Should An Author Hire Their Own Publicist?

·         Hiring your own publicist to focus on your title can only help the exposure of your book.

·         Even though the publisher will provide some publicity support for your book, keep in mind that the publicist assigned by the publisher will also have other titles they are responsible for which cuts into the amount of time they can actually focus on your title.

·         There are a number of advantages for hiring your own publicist:

o   Since you are contracting with an outside publicist, you will have the ability to have a greater amount of attention focused exclusively on your book.

o   You can straightforwardly dictate the direction you wish the publicist to go in.

o   The publicist will be held accountable to the terms and outcome that you both have agreed upon in your contract for your book’s publicity.

o   The PR firm may have contacts that the publisher doesn’t have.

o   You can determine the length of time you wish the publicist to devote attention to your book; as long as you’re willing to pay, they will keep pitching, provided it makes sense.

o   As a contractual agreement, the author can insist upon seeing a list of media who the publicist has pitched and the results.

o   The author can demand that the publicist continue to research new media outlets and to pitch them.