You, Your Book, and Your Publicity

By Rick Frishman - Feb 13 , 2009

Opportunities for publicity are all around us, whether we have a business to publicize or a new book to promote. We just need to be ready for them, and we need to be ready to persevere in our ongoing efforts to further them.

For instance, a cancer survivor’s press releases were focused on promoting her new clothing line. But the media that picked up her story concentrated on her medical triumph rather than on her clothing designs. Instead of throwing in the towel when her clothing line wasn’t featured in all the highly favorable press coverage, the designer wisely ‘went with the flow’ and adjusted her game plan, her strategy. To remain in the limelight, she kept in contact with the media as a cancer survival expert. She kept them posted on her developments, sent them information, and when questions arose, quickly responded. She also actively promoted her clothing line, always mentioning it in every contact with the media. Within a few months, the press began referring to her as the “cancer-surviving clothing designer,” and soon journalists were running separate features on just her design business.

It’s important to remember that you are responsible for creating your own promotional opportunities. Since you, personally, are as much the product as your business or your book, blow your own horn. It will build name recognition and get you in the public sphere as an expert in your field.

Here’s another instance of being ready for publicity, where a small, simple action made all the difference: In January 2006, on a flight from New York to Washington, DC, my client Kurt Eichenwald was holding in plain sight a copy of his newly published book, Serpent on the Rock: Crime, Betrayal, and the Terrible Secrets of Prudential-Bache (Broadway, December 2005). Serendipitously seated next to Kurt was a producer from 60 Minutes. They quickly struck up a conversation. Eventually, the producer asked about Kurt’s book and bingo! He was so intrigued by Serpent’s absolutely true, documentary story of crime and corruption on Wall Street—which reads like a John Grisham or David Baldacci thriller—that, within a few weeks, 60 Minutes ran a full segment on Kurt and his book. Carrying a copy of his new book with him on his flight—that’s all it took to put his book over the top and make a bestseller of it.

So keep in mind that publicity is a full-time, 24/7 job. Opportunities for it never stop! Continually tell the world that you’re an expert in your arena and how you can help them. Good self-promotion can inspire, excite, and energize your prospective customers, clients, and buyers as long as you believe in it. Become a walking self-advertisement. Learn to spot opportunities to toot your own horn—as well as create them—and always be prepared to seize them and make all you can of them.