cover image PUBLICIZE YOUR BOOK!: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves

PUBLICIZE YOUR BOOK!: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves

Jacqueline Deval, . . Perigee, $15.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-399-52863-7

Everyone in the publishing industry, and many not, have heard the stories—of authors who spend a year or more writing a book only to see it sink into oblivion when the publisher releases it with no fanfare; of authors left out in the cold when their editors are gone before pub date. Then there are the flip stories: of authors, sometimes self-published, who manage their own publicity campaigns or supplement their publishing house's and sell thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of copies. To avoid the former and promote the latter, Deval (Reckless Appetites), publisher of Hearst Books and former director of publicity for William Morrow, Doubleday, Villard and Book-of-the-Month Club, has written this book, easily the most incisive and expert guide to book publicity ever. Deval covers every conceivable aspect of generating and participating in book publicity, from creating press materials to engaging in a publicity tour, from getting on Oprah to marketing on the Internet, from conducting media interviews to hiring a freelance publicist and much more. And she gives advice that's applicable to both veterans and novices, authors with publishing houses backing them and those who are self-published. Her approach is direct and no-nonsense yet congenial, with the hard information enlivened by scores upon scores of anecdotes (including a most tantalizing section on so-called authors from hell). With all this information, plus an extensive resource section, this is the book for authors who want to expand publicity for their books, and there's not a publishing professional who won't learn something new and useful from it as well. (Apr.)