{"id":17357,"date":"2014-03-13T00:30:24","date_gmt":"2014-03-13T07:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=17357"},"modified":"2014-03-13T00:30:24","modified_gmt":"2014-03-13T07:30:24","slug":"do-you-have-the-publicist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/do-you-have-the-publicist\/","title":{"rendered":"You’ve Got the Agent, You’ve Got the Publisher — But Do You Have the Publicist?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"College<\/a>
Son Peter leaves home for college. He’s like the manuscript I just sent off to the publisher — there was no more time to put finishing touches on this grown-up kid. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

You get an idea for a book. You like it a lot. You think people are going to want to read this book. You\u2019re stoked.<\/p>\n

You fret for months and years over how to transform this idea you like so much into a 250-page manuscript that people will actually read. You write the book. You like it. You think maybe you\u2019ve pulled it off.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s time to get an agent.<\/p>\n

You send out dozens of query letters touting your manuscript. You say nice things about yourself and your book, things that in your heart-of-hearts you believe, most days.<\/p>\n

Lots of agents don\u2019t see things the way you do. But one agent does. He likes your book. He takes you on.<\/p>\n

(But maybe you don\u2019t get an agent. In which case, you look for a publisher on your own. You send out dozens more query letters telling publishers all about your book.)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The manuscript for Wrestling with God<\/em> — ready to email to publisher. No more time for finishing touches here either. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You get turned down. But you only need one publisher<\/a>. You snag one. You sign a contract.<\/p>\n

You polish up the manuscript, and email it to your editor. Your Spin class buddy congratulates you. \u201cIt must be like giving birth,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

You tell her that actually, sending a manuscript off to a publisher is more like sending a kid off to college. It\u2019s gone. You\u2019re done. No more finishing touches. If a paragraph is too short or a twenty-something\u2019s hair is too long, forget about it. It\u2019s out of your hands.<\/p>\n

Your partner makes a special trip<\/a> down to the supermarket to buy a bottle of champagne. He raises a glass and toasts you. But he doesn\u2019t much like champagne; he takes a few sips and switches back to the cabernet. You polish the bottle off yourself.<\/p>\n

You have a headache the next day.<\/p>\n

And you\u2019re depressed \u2013 but not because of the champagne. You\u2019re down-hearted because now you have to start the process all over again. You\u2019ve got the agent. You\u2019ve got the publisher. You\u2019ve got the finished manuscript. Your friends are telling you to relax and enjoy the moment. But you can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Because now you need to find yourself \u2013 a publicist.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. It\u2019s not enough to get a book contract these days. This isn\u2019t 1925 and you\u2019re not Ernest Hemingway. You can\u2019t drop your manuscript in the mail to New York, kick back in a Paris bistro, and let your publisher make sure that somebody reads your book.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to get out there and sell that puppy. If you\u2019re lucky, there will be newspaper articles, radio interviews, book reviews and endorsements. Also, book signings, tweets, blog posts, status updates<\/a> and YouTube trailers<\/a>. There will be buzz. But for that to happen, you\u2019ll need a publicist.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lucky, you\u2019ll find a one who likes your book.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re really lucky, all these months and years later, you’ll still like your book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Computer<\/a><\/p>\n

You get an idea for a book. You like it a lot. You think people are going to want to read this book. You\u2019re stoked. Then you fret for months and years over how to transform this idea you like so much into a 250-page manuscript that people will actually read. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,52],"tags":[83,1037,1179,1180,1181,1182,197,53,69],"class_list":["post-17357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-writing-reading","category-the-writing-room","tag-book","tag-book-publishing","tag-finding-a-book-publicist","tag-finding-a-book-publisher","tag-finding-a-literary-agent","tag-publishing-your-book","tag-the-writing-room-2","tag-wrestling-with-god","tag-writing-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}