The Tao of Book Publicity by Paula Margulies
The Tao of Book Publicity: A Beginner’s Guide to Book Promotion is a spectacular read. It’s well-written and filled to the brim with useful, easily understandable information. It doesn’t ramble, and personal anecdotes are kept to a minimum. Any author looking to get into publicizing either their book or themselves as authors should read this novel. All actionable information can be found on pages 4, 21-26, 31-35, 38, 56-63, 67, 74-75, 80-82, 86-87, 90, 97, 108, and 110-111.
The Tao of Book Publicity is aptly named, in that it’s all about ways for authors to publicize their books. It’s a little out of date (copyright 2016), but the majority of the information is solid. A list of contests for authors to enter can be found on her website, though that’s also slightly out of date (last updated, presumably, 2020, as some contest deadlines listed are January of 2021). Parts of the book are repetitive, but this seems to be more in the interest of driving home the idea that a promotional tactic can apply to more than one action or event than padding the page count. For example, Margulies not only emphasizes gratitude at the end of every chapter, stating the importance of showing your thanks to vendors, bloggers, and everyone else who helps you along, but has an entire chapter dedicated to gratitude at the end.
Page 4 basically tells authors to create SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals before they start promoting. Don’t just say that you want to be promoted, but look around and be aware of how you want to be promoted. What sales numbers would you like to achieve? What publicity (e.g., interviews, book tours, speaking engagements) are you hoping for? The more specific, the better.
Pages 21-26 go into producing and promoting the book itself. She recommends book covers have a summary of the book and three short blurbs from well-known reviewers. Authors should start requesting these blurbs 3-4 months in advance. The best times to promote a book, in her opinion, are in the 6-8 months following its release. The best times for book signings are spring, summer, and early fall, though they should be scheduled months in advance (i.e., January-March). The best days to pitch to news producers and editors, in her experience, are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Pages 31-35 talk about press releases. Margulies says to, “Think of your press release as a newspaper article. It should be written so that anyone you send it to can take it as is and publish it in a print publication or blog with minimal changes.” It should be written in third person and focus on the who, what, when where, and why. It should begin with the line, “For Immediate Release,” followed by the date written out in full (e.g., November 16, 2022). This is followed by the headline, then a five paragraph structure. The first paragraph is your introduction, the second is informational about your book (often very similar to the description on the back of the book), the third is testimonials, the fourth is a quote from the author (written as though someone interviewed you), and the fifth is a brief bio. End with your contact information and keep the release to one page.
Page 38 states to draft your own interview Q&A and ask bloggers if they’d like to post it on their sites. It’s a free post for them, and you’ll share a link to their website when it’s posted. If they accept, make sure to send over the Q&A in Word format so they can copy what they like, a jpeg of the book’s cover, an author photo, and ordering information for the book.
On pages 56-63, Margulies goes into book signings. Mall bookstores are a great place for signings, as they get a lot of natural foot traffic. It’s a good idea to pick bookstores for signings in places where friends and family reside, then ask them to attend. It doesn’t matter if they have no intention of buying your book. Crowds draw attention, which brings more prospective readers into the store, to your table. Provide swag for the store to give away a week in advance as well as a poster for them to place in their window. Leave flyers everywhere and mention your signing to everyone. Bring pre-signed copies, and see if the store will stock the leftover copies with “signed copy” stickers on the spine. A few days prior to signing, advertise your event on local websites with calendar listings (e.g., newspapers, tabloids, Craigslist). Call the manager the morning of your event and make sure they know what’s going on and if they have everything ready. Ask if they have copies of your book on hand and, if they don’t, bring at least 20 copies. Arrive at your books signing early to make sure everything’s ready and be sure to place a promotional sticker on the table so people can see your book from afar. Have someone take pictures of you during the event and share them on your social medias afterwards. Make sure to thank your host.
The paragraph (and pages referenced) above is specific to book signings, but the tactics supplied aren’t. These are things you see throughout the book and are ways to promote all appearances, be it at a convention, a conference, on television, or anywhere else you can think of. What’s important here is not the thing you’re promoting, but the fact that you’re promoting it.
Page 67 gives the basics of pursuing a feature in a magazine or newspaper. It’s best to pitch your idea 3-4 months out. The two preferred lengths for most online and print articles are 500 words and 2500 words, so have both options on hand. If you want to heighten your chances further, Margulies states that, “[m]any publications post their editorial calendars online, so authors can see what topics the publications plan to cover and locate the deadlines for those submissions.”
Pages 74-75 covers setting up blog tours. It’s important both to look up bloggers in your genre and to make sure they’re currently accepting queries. When querying, outline who you are, what your book is about, and what you’re looking for in a post (e.g., a Q&A interview, a book review, a giveaway, or any combination thereof). If it’s a giveaway, state if the books are printed or digital and how many of each. Include a press release, Q&A, jpeg of the book cover, and author photo in your query (unless other guidelines are stated). In Margulies’s experience, batches of 20-30 queries yield 2-3 acceptances.
Pages 80-82 talk about utilizing social media. You want to start building your audience at least a few months before the release of your book (or before you work with a publicist). Building an audience takes time. Use the same handle across all sites. Use an author photo, not a picture of your book, so people see you as human, and use the same bio across all platforms. Include a link to your website. In your posts, focus on your target audience and provide information (e.g., appearances, blogs, reviews) rather than directly pushing your product. Guest posts on blogs not your own is also a great way to increase visibility.
Pages 86-87 delve further into the social media rabbit hole with a focus on bios. Like press releases, it’s ideal to think like a journalist. Focus on the who, what, when, where, and why. Stay focused. For example, my bio is “Author of the YA fantasy novel Where the Lightning Goes. #ownvoices. She/They.”
Page 90 talks about speaking at conferences. Many conferences book speakers 1-2 years in advance. It’s best to prepare 2-3 variations on your proposed presentation, each with its own title and paragraph of information, so that the committee has multiple options to choose from. The description should cover what you’ll talk about and what attendees will learn. Your query should also include your bio.
Page 108 states to leave room for promotional items (e.g., standing posters, bookmarks, magnets) and printed copies for giveaways in your budget. Margulies highly recommends giveaways on Goodreads, though due to The Tao of Book Publicity’s earlier print date, she also says that Goodreads will only do giveaways six months after the book’s release date. This is no longer true. Pages 110-111 once again go into the importance of having SMART goals (though Margulies doesn’t call them that) in mind for giveaways. The goal of the giveaway changes the structure of the contest. For example, if you want to up your presence on Twitter, you might ask readers to tweet about your book in order to enter. If your goal is to grow your newsletter, you might make signing up the requirement to enter the contest. As for promotional items, standing posters are worth laminating so they aren’t ruined by weather or spilled drinks. 24x16 inch posters are good for outdoor events and window displays while 18x12 inch posters are better for display tables. Regardless of where you are, it’s important to have free promotional items that prospective readers can take with them, as it might spur them to remember they were interested and buy from you later. Bookmarks are also great for leaving at local libraries and bookstores.
And now, as far as actionable information goes, you’ve read The Tao of Book Publicity. If you liked this and found it useful, please share it on your socials and with your friends. You can sign up for my newsletter by scrolling down. If you have any books you’d like to see on Too Busy for Books, you can contact me here. I’d love to hear your recommendations!
Thanks for reading,
--Jack