When I first decided I wanted to work in publishing, I assumed I wanted to be an editor. I remember sitting in a restaurant with a friend, floundering because I had no idea what I wanted to do, and thinking, well I like books, maybe I should work in publishing? I applied for a few editorial jobs, didn’t get them (was convinced my lack of English degree was the reason, which it probably wasn’t), and then had a mini breakdown about the fact that I was never going to become an editor and my dreams were dashed. Ah, the benefits of hindsight…
Because, as it turns out, there are a whole host of jobs in publishing – something I was unaware of in my early twenties, when I first decided this was the industry for me. I didn’t even know what a book publicist was, until I started working as one. And I’m still not very good at summing up, in a quick, two-sentence reply, what a book publicist does, when people outside the industry ask what my job is. Because it is so many things. It is writing press releases. It is coming up with feature ideas. It is pitching authors for radio interviews, it is trying to convince a reviewer to review this author’s book, as opposed to the many others that are published in the same month. It is organising events and schedules, it is meeting journalists, it is (occasionally) going to parties in high heels. It is making sure you are there for the author and that you listen to their ideas, that you support them before an event or interview, that you read the short stories or features they write and help them craft the idea into something the editor will be happy with. It is building and maintaining those relationships. And it is more than all that, too, depending on the day!
A lot of the time, a debut author will be surprised that they have a publicist. I’ve had conversations with many new authors where they wonder what it is a publicist does, and what they are expected to do, as the author. It is something that can feel a bit closed off, until you are thrown into the deep end. But
