To My Dear Colleagues in Publishing,
I know many of you are looking at this Books section and wondering how the hell you are going to make any noise for your titles considering there's so much on the page -- videos, slide shows, reviews, link outs, splashes all of it changing before you've even had a chance to read something you heard about on a publishing blog, which by the way, is at least a day behind everything else on the web.
So let me see if I can offer you a little guidance, because there are a bunch of surprises.
#1. This is NOT a book review section. Let me say that again, because I know about 72,000 publicists just plotzed because they have no idea what to do other than ask for a review. Huffington Post Books is not a review -- there's a reason those sections in newspapers are dropping like flies. Book reviews tend to be conversation enders, and when you're living in the age of engagement, a time when people are looking for conversation starters, that stance gets you nowhere.
And now you're thinking, If I can't send you books to review, how does anyone get attention for them on your site?
I thought you'd never ask.
#2. Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog. You, your authors, your authors' friends. And especially editors. Yes, you can come and blog about the books you love, the ones you are publishing, just make it clear to the reader who you are and what your relationship to the book is. Look. At some point, you got that manuscript or proposal in from an agent, you fell in love with it so madly that you were willing to face the firing squad (aka acquisition board) in order to sign up the book. To get past that hurdle you had to be a hell of an advocate, and you had to believe deeply in the author you were asking the company to invest in--because your job depends on your instincts being right. And when your life depends on that decision-making ability, you have to speak more passionately and eloquently about that book than than anyone else can. Don't you think readers of the books section will be moved by that? I do. Take a look at Bob Miller's piece about Joann Davis's book if you need an example. He's ahead of the game as usual.
#3. If you're not willing to step out from behind your desk, if you're not willing to let the world know how you feel personally about the books you stake your job and reputation on every day, then ask a blogger to review a book. But be careful how you do it (publicists, sit down and hang onto your desk, I'm about to make your already overwhelming job harder). If you think you're going to send a generic pitch to a blogger, take a look at Jonathan Fields' piece to find out what can happen. The web is all about authentic relationships, so start creating them. Human to human, not "corporate identity" to "potential publicity vehicle."
#4. Forget the publication date. (Sorry, watch for fainting publicists again.) Ten days before is not enough. Four weeks before is not enough. Between two and four months--you heard me, two to four months. Around the time you're thinking of sending to long lead magazines (for any lay readers, that's the monthly magazines, and we pitch them about 4 months before publication date) is when buzz on the Internet needs to start because remember, when the editors and producers you contact begin thinking about whether or not they are going to have your author on TV or feature your book in their magazine, they're on Google looking for early buzz.
When was the last time a good old fashioned pub date blast really worked (unless you're Dan Brown or Sarah Palin)? Does a book even stay in a store long enough for it to work? Arianna said the following at a recent Publishers Lunch, "From publication date to oblivion, you have about three weeks to make a book work." Now is that really long enough?
#5. Start a conversation with our readers. For the first time, you can reach your readers directly instead of waiting for a large chain store or a major media outlet (getting that is like winning the lottery) to promote a book to the point that it becomes visible. Huffington Post had 27 million unique visitors last month and 2 million unique comments. These are book-loving and idea-hungry readers. Invite feedback. Ask their opinion. Tell them what you love in books, what gets you out of bed in the morning, but whatever you do, speak personally, authentically and from the heart because they can smell an adapted press release a mile away.
Next time we'll talk about your Facebook pages. Oh boy do we have some work to do.
Cassie Ammerman: STRIP & REBIND: Why Publicists Love the Word "No"
There is a word that publicists love almost as much as "yes." And it's "no." Seems counterintuitive, right? But it's true. There is little I love more than a solid "no."
Natalie Portman: Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals Turned Me Vegan
Jonathan Safran Foer's book Eating Animals changed me from a twenty-year vegetarian to a vegan activist.
Richard Nash: Want To Sell Books? Start Gathering Fans
That pain in our foot? It's not outsiders stomping on it, it's us, shooting ourselves.
Attention Fellow Book Lovers: HuffPost's New Books Section Is Here
Announcing My First Pick for the HuffPost Book Club: In Praise of Slowness
Loading comments… 
Buzz can be every bit as misleading as publicists
My other role as a reviewer is to really encourage good writing, good editing and good book production
Blogging is a better use of time than doing a bookstore tour or other traditiona
Steve is a writer, who is blogging three-seri
Since Steve launched his blog in June, he's connected with thousands of readers - some long-time fans, and some new readers of his work.
And yes, I'm a publicist working with Steve. I'm not posting this comment here just to promote his site, but more to show it as an example of what authors can be accomplish
It takes times. Read Jonathan Fields' (who Amy references
I moved to my own small press, BelleBooks
My press's model is based on reaching readers, not bookstore shelves.
We Tweet, we Scribble, we post on Facebook, we blog, and we are building an enormous network of book-blogg
And it's working.
There's a vast world of bloggers out there, all talking to each other about the books they love and the reasons they love certain books. Many of those novels are not on the radar of major reviewers or publishers
And a growing army of readers who don't need a bricks-and
Deborah Smith, editor, publisher, author
bellebooks
When publishers take the time to add human interactio
Blogging/a
Blogging is interactiv
#4 should be Pre-empt (not Forget) the Publicatio
Blogging helps build community, but it's not always effective at getting people to go out & buy books. Which is why I tell my authors to do real-world events in addition to maintainin
It's true that readers can smell an adapted press release a mile away. Sometimes they're not even adapted--m
Of everything you said the two week comment is so critical! No other industry in the world thinks 2 weeks is enough to do anything for a product. Even 2 months is short. It takes at least 6-8 weeks for anything to even reach pubic consciousn
And giving a book 2 weeks of coop is equally bizarre- just as a few people start to read it and talk about it - its gone. It also forgets about all the people who buy the book and don't start reading it that day - but don't even get to it for weeks.
All this is part of the reason that trade paperbacks seem to do so well when they catch on - it's because bookseller
I hope everyone reads your column -and the ones to come - and you continue to help those of us who are so very desperatel
nice ;-)
I'm an occasional HuffPo blogger as well as the Executive Editor at Other Voices Books, an indie press with IPPY, Lambda and SCIBA awards under our belt and a small budget that makes me love all things online, i.e. free. I'm also a fiction writer with my second book coming out in May. These opportunit
Meanwhile, how do we get started?
And thanks for putting this out there!