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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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Communications in 2020: What Do Authors Value?

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I think constantly about value. What will bring value to my client’s book—the write-up in People, the outreach to book clubs, the branded swag for influencers, a radio satellite tour to bring a specific message to a large audience. What is the marketing communications mix for my client? How will I generate conversation, drive influence and sales, gain the implied endorsement from a reputable source, build an online buzz. I recently spoke with bestselling historical fiction author (a Get Red … [Read more...]

Finding Focus in a Fractured World

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Whether we like it or not, recent world events have forced most of us to hit the pause button. For some, that pause comes at a relatively decent place where we can stop and see it as an opportunity (if we can set aside our anxiety long enough.) For others, the pause has us teetered on the brink of a freefall that we cannot even begin to see the end of or how we will land. No matter where we are, all we can do at this point is wait. Wait and stay home and see if that will be enough to flatten … [Read more...]

Writers on Show: Publicity and the Introvert

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Hands up, authors who enjoy the publicity and marketing effort that attends the release of a new book. I’m talking about everything from public appearances, less common in this digital age, to heightened visibility on social media, to interviews on radio, podcast, by phone or email. There are guest blogs, giveaways, and a host of other things about which I know less than I probably should. Some writers thrive on all this activity, or at least give a very convincing show of doing so. They're … [Read more...]

How to Respond to Criticism

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Last time, I looked at how to deal with your own inner critic, and this month it seems appropriate and timely to look at external criticism. Any kind of feedback on your writing—whether good or bad—can be useful, but the negative stuff can hit hard, causing a burst of emotions within you. What’s the best way to deal with that and respond to those who criticize your writing? Since the latest and final series of Game of Thrones aired, more than a 1.5 million have signed a petition to have it … [Read more...]

Your Facebook and Marketing Questions Answered

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You have questions about getting reviews for your books, about reaching the right readers. You work hard at social media but aren’t quite sure if it’s doing anything to build your brand. You’ve heard that hiring a PR firm could be a tremendous asset to your career but aren’t sure how to find one, let alone hire one. You hired a PR firm but feel as if you’re not being heard. I hear you. Your questions are valid. I’ve taken a few of the questions asked in the Writer Unboxed Facebook Group, and … [Read more...]

Gearing Up for Getting Out: The Conference Experience

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This post will appear two days after I and my wife return from this year’s Bouchercon, “The World Mystery Convention.” I’m writing it as I prepare to make the trip. September 6th through 9th fellow writers in the crime-mystery-thriller genre from around the world will have converged on St. Petersburg, Florida, to trumpet their most recent works, bask in the limelight, hustle for new deals and contacts, and generally squeeze the flesh and shamelessly self-promote. If only I weren’t dreading it … [Read more...]

Writing, Politics, and the Fuzzy Grey Line Between

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A few weeks ago, I was teaching a class on writing authentic antagonists to a group of children. I asked the kids, aged nine to twelve, to yell out the name of their favourite villains so I could write them on the board. The idea was to get a list of favourite villains, and then break down their attributes and what made them such great antagonists in their own stories. We started with the villains I expected: The Joker, Voldemort, Darth Vader, and so on. Then a couple of the kids started … [Read more...]

When to Put Your Best Writing Forward

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Put your very best writing on the first page of your manuscript, I was once told, and the rest will rise to the challenge. This is a good thing, because your very best writing belongs on every other page, as well. In fact, today I want to convince you why your very best writing belongs everywhere. Synopsis Most writers consider it a necessary evil, so why spend more time on it than you have to? Here’s why: if you treat it as a precious piece of storytelling, you might sell your book. Or a … [Read more...]

Social Media Phobic? Facebook is (Still) Your Friend

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The news about Facebook’s embroilment in a data-harvesting-cum-political scandal kind of makes us all want to unfriend the platform for good. For sure, our collective conscience would be cleaner and we’d all be a lot less distracted without it. Some of us would probably even feel a vengeful twinge of self-righteousness seeing Zuckerberg and his cohorts caught at last with the smoking gun that proves their invention is not only bad for us, but just downright bad. While a breakup with … [Read more...]

Five Marketing Tools for Authors Who Hate Marketing

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Disclaimer: Hating marketing is not required to use these tools. In fact, if you enjoy marketing, you'll have a blast using them. I’m active in several online writing communities, and one of the most frequent things I read about is how much authors hate marketing. It’s usually accompanied by talk about art and creativity, and once in a while someone tosses this suggestion across the virtual meeting room: all you have to do is write a great story and they will come. Except, thousands of … [Read more...]

The Writer’s Guide to Social Media Organization

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Please welcome DiAnn Mills to Writer Unboxed today! DiAnn's titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Firewall, the first book in her Houston: FBI series, was listed by Library Journal as one of the best Christian Fiction books of 2014. She is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and … [Read more...]

Nurturing the Write Mind

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Something Keith Cronin mentioned in a comment a few months back struck me as incredibly insightful, and that impression has only deepened in the months since. I’ve worked on a variety of writing projects with his remark in mind, and it's changed some old habits I didn't realize beforehand might need addressing. I’m going to paraphrase what he said, and hopefully not butcher it in the process. (Keith—feel free to step in to correct me.) He mentioned a teacher he had as a musician who … [Read more...]

The Secrets We Keep

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Let’s talk, just for a moment, about social media. I love Facebook and Instagram for the connection they provide, with people I see rarely and with people I see often. I love the unexpected laughs, the bits of beauty or joy, feeling a part of other’s people’s lives. But I am well aware of the gap between what I post about and the reality of my own life, and don’t envy anything I read or see (okay, maybe I get a little jealous sometimes of Paris pics—I’ve never been). Here’s what I post about: My … [Read more...]