How book publicity is like the World Cup
Under duress, I watched the World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain yesterday. Okay — so it wasn’t really “duress,” but everyone kept posting about the match on Facebook, and Versus wasn’t re-airing Stage 8 of the Tour de France until 5 p.m., and I was feeling lazy after running 12 miles in the heat, so I figured I might as well subject myself to the drone of thousands of vuvuzelas (yes — there’s an app for that) to see what the fuss was all about.
Of course, all the shots missed / were blocked for just about forever, until Spain finally scored in overtime and broke the stalemate to prevail. Which is sort of how book promotion works.
A book publicist tries to “score” with a lot of media, but it can take a while, and “goals” can be few and far between. Think soccer rather than, say, basketball. And as with soccer (or basketball, for that matter), a failure to score does not necessarily indicate a failure to shoot — it simply means that sometimes, conditions just aren’t right for a goal.
The bottom line is that no book or author is ever a lock for any show, newspaper or website. Nor is there a such thing as “only,” as in “only” online, or “only” a local show — these venues can be as tough to book as any other.
Which isn’t to say that eventually you don’t prevail — and knowledgeable, creative publicists can garner solid coverage of their books and authors — but you just may need a little overtime.
The Book Publicity Blog 
Yen, well said!
Hi Yen,
This analogy is so true!
I tell my authors/clients that PR can be similar to going down the river on a raft. You never know what’s around the next corner — just keep paddling!
Another good sports analogy!
A fresh and timely analogy! Well said.
Someone just asked on Twitter how book publicity is like the Tour de France and — although I think she was probably half joking — there also are some similarities.
One notable feature of the Tour (besides it being three weeks long) is the terrain: there are some flat stages where sprinters dominate, and there are some mountain stages where the ride is more slow and steady (or as slow as a Tour rider ever gets, which, as we saw on Sunday, is still faster than a horse running at full gallop).
In book publicity also, there are last-minute opportunities (i.e., news) where you jump right in with a pitch, and there are also opportunities which are more of a slow build (many print reviews, particularly for long-lead publications).
Very well put. Thanks for this post.
Another analogy to be made. You may not understand the details of the game if you aren’t a book publicity expert, just the big picture. But believe me, all of the footwork you see, all of the passing–it serves a purpose and is an essential part of the game.
Ah, yes — quite right!
This is a wonderful analogy and is so true.
I love it, back to the play !
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A book publicist tries to “score” with a lot of media, but it can take a while, and “goals” can be few and far between. Book Editor JobsSomeone just asked on Twitter how book publicity is like the Tour de France and — although I think she was probably half joking — there also are some similarities.