Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The PR Equivalent of a Hail-Mary?


Now that our contract has expired with the PR firm and we still do not have a new in-house publicist, I'm trying to do a few stunts here and there to get some more notice for The PITA Principle. (I think maybe I picked up a little too much from former boss's boss Barry Pruett, who once flew to New York and stood outside the windows of the Today show waving a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Windows 95 the day the software was released--and got it on camera, I might add.)
My first trick was to send a copy of the book, along with a compelling pitch, to a local media personality who is on TV as well as the radio. Even though Paul Poteet is a weatherman, he has a side "comedy" routine with the traffic guy and engages in a lot of on-air banter with a popular radio morning show personality. I imagine that he is going to bust out laughing at the book's subtitle: How to Work with and Avoid Becoming a Pain In The Ass. Then I hope he's going to mention it on the air. A lot.
So I sent it yesterday and now it's wait-and-see time. I have a few other ideas up my sleeve, which I will reveal as I execute them.
Why am I doing this, you might ask? It's not my job, after all. Because I care too much, dangit. I want this book (and all my books) to sell well. And without a full-time person doing publicity for them, I fear that's just not going to happen. I've already done my part by hiring only authors who have "platforms" for promoting their books. But they can only do so much by themselves. So I'm doing what I can with a little "seagull" (swoop in, swoop out, and leave a big mess) PR.


No comments: