Cherry Hill, NJ -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/10/2019 --According to the CEO of book marketing firm Smith Publicity, Dan Smith, there are many misconceptions and negative stereotypes about both the craft of book publicity and professional book publicists. He believes authors are often reluctant to engage a book promotion firm because of certain myths about book publicists that are created in part because of the very nature of publicity and public relations work, as well as portrayals of publicists in films and television.
"When authors don't trust publicists because of negative perceptions," says Smith,"they often end up launching their books without adequate support, resulting in dismal sales and no media coverage."
Smith notes five common myths about book publicists:
1.Book publicists aren't trustworthy, operate as shady professionals, take money and offer no guarantees of any results.
Smith believes that publicity and PR face this type of issue more than some other industries, and that it is in large part prompted by the fact that in most cases, publicists actually do not offer no guarantees of results.
"Many professionals including financial advisors, attorneys, and even physicians and psychologists offer no guarantees of results," notes Smith. "Book publicity shouldn't be viewed any differently."
Regarding the overall perception of publicists, Smith points out a February 2019 article in The Guardian that offers insights into how publicists are portrayed in films. Part of the article states:
"Why do publicists get such terrible publicity? Some of the screen's most disreputable characters are press agents, despite it being the profession best placed to improve its own image. In film and TV, PRs tend to be venal and corrupt at worst, damaged or ditzy at best."
2. Book marketing and book promotion never produce significant book sales.
Smith says: "While it's true that industry statistics about the average number of books sold are sobering, and selling huge numbers of books is very difficult for any author or publisher, the fact is, it can happen. Even with major media placements, book publicists can't guarantee a huge increase in sales, but there are in fact many authors out there who have sold tens of thousands and many hundreds of thousands of books due to the work of publicists. Smith Publicity has clients who sell 50 to 100 books a week for many months. While it may not add up to tens of thousands, this type of sales volume on a consistent basis is very, very good."
Smith notes an article The Nonfiction Authors Association published on book sales.
3. Anyone can do book publicity.
"For some reason, some people feel that the work book publicists do isn't really very hard, and that almost anyone can do it," Smith says. "They believe they can write a press release and just send it out, and get as good of results as most publicists. This isn't true. Book marketing is a specialized field that requires in-depth knowledge of many areas including journalism, media operations, media relations, a keen awareness of breaking and general news, and how to capitalize on news and even psychology. It also requires many skills such as persuasive writing, oral communications, marketing communications and much more."
Smith adds, "Sure, there are certainly some very successful self-promoters out there, but authors should not make the mistake of thinking that what we do is easy. It is not."
4. Authors should focus only on the highest-level media, anything else is useless.
"This is what used to be called the "Oprah effect," and it will destroy an author's chances of success," comments Smith. "To use the baseball analogy, the best book publicity campaigns are full of singles, doubles, triples and some home runs. Every hit counts, even bunts."
5. A self-published book will never get coverage by a national newspaper or TV show.
Smith notes that, "This was indeed true at one time. Many years ago it was very difficult to get self-published books and authors major media coverage. But the industry has changed dramatically, and the stigma against self-published books is long gone. Today, media look for quality books, quality content, and expert authors. They no longer immediately turn a book over to see who published it."
About Smith Publicity
Smith Publicity is the most prolific book marketing firm in the publishing industry. Since 1997, the firm has promoted over 3,500 books. An "equal opportunity" book marketing operation, Smith Publicity promotes books from major publishers as well as quality self-published titles of all genres. Website" www.SmithPublicity.com. For additional information email: info@smithpublicity.com.