We get asked a ton of questions about what’s involved in a book publicity campaign – which is great, since we love talking about what we do! Here are the most often asked questions. If you have others, please feel free to contact us. 

How long is a book publicity campaign and when should I begin talking to a publicity firm?

Generally speaking, our book campaigns begin 4-6 months prior to the month your book hits store shelves and continue for 1-2 months thereafter. This allows us enough time to present you and your book to long-lead publications (magazines) and short-lead publications (newspapers) as well as internet and broadcast outlets. You can talk to us anytime about your book, but it’s good to determine who your publicist will be about 6 months before your book releases. Factoring in that it may take you about 2 months to acquire enough information to make an informed decision, you should start researching and talking to publicity firms 8 months before your book hits stores.

Eight months? Holy smokes! My book comes out in a month! What do I do?
First, relax. Eat a little chocolate or an apple and breathe deeply. All is not lost! There are still media outlets we can approach, we just won’t be able to do a full campaign. Our focus will probably tend toward internet and broadcast outlets since these types of media work on a shorter turnaround time.

What do you provide for my campaign fee?
We create all your press materials – press releases, brand-specific bio, custom HTML emails, query letters, etc. We produce all of those in-house as well, so you don’t have to worry about finding a printer for your materials.

We contact all forms of media on your behalf and follow up with them. This includes snail mail packages, email, fax, phone, and in-person meetings.

We give you regular activity reports which show every single media outlet we’ve contacted, the last time we had contact with them, and the current status of securing coverage in that outlet.

We provide unlimited consultations to you regarding promotion of you and your work or answers to publishing industry questions you may have along the way.

When possible, we provide pdfs of media coverage you receive. These are yours to do with as you wish, including using them in future promotional portfolios.

What do I have to provide for the campaign?
Your campaign fee
Copies of your book(s)
Reliable communication (e.g. email and phone)
Information about any promo work that has been done thus far
Images of you and your book cover(s), preferably in jpg format
 

My publishing house has a publicist. Will he/she handle all of this?
Short answer – nope.

Long answer – publishing houses produce numerous books throughout the year and usually have a very small staff and promotional budget that these books must be handled by. That generally means a limited campaign targeting a small number of media outlets. You may or may not have a say in what materials are sent out on your behalf and you may or may not know what work is done for your book. This approach has nothing to do with you or how much your publishing house may love you. It has everything to do with the numbers game that is modern publishing! In-house publicists are hard workers and the majority of them would love nothing better than to spend a ton of time solely on your book. They simply don’t have that luxury when 50 other books are breathing down their necks (oh yeah, books can breathe) and another cycle of 50 is about to hit their desks next quarter.

So, do I tell the publishing house I’m hiring a publicity firm?
Sure! We probably already have a great relationship with your publishing house. Even if we haven’t worked with them before, we’re always happy to reach out to publishing houses and work with their staff. Our experience with publishing houses lets us know - they’ll more than likely be thrilled to get the help.   

I’m a publicist at a publishing house. Do you contract directly with publishing houses?
Yep! We’ve worked with nearly every major Christian publishing house in the industry so chances are high we’ve had the honor of working with someone you know already. We would love to talk with you about your project and let you know how we might be able to help.

I hear publicity is expensive. Am I going to need a second mortgage?
Absolutely. No, no, no, seriously…publicity fees vary widely from firm to firm. That’s because publicists’ prices are normally based on how extensive their relationships are with media outlets. Those who have been doing this for less time and have less contacts can’t command the same fee as someone who has been doing publicity for a couple of decades. Rebeca Seitz has been a literary and entertainment publicist for a little over five years. She’s worked diligently to build good, honest relationships with various media outlets along the way. Her fees are in keeping with her experience and ability. Just shoot us an email and she’ll let you know how big the yard sale needs to be to cover the fee.

Another firm told me I have to pay expenses on top of the fee. Is that how it works with GRPR?
No, but that is a completely legitimate way of operating. Our philosophy is to keep the simple things simple. You pay the fee on your contract. Period. That’s it. We incur all the costs of executing the contract.

What do I do if I have more questions?
Email us or give us a call!