The Muse & the Marketplace 2016

What exactly is book publicity? Why do some books land on NPR, the pages of the New York Times Book Review, and that holy grail—Oprah—while others just seem to...languish? In this session, we’ll first walk through a day in the life of a book publicist. We’ll discuss the creative strategies she uses to garner as much media attention for your book as possible, as well as some of the challenges she faces (and how even the most winning publicity campaigns can’t predict those nebulous market forces!). On the flip side: we will discuss what you as the author can do to improve your chances of exposure--from writing original content to building your platform to setting up your own book tour (or not). By the end of the session, you’ll learn how to start thinking like a publicist and apply strategies to your own work. Led by Patricia Park, author of Re Jane (Penguin/Viking) and a former Random House publicist.