What is the difference between Marketing and Publicity?
Both marketing and publicity deal with promoting you as an author and your novel. The marketing
department of a publishing company works internally, building interest within the publishing company itself, developing materials
to capture the attention of distributors, and working to get promotional materials out to the booksellers. The marketing
department will arrange your book signings, speaking engagements, and attendance at conferences. The publicity department of a
publishing company is responsible for getting the word out about you to all media outlets, for planning strategy, and for
creating a positive image. The publicity department will handle press releases, author biographies and interviews, and media
tours. Marketing and publicity can work together, but often times, especially with larger companies, these two departments
have distinct functions and so work separately.
What can I expect?
Since so many authors are being published every year, and most novels published will not earn
back the advances that were paid out, many companies may not put forth much effort to market and publicize your novel. Some
promotion will always be done, but if you intend to see larger returns for your efforts, you will need to put some of that
effort toward your own publicity. I have heard of authors hiring a publicist when first starting out. If your advance will
cover a publicist, this may be a good investment. Be sure to keep the publicity department at the publishing company informed
of your efforts in this area. Even though they may discourage you from your own publicity, they will still appreciate being
told of any promotions you put together. They may even incorporate what you do into their own strategy.
A writer can become discouraged with doing all the work to finish his or her novel, only to have
to put in even more time and effort to get the novel on to a bookstore shelf and to the attention of the media. But if you
really intend to have your novel make a big splash, realize that no one will have as much buy in as you. Use this experience
as an opportunity to learn even more about the industry. Learn what you enjoy about promoting your novel. You will find it
much easier to put in the effort needed when you are excited about your novel and getting it to your interested readers.
If you are interested in contacting Eric Manske, use the e-mail below or follow the
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