The title of this blog might lead you to think that I'm going to say 'there's no such thing as bad publicity' -- well actually there is, bad publicity is when a publicist or publicity department just don't care about what they're promoting. Legend Press might be many things, but uncaring about our books we are not! And that makes me proud.
My thoughts about this have been triggered today by a blog entry from freelance journalist and self-titled 'publishing commentator' Danuta Keane. I've read Danuta's blog before and find it very interesting (she's also got lots of great articles and sites linking-off from her page which are well worth a browse) and this entry was one which struck a particular chord. I just couldn't believe that any publicist (no matter how bad a one!) wouldn't jump on the chance that Danuta had given her to promote one of the books she was responsible for.
Ok, ok I admit it – the real reason I liked the blog entry so much is that it made me glad (and smug) that we're a small, independent press and not the kind of big impersonal one that has to hire half-hearted publicists that don't have an ounce of passion for the titles they're promoting.
Yes I might at times wish we had a huge marketing budget so that we could tell the world about how great our books are and stop at nothing, but it just shows that even companies with big budgets still don't get it right. And that's unforgivable if you ask me. Not only do we act extremely swiftly if/when any promoting-opportunity happens to come our way but we also try our best (despite lack of hours in the day) to be as proactive as possible, leaving no stone unturned, however tiny, when thinking about how best to promote each book.
Our publicity plans for each title are tailored around each book's content, setting, main audience and of course around each author too. We focus very much on the personal approach and take time to find out about each publication/blog that we are sending review copies to so that we can write personal letters to accompany the copies. We'd certainly never ever respond to a direct offer of help with a blanket, non-tailored boring press release like the response that Danuta received.
Right, I'm off to find some other case-studies of people not doing their jobs well as I found it remarkably cheering!
Emma
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