Guest Post & Giveaway: A Publicist*s Dream Part 2 by Amy Green of Bethany House Publishers
We finish the week with Part 2 of "A Publicist's Dream: How to Help Authors" by Amy Green of Bethany House Publishers. Don't forget the giveaways associated with these posts!
continued from Part 1 . . .
Don’t be Entitled
Hear this in love, okay? Sometimes it can be a little hard to know how to respond to the (many) messages and emails I get asking for free books. I’d love to approve all NetGalley requests and give every blogger copies of all our books and provide a truckload to each and every retired reader in the United States. Seriously.
But since that conflicts with my goal of helping our authors have successful careers, I just can’t. I know many people understand this, and I’m never offended when someone makes a request. I just want to impress on them that my first duty is to support our authors, so I may need to say no.
Again, it’s perfectly fine to ask an author if they need an influencer and to enjoy the free books you get through blog tours. Just don’t act like you expect it, and consider showing your support of favorite authors by buying their books. (Even as gifts for others if you get free copies already.)
Buy in Bookstores
I know, online retailers are just a click away, and it’s fine to order books there. On the other hand, Amazon’s not going out of business anytime soon…but your local chain or independent Christian bookstore might. The more stores that are open, the more books get sold, the happier authors are.
Be an Advocate for Christian Fiction
Some people aren’t sure what Christian fiction actually is. (Or what it is in this century.) You can serve as the introduction. Give books as gifts. Talk up your favorites. Encourage and author with a personal message. Find out what a reader likes in general market fiction and suggest a similar Christian fiction title. Get younger readers hooked on the genre. Authors love it when you send new fans their way!
Again, thank you so much—you’d be amazed at how often stressed or discouraged writers will tell me that it was readers like you who helped pick them up again. What you do matters, and all of us in publishing are grateful.
Wishing you many good books in the future!
Do you have any other thoughts on how to be an advocate for Christian fiction?
- Amy
About Amy
Amy Green is the fiction publicist at Bethany House. Her typical day might involve planning book tours, handling media requests, interacting with reviewers, answering author questions about marketing, and other tasks designed to introduce readers to great books. Outside of work, you can find her playing board games, baking bread, and bravely weathering Minnesota winters. She blogs every Thursday at bethanyfiction.com—feel free to stop by and comment anytime!
Thank you for joining in on this series from Amy!
Welcome to the "Summer Giveaways" on Just Commonly. There will be multiple prizes and will run through the month of July. For full list of prizes, head to announcement post. (Click on the image above.) For this post, leave a comment for Amy by answering her question, and be sure to enter the entry on the rafflecopter.
One commentator from all of Amy's guest posts will also be randomly chosen to receive a choice of a book from my stash.
Hi Dianna,
ReplyDeleteGood question! The second time a book is sold, the author/publisher doesn't make money from it. That said...there's nothing wrong with buying used books. I do it often! If there's an author you really want to support, consider buying a new book on occasion, for yourself or as a gift, but know that authors - who are also readers - are happy when their books are read, be it from Amazon or a library or a garage sale.
Amy Green
BHP Fiction Publicist