About Publicity

By Rick Frishman - Jul 06 , 2007

Publicity is the art of creating favorable interest in your book. It’s getting the word out, informing the public about your book and drumming up interest in it. It’s telling the world:

• That your book is available,
• What it’s about,
• Why it’s important, and
• The specific benefits it will provide.

Publicity differs from advertising. In advertising, you pay media outlets to run your message. You write the message you want the public to receive and you pay publications, stations, Web sites, and other outlets to deliver it. According to the old adage, “With advertising, you pay for it; with publicity, you pray for it.”

In publicity, your message is delivered through the media and through channels such as your networks and your contacts’ networks. In contrast to advertising, you don’t pay the media to deliver your message, but convince it to deliver it in its articles, reviews, and programs. The media may deliver the exact message you provide, or write or present information about your book in its own words, style, or format.

Publicity is effective because the public tends think of information it gets from the media as news. So, it gives publicity more credence than advertising does, which the public knows is bought and paid for by advertisers. Advertising is perceived as being big on hype and short on truth, while information provided by the media is generally accepted as true.

In comparison with advertising, publicity:

• Is less expensive
• Provides wider exposure
• Has greater credibility because, unlike advertising, people usually consider the information provided to be news
• Tells your story in greater depth, which is ideal for creating interest in your book

Rick Says

To be successful, all books need publicity. Readers are swamped with books. According to estimates, 195,000 books were published in 2004, which breaks down to several new titles being issued each minute. That’s an awful lot of books competing for booksellers’ shelves and readers’ attention. Plus, books face stiff competition from movies, television, newspapers, magazines, sports, the Internet, games, and more.

Publicity is the most effective way to single out your book for recognition and to build its identity and visibility. In publishing, they refer to “breaking a book out,” which means getting it noticed so that it can emerge from a sea of competitors. Publicity is the best way to break your book out and to create name recognition, interest, and sales. Through the wonders of publicity, weak books have been built into huge successes, and great books that lacked publicity have not been widely read.