In this episode, we chatted with freelance food and lifestyle book publicist and Thursday Media founder Kimberly Escobar about the adorable perils of working from home (specifically, Zoom-bombing kittens), how both traditionally and self-published authors can make their publicists’ jobs easier, and how to do your OWN book PR if you can’t afford a pro to do it for you. We also talked about the joys and pains—but mostly joys—of owning your own business, why an Arby’s was actually the perfect place for a book launch party, and how even the shyest of introverts can effectively promote their books without feeling like they need to take a shower afterward.

“If your publicist is asking for it, assume that it’s urgent.”

—Kimberly Escobar

Guest Bio

Kimberly Escobar, president and founder of Thursday Media Inc., began her career as publicist at Grand Central Publishing (an imprint of Hachette) before joining the then-newly launched Flatiron Books (an imprint of Macmillan) to spearhead their lifestyles publicity. She made a name for the Flatiron list with some of the most discriminating writers in media and her campaigns often graced the pages of everything from the New York Times to Forbes. She regularly booked top-tier, national broadcast media such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, The View, and The TODAY Show, in her campaigns. She recently launched Isaac Mizrahi’s instant New York Times bestseller I.M., which included stops at CBS This Morning, multiple national NPR interviews, and a New York Times “By the Book” interview, among other major press. She also led the recent publicity campaigns for Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson, and the James Beard and IACP award-winning Bottom of the Pot by Naz Deravian and Between Harlem and Heaven by JJ Johnson + Alexander Smalls. Kimberly has planned, executed, and traveled on countless national book tours with stops in venues as large at 1500-seat theaters to the most intimate indie bookstores. She is now president and founder of Thursday Media Inc., where she continues to craft headlining media campaigns and attention-grabbing events for her clients. You can find her on Instagram @_kimberlyescobar_.

The post Episode 48: Kimberly Escobar — Owner of Thursday Media Inc. first appeared on Hybrid Pub Scout.

The post Episode 48: Kimberly Escobar — Owner of Thursday Media Inc. appeared first on Hybrid Pub Scout.

So you’ve written a book. Congrats!

The easy part is over! Now it’s time to take your baby into the marketplace and sell, sell, sell!

Most authors are less than enthused about this part, usually because they don’t want to seem like they’re bragging or too excited. Heaven forbid you be proud of the fact that you’ve spent YEARS laboring to get the story in your head onto paper and that a publisher liked it enough to put it out in the world for readers to consume. But you know what? You SHOULD be proud! You should be screaming it from the rooftops! Or from Twitter, at the very least.

So, in an effort to help authors market their book as effective as possible, may I present the following tips on what NOT to do (and one thing that you definitely should do that many authors—bafflingly—do not):

Number 1: Don’t piss off your publicist by emailing her every day to ask if she’s gotten you onto The Today Show yet.

Believe me, your publicist wants your book to succeed. She wants you to be happy. But by writing her every day to ask if she’s pitched THIS outlet or THIS outlet or hey, what about THIS outlet??—you’re not helping, and probably just making her sigh heavily every time your name shows up in her inbox. Odds are she’s already pitched all the outlets you mentioned, followed up with them, followed up with them again, and probably one more time for good measure. She’s been told that they’re not interested, or the book doesn’t fit with any upcoming articles/segments, whatever. And she’s probably bummed about it too.

But one thing you SHOULD know is that just because an outlet might not be interested at this very moment, that doesn’t mean that a journalist/producer/blogger won’t hold on to the pitch and look it up again when they DO have a need for it. All is not lost! And if you see an outlet/read a story in a publication that seems tailored made to feature you/your book, absolutely tell her. Just not every day. (Can you tell I used to be a publicist?) And, whatever you do, do NOT sic your agent on her. (This actually happened to me! And the agent was very mean! And made me cry! So. Don’t do that.)

Number 2: Don’t have completely unrealistic expectations for your book, aka Harry Potter Syndrome.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint” is the truest cliché of any to describe book promotion. You know who sprints? Stephen King. James Patterson. Nicholas Sparks, as much as it pains me to write that. And I guarantee that, for at least their first few books, their marketing manager was sharing the same cliché with them. So take every opportunity you’re offered graciously, whether it’s from a blogger who has 10 regular readers or an event that has only a handful of attendees. Every little bit helps, and word of mouth is an incredibly powerful tool in the book-selling arsenal.

Number 3: Don’t be allergic to social media.

Ideally, you’ll have a decent following by the time your book comes out, but if you find the pub date inching closer and you’re still just overwhelmed by the mere thought of the Twittersphere and so just go about your business and pretend like it doesn’t exist, take heart. You do NOT need to be an expert at any social media channels to be effective on them, so don’t feel like you need to be perfect! Just start. It really is one of those things that becomes second nature much sooner than you’d think. Book Twitter especially can be a very welcoming place for new writers.

However—DO ask everyone you know or have ever met on the planet to review your book!

Yes, this feels sort of disingenuous. I know, and your family and friends will PROBABLY leave glowing reviews, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. Reviews can absolutely make or break a potential sale, and the more five-star ones readers see on Amazon or Goodreads, etc, the closer you are to earning out that advance.

In conclusion: Holy shit, you wrote a fucking book! And then someone published it! BE PROUD OF YOURSELF AND TELL THE WORLD!

The post How Not to Market Your Book—Wisdom from 15 Years of Book Marketing and Publicity first appeared on Hybrid Pub Scout.

The post How Not to Market Your Book—Wisdom from 15 Years of Book Marketing and Publicity appeared first on Hybrid Pub Scout.

Emily and Corinne interview publishing consultant and book publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek about her eclectic career working in the Bay Area and beyond. She tells us about the trifecta that makes for the perfect publicity campaign and some of her most cherished projects. Emily and Corinne also discuss a recent Buzzfeed piece about the self-help bestseller Girl, Wash Your Face.

All opinions are our own and do not reflect those of our employers.

Books and articles mentioned on this episode:

• Laura Turner’s article on Girl Wash Your Face
• A Stone Boat by Andrew Solomon
• A Century of November by W.D. Wetherell
• Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway
• Stranger than Life by MK Brown
• List of Books by Laurie Colwin
• All the News I Need by Joan Frank

The post Episode 10: Interview with Publishing Consultant and Book Publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek first appeared on Hybrid Pub Scout.

The post Episode 10: Interview with Publishing Consultant and Book Publicist Mary Bisbee-Beek appeared first on Hybrid Pub Scout.