The PR Conundrum

 

Well, it's that time of year again. Time for me to start the PR work for my latest book, "Everyone's Gone to the Moon." You would think by now that I would be an old hand at this after 13 books. Plus all of my media connections. Turns out, the PR game is constantly changing and using media connections is getting more and more difficult.

I'm working on a new 10-part (maybe more) podcast series for the book, book trailers, TRYING to learn the ins-and-outs of social media promotion, the usual, but when it comes to good old fashioned media - radio, tv, newspapers (online, too), magazines - I am finding that more and more I'm getting the response, "There are too many books out there", even from the media contacts I have made over the years.

What I'm seeing is that media outlets are getting bombarded by book review and interview requests. According to my sources, it's not only the sheer number of requests they receive each month, but also because many books they receive have not been vetted or edited and the media outlets do not want to take the chance of getting burned, so their response is to refuse considering spotlighting any new releases.

Was it the pandemic that caused this sudden burst of authors hitting the scene or have I been too self absorbed in my own writing and PR work to notice the dramatic rise? Whatever the reason, the market is really tight out there and conventional media attention is waning, falling by the wayside like AM radio when FM caught on.

Public relations work for a book is, to me, like climbing Mount Everest - uphill all the way. This old dog is still trying to learn the ropes of PR work online and through social media (it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.) The publishing companies do help some, but it all boils down to the author doing the grunt work and breaking that PR bubble.

I'd love to hear what all of my author friends out there have to say about the PR conundrum and how it's going for you.

Until next time...