A Children's Book Marketing Director Shares Advice for Working with Your Publicist

Tips from Amy Storey of Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

When children’s book authors or illustrators hire me to support them with extra publicity, that doesn’t mean they don’t already have a publicist. They do. They have their publisher's publicist, too.

So how can my clients, or any children’s book creators, successfully work with their publisher’s publicist to maximize efforts and strategies for a book launch?

One of my favorite industry people (who I just recently met in person at NCTE!!), Amy Storey, the Marketing and Publicity Director at Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, shares a VERY thorough response to this question.

I asked her permission to post the entirety of her reply. (She said yes.)

Here’s what Amy says:

What your publicist can do for you:

• Provide you with a copy of your publicity plan (see below).

• Give you a press release and other materials.

• Provide extra bookmarks, postcards, posters, and/or other promo items they may have produced for the book. Same for activity kits and teachers’ guides.

• Send out review copies to key contacts.

• Provide social media and newsletter graphics.

• Provide media support if you’re booking your own appearances.

• Provide signing support at major conferences such as ALA, NCTE, NCSS, etc.

Some tips for authors:

• Provide an early Excel spreadsheet of your key personal contacts for your publicist and sales team (with email and mailing addresses). These are people who know you well and want to help support your book:

  • Media

  • Booksellers

  • Online influencers

  • Important librarians and educators

  • Bloggers

  • Festivals

  • SCBWI friends

• Reach out early to get a sense of the publicity plan for the book.

  • If the plan is a standard plan (i.e., sending the book out for trade reviews and to the standard list of reviewers, influencers) but your book has strong news and seasonal hooks along with indie bookstore and school appeal, consider hiring a freelance publicist to fill in the gaps. That could include additional media outreach, speaking engagements, festivals, and/or school visits tied to bookstores.

• Coordinate any travel plans or outreach with your publicist beforehand so you’re not stepping on toes. The publicist may have better contacts, too.

• Stay in touch with your publicist, but understand that they are extremely busy with multiple titles, authors, and illustrators, and they may not get back to you immediately.

• Don’t be deflated if your publicist hasn’t arranged bookstore appearances. These are very hard to do successfully and often only work if a school visit is tied in or you’re a name who will draw a crowd. Or it’s your local store for a coordinated book launch with family and friends.

Thank you, Amy!

I’ll add a few extra tips for working with your publicist…

• Be organized with your email messages. Summarize questions in one email per week with bullet points or a numbered list. Keep emails brief and to the point.

• Ask for what you want, but don’t expect to get everything.

• Be nice and easy to work with. You don’t have to be a doormat, but you can still ask for what you want with kindness and professionalism.

If you’re wondering what a supplemental publicist like me does for clients, generally speaking, I coach clients on branding, social media, newsletters, and websites, and I solicit extra book reviews and podcast interviews. Reach out if you’re interested in learning more—melissa at imaginationsoup . net.

What questions do you have?

Would you add anything to our advice list?