give them out as prizes to the people who attend, for asking the first question during Q&A or for some other reason. They bookstore will appreciate your support and the winners will never forget you. They’ll tell their friends and families all about it.
Off my soap box now and answering your question more specifically… Bookstores sometimes get up to 20 requests a day from authors. If you know someone at the bookstore, go for it and set it up yourself (we have clients who adore and are adored by bookstore owners and managers all over the country).
If you don’t know the folks at the store, that’s when a publicist is helpful because we know how to pitch you to make the bookstore feel like it’s worth their while to put the time, energy and money into doing an event for you.
We’ve done solo and group book events. The advantage to a solo appearance is that the people who come are more likely to buy your particular book than have to decide from their budget which author’s book to purchase. If you have a group signing then it’s more of an event with potential book buyers, who attend because of another author, seeing and noticing you and your book.
[Lisa Desrochers.] I'd love a list of the top five things a YA author should do pre-publication, and the same list for post-publication.
JKS: Top 5 things a YA author should do pre-publication:
1. Save some of your advance to promote your book.
2. Interview publicists (if you think you might want one).
3. Get a website.
4 Let your editor know that you are invested in making this book a success and you want to be a great partner in doing whatever it takes to make that happen.
5. Get all of the pieces in place for the launch of your book because 80% of the publicity work is done before the book is released.
JKS: Top 5 things a YA author should do post-publication:
This entirely depends on what the action plan is for the promotion of your book. One thing for sure, get plenty of sleep and eat well because, especially for first-time authors, the rigors of promoting a book often are more exhausting than they expect.
[Bettina Restrepo.]
1. How does a YA book get national media attention?
JKS: There are so many different ways that this can happen and it can be really frustrating when it doesn’t happen. One of the most well-known publishing house publicists and I were talking about this several months ago and lamenting that it’s impossible to be sure just what will grab the fancy of the national media.
I’ve been in meetings with editors and publishers who are frustrated when a rather mediocre book gets amazing attention and an amazing book gets mediocre attention from the media. Sometimes there is no apparent rhyme or reason.
Your book certainly won’t get attention if the national media doesn’t know about it, doesn’t have an electronic press kit and doesn’t have a copy of the book.
If the book can be tied to something timely and newsworthy, that is always a good hook. If the author has a great personal story, that can help.
Certain literary awards can ensure that the book will garner some good attention.
2. What is the best way to approach a television producer?
JKS: Have the best hook possible…which may not even be the book itself. We recently had an author featured who wrote a memoir. CBS Sunday Morning did a story on her and her husband because I pitched them for helping provide excellent health care for poor women in West Virginia. The piece focused on their work, but her book was the beneficiary of the good publicity she received.
This is the end of Part II. In Part III, Book Publicity Graduate Degree, the conclusion of my interview with Julie Schoerke, she answers very specific questions I have about the role of an outside book publicist in the successful publication of a debut MG/YA novel.