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Publishing in a Pandemic: An Insider Interview with a Book Publicist

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The first half of this year has been a monumental test in flexibility and resilience for authors and everyone in publishing. My debut novel, The Kindest Lie, will release on February 9, and that publishing date has changed several times as the William Morrow team attempted to position my book and others in their catalog for optimal success during these uncertain times.

Recently, I joined the team of A Mighty Blaze, a new organization that formed to help authors and books find their readers during this global pandemic. That’s how I met Laura Rossi who leads publicity for A Mighty Blaze. She worked in-house at top publishers, including Random House, Viking Penguin, and W.W. Norton before founding Laura Rossi Public Relations.

Laura was incredibly generous sharing with me nuggets of wisdom about promoting books during a pandemic, buying the right equipment for all the Zooming and Skyping, making publishing more diverse and inclusive, as well as pulling back the curtain on how some books get on those elusive, coveted “most anticipated” lists. I’ve edited our interview for brevity, but it was seriously so good that I wish all of you could’ve been on the phone with us.

Nancy Johnson: How has the pandemic impacted our ability to get our books out there into the world?

Laura Rossi: The first thing that happened to many books is their publication dates changed. That was a huge pivot for lots of authors, seeing their early summer pub dates move to fall or in some cases 2021. Summers work well for commercial fiction and beach reads, but it’s often not the best time for bigger books. That was a big trend I noticed. Authors had to give up control and let their publishers do what they thought was best in a very different world. Some books published and didn’t live up to expectations the authors had. Lots of books with March, April and May pub dates—copies were already printed and warehouses were still able to mail books—pubbed during a pandemic. But before May there wasn’t a lot of space for book coverage and some of those books that weren’t able to move didn’t get a lot of media or sales. However, if your book came out in hardcover during the pandemic, you still have a shot at pushing that paperback a year or more later. That second chance is encouraging.

NJ: How has publishing had to adjust now that we don’t have hand-sales in bookstores and in-person author events?

LR: All real-life events were paused or canceled, and many went online. Conferences, workshops, big in-person events like BookExpo and the intimate author lunch with someone from a magazine went away. Those schmoozing opportunities to hand-sell your book were gone. Some authors in the past would get pre-sales visits to New York to meet with booksellers. That personal touch has had to go virtual. People are not going on tours visiting 25 bookstores anymore.

NJ: This all sounds terrible. What do you tell your authors about how to pivot in this new environment? [Read more…]

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Writing as Collaboration

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You know the drill : writing requires you to put your ass in the chair and write… alone. We’ve got our characters, sure, but they aren’t colleagues. The conversations we have with them are really conversations with ourselves. I think this is one of the reasons that writers flock to social media – finally, other people to talk to all day! Writing can be lonely. I did a (unscientific) survey recently of many writers I know who write full time and that is one of the touchstones they didn’t … [Read more...]

You Had Me at the Title

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People often ask me what I’m reading and sometimes I forget. What’s the name of that book again? But then some book titles stick to my brain like a gecko clinging to a wall. They take root inside me and often the book itself proves to be just as unforgettable. In brainstorming the title for my own debut novel, I turned to experts who advised that authors should keep titles short for a variety of reasons: Something short will be easier for people to remember. Fewer words will fit more neatly … [Read more...]

Writing a Genre That’s New to You

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The usual writing advice tells you that once you find your genre as an author, you should stick with it. Readers might not follow you to the new genre, they say. Readers want to know what to expect, they say. And writers say: But what if I have a really great idea in a different genre? What if I lose my taste for what I was writing before? What if my agent tells me the market is overcrowded in the genre I've been writing and gently suggests I try something different? Like much writing … [Read more...]

Become a Good Literary Citizen

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I recently shared a post on Twitter about a friend who won a writing contest. I was excited for him. Sharing his news seemed like an obvious move. Author Cai Emmons responded to my post with a simple comment: "You are a great literary citizen." I got a bit choked up when I read her comment, which seemed silly, even to me. Why did her response matter so much to me? I thought about Cai’s comment a lot over the next few days. It mattered because I cannot control what people think of my … [Read more...]

Guest Post: Hilary Davidson on Taking That Big Leap of Faith–In Yourself

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David Corbett, here. I’m teaching at the History Writers of America Conference in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia today, so I'm handing over this month’s post to a writer I very much admire, Hilary Davidson. Before she became a full-time, award-winning, bestselling novelist, Hilary was a journalist, starting as an intern at Harper’s Magazine in New York then joining the staff of Canadian Living magazine in Toronto. After deciding that she’d rather write than edit, she left her day job to … [Read more...]

Breaking out of the Genre Pigeonhole: Tips From a Romance-Turned-Mainstream Novelist

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Under the pen name Anna Schmidt, Jo Schmidt has written over thirty novels that have collectively sold over half a million copies. She is also the author of Parkinson’s Disease for Dummies and several books on eldercare published by AARP. Her latest novel, The Winterkeeper (March 2019) is her first literary fiction release. A former marketing and communications professional for two international corporations who has also taught at the college level and run a Mom-and-Pop adult daycare business … [Read more...]

Soothing Words for Bad Reviews

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Please welcome bestselling author Randy Susan Meyers to Writer Unboxed today! Randy's latest novel, WAISTED, tackles the hot and important topic of body image. More about Randy from her bio. Randy Susan Meyers' novels are informed by over twenty years working with criminal offenders and families impacted by emotional and physical violence. With Waisted she tackles an issue both personal and political: body image. Reviewing Waisted, Booklist wrote "Meyers exquisitely explores body image, … [Read more...]

Author Up Close: Roger Johns-Write Tired, Edit Rested

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So far in my Author Up Close series, you've met Fiona Zedde, an author whose hybrid approach to publishing has allowed her to live and work anywhere in the world and Linda Seed, a self-publishing success story who made more from a single ad placement than many authors make in their entire careers. Today I'm sharing my Q&A with Roger Johns, whose debut novel, Dark River Rising, was eleven years in the making and who is one of the smartest and hardest working authors I know. Roger received … [Read more...]

No, Really, Why Do You Write?

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A friend of mine recently asked me why I write. She found she couldn’t answer the question herself, not anymore.  She’d lost the love, and she was hoping something I’d say, as well as the other writers around her, would trigger an awakening in her. She wanted to find her path back to the career about which she had once been so passionate. I think we all go through this at one time or other, when life at home becomes difficult, or when everything in your writing career goes wrong. The rejections … [Read more...]

The Ghost Worlds Within Me: A Novelist’s Journey

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We're thrilled to have multi-published author Stephanie Cowell back with us today for a guest post! Stephanie is the author of Nicholas Cooke, The Physician of London, The Players: a novel of the young Shakespeare, Marrying Mozart and Claude & Camille: a novel of Monet. She is the recipient of an American Book Award. Her next novels (she hopes!) are Blanche and the Water Lilies (the story of the profound help and influence of Monet’s widowed daughter on his last great water lily … [Read more...]

The Book Contract ‘Red Line’

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Recently, I presented a research paper at a publishing conference which was themed around the experience of negotiating, and signing, book contracts. The paper, based on a series of interviews with Australian-based authors, publishers and agents, looked at all kinds of questions around book contracts. One of the questions which aroused a lot of interest was the idea of the contract ‘red line’—when do you know, whatever side of the publishing table you’re on, that you need to walk away? I thought … [Read more...]

But How Much Are You Reading?

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Listening Up For me, it's always a kind of relief to write a piece for Writer Unboxed. That's because you, Unboxed one, are among the most consistent elements of publishing. Writers tend to work through the upheavals of the industry by focusing ever more intently on writing. This actually is not the pathway taken by many others in the industry. As economic and market forces bash and bang up the business, company people (rightly) believe they have a mandate not only to adapt but to … [Read more...]

Bucket List for Writers

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I believe it's healthy to have goals. After all, having something to aim for can give us a sense of purpose, and can help us keep our efforts focused. We often hear of "the writer's journey," and I think it's an apt metaphor, because this can turn into a VERY long trip. For those who manage to stay on the path, there are many milestones along the way - along with many hurdles. While a writer might start out with a single goal (e.g., write the damn book), if that writer is serious about … [Read more...]