Q&A: PJ Nunn Talks About Book Publicity

PJ Nunn of BreakThrough Promotions, located in Texas, answered our questions about what a publicist can do for book authors.

1. Tell us about your publicity company and its focus.

BreakThrough Promotions was started literally as a favor for a friend who felt uncomfortable trying to set up book signings for herself when her first novel was published. I was a freelance writer at the time and offered to help. Things just fell into place.

2. Why did you enter the field of book/author publicity?

As you can see from the above, it just happened. I’m a writer and love mysteries, but my background is in counseling. I have a MA in counseling psychology and somehow it seems strangely applicable to what I do now.

3. Who needs a publicist?

Any author who is serious about a long-term career as a novelist needs someone to bring a knowledgeable and objective opinion to their projects. That person may be a friend or an agent who’s more actively involved in the career planning than most. Or it may be a publicist. Different authors have distinctly different needs.

4. Have you ever taken on a book you weren’t thrilled about? How do you handle that issue, if you have?

I’m not quite sure what you mean by “not thrilled about.” I represent lots of books – many different kinds – and they’re not all books I’d choose to read for myself, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have value. My job isn’t to love the book, although many people seem to have that thought. My job is to help the author match the book with a target audience who is likely to buy it.

5. How does a publicist get started in this field, especially when many of the major houses have their own publicity departments?

I work with the publicists at many of the major houses every day. They have huge lists of authors and very little time. There’s no way any of them can really give any one author/book the attention that it needs to get a place in today’s market. Not because they’re not good – but because there are only so many hours in a day.

Interestingly enough, over the years I’ve hired a number of people who either had marketing degrees or expressed an interest in getting started in the field. But none of those people are the ones who really make a success of the job. I’m not entirely sure why, other than they frequently ran into obstacles that didn’t fit what they’d been taught or what they’d heard. Maybe it was a matter of not bridging the gap between standard marketing and book marketing. They may share some factors—but they’re not all the same.

If someone is serious about getting into the field, my best suggestion is to find someone who’s already been there and done that and hook up with them, either as a mentor or forge an apprenticeship of some sort. To be successful in this or any field, you have to know the industry and the players.

6. What are the major challenges a publicist faces with a new/emerging author?

Unrealistic expectations. It’s always hard when I get a client who’s new to actively marketing, but not new to the industry at large. Often they’ve attended conferences, have writer friends and have heard a lot of opinions about marketing. It’s easier to work with someone who knows nothing—than to work with someone who thinks they know. That may sound harsh. I’m not sure how to say it better, though.

Maybe it’s easier to say that there are two types of publicist services out there. Some are incredibly costly, but they’ve been active in the industry for a long time and they pretty much “know their stuff.” If you hire one of those, you’re paying not for time or even results. You’re paying for expertise.

Then there are a number of others who are much more affordable, but to get the best from that arrangement, you should know what you want/need because you’re not paying so much for expertise, but for effort. In other words—tell them what you want done and they’ll do it, but they may not always know or offer suggestions as to what best to do.

I believe BreakThrough Promotions falls somewhere between the two. Certainly when we started out, I didn’t have the expertise so clients were paying primarily for the “doing” of what they wanted. Over the years I’ve gained considerable expertise but I still run the company more on a “get what you pay for” basis, largely to keep the services more affordable for the authors I want to represent.

Be leery of anyone who wants to tell you what to do, but also be cautious of anyone who doesn’t have an opinion. A good publicist might not work for you but should always work with you.

7. Please explain what a publicist does for authors and their books?

That differs from one to the next. But primarily, a publicist should be able to place information about the book and the author in venues that result in sales. The overall plan is to show the product to the audience.

In more practical terms, a publicist gets publicity. That may come by arranging booksigning events or speaking engagements, book reviews or articles in print publications, radio or television interviews and a variety of other options.

8. What is the average leadtime you want/prefer to do a good promotion before the book launches?

Ideally, we have information about a book approximately 6 months prior to the publication date. There are variances in timing depending on what the author wants us to do, but large media, print in particular, work months ahead so if you hope to get coverage, they’ve got to have information long before the book is out. The same can be true for scheduling events, especially in the New York or Los Angeles areas.

9. What advice would you give an author on how to help them market their book?

That’s a very broad question and hard to answer specifically because again, it depends on what the author hopes to achieve and what the book is.

Probably the most important things would be don’t wait till the book comes out to start planning, don’t minimize the importance of promoting it as in, “It’s my first book, no one’s heard of it so there’s not much I can/should do until I’m better known.” You get better known by promoting it. Also, don’t neglect to promote yourself as well as your book if you’re planning a career. Get a website professionally done and present yourself as the bestselling author you hope to become.

Remember that when you write it, it may be personal, but when you’re marketing, it’s business.

10. What is the biggest mistake most authors make in promoting their book?

Oh if there were only one! There are so many possibilities, but here are a few most frequent: —Waiting until after the launch to admit they need help. —Not planning ahead to set money aside for important elements such as a professional photo. —Not understanding the markets and the need for professional behaviors. —Focusing on only one venue, such as only looking for print markets.

11. How do you help your authors prepare for an interview? What do you suggest a shy/introverted author do to prepare for an interview?

We do provide some tips for interviews, particularly broadcast interviews. We often set new clients up to be interviewed by staff or even particular market hosts that we know who’ll help ease them into the process. If someone really struggles in that area, we strongly recommend investing in an hour or two with a media coach.

12. Do you help authors develop and learn how to relate to their ‘platform,’ their target audience?

As needed. Sadly, not many ask much about that, but we do try to provide opportunities to learn about things such as author/series branding and are working on putting together some teachings that will be available by CD or DVD along those lines.

13. What is the most important question an author should ask when interviewing a prospective publicist?

Wow, that’s a great question. The most important. I’m not sure I can narrow it down to one single question, but I believe we have a lot more success when the authors ask several questions. I love it when authors approach me with an obviously well-thought-out approach to what they’d like to do, then ask for input. Can we do this? Is it realistic? Is there something else that might add to this plan? What’s the time frame? Things like that.

All too often they tell me they don’t really know what they want or expect, and just want us to do something. I do understand that it can seem overwhelming, especially with the first book, but that’s where research comes in. The more questions asked, the better idea I can form of what this particular author is looking for and the better able I am to answer them specifically about what we really can and can’t do.

So to answer your question about the most important question, I guess I’d say any question they have but haven’t yet asked. I encourage them to ask and to keep asking until they understand. The relationship between an author and a publicist will only be as productive as the level of communication between the two. I’ve learned that the hard way on both ends of the spectrum.

14. Do you have a PR success story you’d like to share?

There are so many fun things I’ve been part of through the years. Probably my favorite is still Sue Owens Wright. Long ago, she published a wonderful cozy mystery called Howling Bloody Murder, published by the now defunct Deadly Alibi Press (now back in print through another venue). It is a delightful mystery that features a lovable basset hound named Cruiser. She, like most first-time authors, was willing to do just about anything to promote this book, but like many books from small presses still today, we had trouble getting her in the bookstores because of distribution issues.

So we went elsewhere and had her set up at local pet shops, etc. One day she did an SPCA Adopt a Pet day at a local park. Someone saw her and her books there and contacted us, inviting her to be the guest of honor at something called a National Basset Waddle—can you imagine? I laughed and thought it was kind of cute until they started talking details, which included flying her at their expense from California to Chicago, picking her up at the airport in a limo and putting her in a luxury hotel. Then the cherry on top—”bring books to sell, we’re expecting crowds of 6,000 to 10,000 people.”

So because she was willing to do a little day in the park to sell a few books, she was invited to be treated like royalty and sell a ton of books! And she did, and has gone on to publish several other books, both fiction and non-fiction and to win several awards for her writing. She’s still a client of ours today.

15. If an author is interested in hiring you, how can they reach you?

There’s info on our website and a link to our email.

PJ Nunn 469-245-6202

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