Another perk of the Author's Guild!

We've posted before about the advantages of Authors Guild membership, but member Lois Harris has another example to add: free publicity.

She explains, "In 2006, I joined because I needed a website and didn't have a clue about how to get or build one, and the Authors Guild had a Sitebuilder software program for members. You can play around with different themes, colors, design, etc. I am not a computer type but found the program easy to use, and I'm happy with the results.

"Was I surprised the other day when the AG's marketing communications manager emailed, saying they liked the looks of my website and wanted permission to use it in an ad on the back cover of Poets & Writers Magazine's November/December issue.

"Of course, I said yes —unexpected publicity for my books! I'm tickled. If anyone out there gets or sees the magazine, please email me and let me know how the ad looks."

Calling Clark County authors and illustrators

Here's a sweet promotional opportunity for someone who attends our Southern Network events or other members living in the Vancouver, WA, area! A writer for Vancouver Family Magazine, which is published for parents in the Clark County area, is looking for children's book authors who live in southwest Washington for a feature she's writing. If you're a published author who might like to be interviewed or otherwise featured, contact Pamela Swearingen at info@lavishbookshelf.com

Caroline Sun: How to Work with Your Publicist

Caroline Sun, the Senior Publicity Manager at HarperCollins Children's Books, gave us a much-appreciated glimpse behind the publicity curtain. Here are a few of the highlights:

Your editor will typically introduce you to your publicist 4-5 months before the publication date to share plans, timelines, and initial ideas. He or she will want to know about the author's personal media contacts (if any), the backstory, interesting anecdotes, and realistic pitch angles.

Publicity is the stuff that's open to the PUBLIC: the unpaid appearances, interviews, reviews, etc. Marketing is advertising, store displays, and other paid placements.

Publicists work hard. They send EVERY single galley to all of the trade publications... but the publications then decide what to review--or not. Media coverage of children's book is shrinking, and national radio and TV spots are rare. In other words, if your book doesn't get reviewed and/or you don't appear on the TODAY Show, it doesn't mean your publicist sucks! Publicity is unpredictable. You never know what will hit when.

So, what else is there?

• bloggers and social media
• conferences and networking opportunities
• author communities
• local book festivals
• local author events
• author-planned group tours