By Catalina Alvira

(Note from Caren: Be sure to check out the first post here before reading this awesome post.)

I work for a publicity and marketing firm that specializes in arts & entertainment clients. It’s a new world for me, and it’s fascinating to witness the parallels that exist between the publishing industry and the PR/marketing industry.

Publicists “pitch” feature story ideas to newspaper and magazine editors in much the same way that agents “pitch” their clients’ books. Advertising reps generate advertising budgets and campaigns in much the same way that publishers generate advertising budgets and campaigns for their book releases. Marketing executives coordinate with printing & distribution companies to disseminate marketing materials in much the same way that authors market their own book readings through fliers and postcards. And at my company, we’re always brainstorming new promotional ideas—2-1 deals, discounts; contests; partnerships with other organization for free give-aways—in order to come up with fresh, inventive ways to generate word-of-mouth “buzz” about our clients and their events.

However, despite the similarities, I quickly learned that each department at my new job—publicity, advertising, marketing, and promotions—has very specific responsibilities that aren’t interchangeable.

For example, don’t ask a publicist about advertising rates. Don’t ask a marketing exec about how to pitch to a magazine editor. And don’t ever ask an advertising rep to brainstorm creative ways to get the word out for “free.” Free? Advertising reps are used to dealing in increments of thousands. “Free” isn’t in their vocabulary.

So whether you’re discussing promotional ideas for your book with your publisher’s publicist, or you’re considering hiring your own publicist, it’s important to understand the distinctions between PR, ads, marketing, and promo. And even if you’ve resigned yourself to the homemade “do-it yourself” marketing campaign, I hope you’ll follow along.

Once we’ve hammered out the differences between PR, advertising, marketing, and promotions, I’ll be dishing out some specific trade secrets in my next blog posts – specifically for all you renegade guerilla marketing fans.

Public Relations – PR is the catch phrase for “dealing with the press.” Most publicists are exclusively interested in gaining press coverage for their clients in the various media outlets: newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV. This is free coverage—articles that staff reporters and freelance stringers write about you—the debut author—in their magazines and newspapers. Newspapers and magazines are always hungry for fresh story ideas. It’s the job of your publicist to “pitch” to these media editors as a means of gaining free press coverage for you and your book.

Most publicists have established relationships with the same newspaper/magazine editors and TV/radio producers. Much like agents, who pitch the same publishing editors over and over, publicists pitch to the same newspaper editors and radio producers over and over. Maybe it’s a feature article with a great photo and the perfect tie-in (see more about “tie-ins” in my earlier post). Or maybe it’s just an inside blurb. Either way, PR is the art of getting media coverage—and getting it for free.

In the next blog post, I’ll cover specific ways that you can generate your own grass-roots PR campaign, including who to pitch at your local newspaper, the “art of the pitch,” and the importance of a stellar author photo.

Advertising – This is an easy one. Ads.

Advertising reps develop effective advertising campaigns on behalf of their clients. Advertising reps know the exact price—net and retail—of every print ad in every size in every newspaper and magazine in their market. They can tell you the spread in price between a black and white 2” listing in the Chicago Tribune weekday edition versus a 3” x 5” listing in color in the Chicago Sun Times Sunday edition. They know which radio spots to run during which hours of the day in order to reach the appropriate demographic. They know how to develop online campaigns for half the cost of print campaigns. And they’ll be the first ones to tell you that TV advertising is way out of your budget.

Media buying is big business. Advertising agencies get a commission on every ad placed, and they usually work with advertising budgets in increments of thousands. And that’s on a weekly basis. That said, it’s a fascinating time right now in the advertising industry. The internet is literally wiping out Goliath print conglomerates like the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times by stealing away its readers and its advertising dollars. Now, more than ever, even poor little authors with shoe-string budgets can create effective advertising campaigns all on the web. Next blog post, I’ll give you some tips on how to create your own advertising campaigns with a few hundred dollars—and in some cases—for free.

Marketing – Marketing focuses on reaching intended demographics through targeted strategies. Advertising is one form of marketing. But marketing also involves the production and distribution of fliers or posters to specific locations and organizations. It can also include email or mailing “list” rentals, which allow you to obtain the contact information (email and mailing addresses) of a specific group of a desired demographic.

If you’re printing fliers and dropping them off at local coffee shops to market your next literary reading, you’re already engaged in a marketing campaign. Next blog post, I’ll give you some creative tips on other guerilla marketing techniques—as well as ways to effectively market yourself on the internet.

Promotions – Promotion can be a broad term that encompasses all of the above. But usually, promotions deal with marketing a product through rewards, discounts, rebates, and free give-aways.

2-1 ticket deals. Half-priced products if purchased before a deadline. One-day sales. Charity events with tie-ins to client’s events. Contests in which the winner receives an all-expense trip to Cancun. All examples of promotions.

The good news is that you don’t have to cough up a free trip to Cancun to get people chatting about your new book (although it never hurts). If you’ve got a blog and some free time, there are tons of creative promotions you can offer to help generate “buzz”.

But that’s all in my next blog post… stay tuned.

By Kelsey Timmerman Blog (Kong) vs. Website (Godzilla) You’re a writer, which monster do you want on your side? WEBSITES (Godzilla) Websites are like Godzilla. They’ve been around longer, surviving the ice age of the internet until the U.S. military turned them loose. They took the world by storm and they breathe fire (well…maybe not that last bit). Websites have slightly evolved overtime, but for the most part, they do the scaly, utilitarian job they’ve always done. Scaly Utilitarian My accountant has a website. He says about six people visit it a year, but he has to have one for new clients wanting to checkout his firm. And if my accountant has to have one, you as a writer definitely must have one. As a writer, I haven’t met many of the magazines, newspapers, and now publishing house (thanks Caren!) editors that I’ve worked with, so when I query or pitch them, I’m always sure to send a link to my site. It’s my “Howdy” to the world. A website tells editors who you are and provides links to relevant writing samples or clips. Your fans – and you are so lucky to have lots of them – visit your site to see a list of what else you have available or even where you might be appearing in the media or at an event. My first website was used primarily to promote a travel column that I was self-syndicating. I suppose it had a similar purpose as a site promoting a book, but was far less savvy than a site should be. It was loaded down with content and photos. Last week I registered a new site, because as a freelance writer/quasi-journalist/author I needed something that I could hang all my hats on. As the prolific writer that you are, you will likely write many books, so try to avoid the temptation of registering the site as www.(the name of your first book).com because this will look a little funny when your second book comes out. It’s best to use some version of your name. Unevolved, money pits I registered both of my sites through Yahoo! and built them using Yahoo!’s free Sitebuilder software. I’m sure there are cheaper ways to register and host your site, and better software with which to build it. But I’m by no means a computer guru and it’s all fairly simple for me to operate, so I’ve stuck with Yahoo! Which brings us to the drawbacks about websites: They are somewhat of hassle to maintain and edit. You have to manipulate your file and then upload it to the internet. I update mine every couple of months depending on what I’ve had published recently or what has to change in my bio. They’re not free. I pay about $12/month for mine. BLOGS (Kong) And if websites are like Godzilla, Blogs are like King Kong. They are used to squashing the weak and picking up the ladies. Kong beats Godzilla in popularity any day. Donkey Kong, anyone? We see the human in Kong’s eyes, but not in Godzilla’s cold reptilian retinas. Blogs are constantly evolving and adapting to their surroundings. Picking up ladies Your blog is where you display your voice on a regular basis and win over the hearts of your audience. If you build it they will come. If you post on it daily they’ll keep coming back. The more you post the more you’ll show up on google searches for random things like “OneDerWear” disposable underwear (look at #6). And you never know who might stumble on your blog. I was contacted by an agent because of my blog Where Am I Wearing? before I even started looking for one. Squashing people and things I’ve campaigned for the return of Mrs. Butterworth’s boobs and taken on ridiculous Spammers. Blogging also gives me a chance to exhaust the heck out of any metaphor I choose with no real professional consequences. Evolve A blog helps you evolve your fan base and your writing. I find writing about something completely different than what I’m supposed to be working on a good way to get my writing wheels turning. On numerous occasions, I’ve gone back and recycled posts or pieces of posts for actual work. The great thing is that blogging is easy and it’s free! You can post to your blog from anywhere, even from your cell phone. I’ve used both Word Press and Blogger and their both relatively user-friendly. You couldn’t go wrong with either one. Posting to your blog is easy, but you don’t have as much control of the layout and overall appearance. They often look less professional than a well done website. I can’t stop playing with my monkey Writing a blog can become real work or, even worse, you could become a blog-o-holic and waste time writing pointless posts instead of working on your book. Some writers believe that you should save your words for your work. Which monster do you want in your corner? I say, both. After all, who could stop the one-two punch of the Kong-Godzilla dream ticket or – depending on whom the delegates side with – the Godzilla-Kong dream ticket? Not this author. Kelsey Timmerman