Three Things Your Publicist Wants you to Know (...but might not tell you)

Ro: Sarah Burningham from Little Bird Publicity has done a great job of helping me get the word out on Dead Head so I asked her if she had any words of wisdom for Jungle Red readers and she gets the ball rolling with three things your publicist wants you to know - but might not tell you.

SB: Hi, Ro, thanks for having me on Jungle Red. I've heard a lot about you gals! Of course, Ro is a dream client and already does all of these things, but you'd be surprised at hw many people don't - so here goes.

1. KINDNESS COUNTS. Just because your book is about a grumpy old curmudgeon of a journalist dealing with serial killers doesn't mean you have to act like one (the curmudgeon OR the serial killer). Be sure you're nice to everyone working on your book, from the publisher to your editor's assistant to the guy who answers the phone at the front desk. It matters.

2. And while we're on the topic of kindness, remember that kindness should BE AGE BLIND. Just because an editor/writer/blogger/producer seems young, doesn't mean he or she isn't qualifed to do the job at hand. I've seen some very young, bright assistants go from answering phones at a magazine to selecting feature coverage in barely any time.

I've also seen those same young, bright assistants scoffed at by authors who think that age is the only measure of intelligence. Never bite the hand that feeds you. Not only is it just plain rude, but that 22 year old assistant to the assistant editor might have the final say on whether or not your book gets reviewed sooner than you think.

3. Remember that YOUR PUBLICIST IS ON YOUR TEAM. The more you work as

partners, the better the campaign will be. I speak for all book publicists when I say, "We want your book to work!" We want to get you fabulous coverage that helps sell millions of copies, eventually making you enough money to buy an estate in the South of France where you can spend the rest of your life writing unhindered by the concerns of daily life. (And we want to be invited to said estate for vacations.) But even though chances of this are slim (at least to this degree) remember that your publicist really does have your best interest and success in mind. Working together will help you create creative pitches, make the actual work part of pitching more enjoyable, likely resulting in better coverage and getting you one step closer to literary bliss.

RO: Words of wisdom, indeed.

Little Bird founder Sarah Burningham has over 10 years of publishing experience. Most recently, she was Associate Director of Marketing for HarperStudio, and before that worked as the Associate Director of Publicity at William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers and REGAN, where she created and executed campaigns for Ralph Nader, Neal Boortz, the late William F. Buckley, Jr., Frank Warren’s bestselling PostSecret series, Clinton strategist Doug Schoen, Beth Lisick’s popular Helping Me Help Myself, and the late Jeanne Kirkpatrick.

She’s also worked in publicity at Workman Publishing, Miramax Books, and Gibbs Smith Publisher, with bestselling authors ranging from the Cake-Mix Doctor Anne Byrne to Steven Raichlen, million-copy selling author of The Barbecue Bible.

Sarah is also the author of How to Raise Your Parents: A Teen Girl’s Survival Guide and Boyology: A Teen Girl’s Crash Course in All Things Boy, and is the advice columnist behind dear sarah, an advice column with ABC Family. She lives in Queens with her husband and drives a red Vespa.
Sarah Burningham Little Bird917.546.6866 646.763.5434sarah@littlebirdpublicity.comhttp://www.littlebirdpublicity.com/Twitter: @SarahBurningham

RO: How cool is the red Vespa? Have any questions for Sarah? Ask away..she'll be checking in over the weekend.

HANK: Thanks so much for being here! Raising hand--I have a question! How does Amazon work? Who decides what reviews and info gets included? And if we have a concern--is that publicist thing? Or an agent thing? And oh, what do you think about big mailings? How critical is it to write a personal mesaage in each one? Does anyone read them? Are you pro-Facebook?What do you think is a big waste of money? Guess that was more than one question...and I love your company name!

RHYS: I have a question that may take a little time to answer. If one has a limited budget for publicity (say $5000 rather than $15000) how would you spend it? I know of many people who have hired a publicist when their book is going to get no push from the publisher. Is that worth it? Radio v. print ads v. online ads v. personal tour?

I have done all of the above and it's hard to say what worked better, but I have to think that an online ad, well placed, must outperform a morning talk radio chat.