Are book publicity services worth the cost? If you're an author or aiming to become one, the answer is usually yes. Just look at the competition for book sales or publicity as confirmation. Many authors write books for personal promotion and to sell copies. Becoming a published author automatically gives you a certain amount of publicity that can benefit your business. It would be much harder to achieve the same coverage without a book. The positive effects can be long-lasting. If you’ve already tried to obtain publicity for yourself or your business, you’ll be impressed by how much a book can open new doors.
When evaluating the cost versus benefit of a PR campaign for your self-published book, consider the example set by established publishing houses – nearly all have an in-house publicity team or work with agencies. Getting the word out about a book to its target audience is a full-time job around launch time. While it may be tempting to handle it yourself, there is a lot to consider. Publicists have established networks of contacts in traditional and online media. Creating those lists is time-consuming, and you'd need to do it while juggling other priorities and responding to the first-round inquiries from the media.
If your budget allows you to work with a PR firm, you will benefit from having many minds working on your project. Their brainstorming sessions bring expertise in many genres. Creativity often wins the day, and promoting your book with an exciting and attention-getting campaign will give it a strong start. Defining goals in advance is one of the best ways to get your money's worth. Some authors may aim to sell as many books as possible, while others are more interested in PR. Being clear about your target readers is the first step. While handling book publicity DIY is possible, success will likely be inconsistent.
Everyone learns on the first attempt, but do you want to take that chance while promoting a book you've spent months or years writing? When you're earning coverage from others, there are no guarantees. It's a dynamic process that changes over time. Some parts will go according to plan, while others will need modification along the way to become a success. It's difficult to predict how well your book will do, but the only way to find out is to launch and promote it. Because you’re relying on the opinions of others (editors and producers) some luck is involved, but pitching experience helps.
