Wouldn’t You Like to Be a PR Whore, Too?

First, a word about publicity people. Despite the bad rap they seem to get in most major media, in my experience (I’ve worked in television for about ten years now), most public relations specialists are hardworking people trying to do their best for a client who often doesn’t appreciate, or even realize, how much the PR person is doing for them. The worst publicists I’ve met haven’t been overzealous ones – after all, no matter how many phone calls you get a day, no one can ultimately MAKE you do a story – but rather, inept ones. (I.e. if a publicist can’t spell their own client’s name, I’m certainly not going to bother). So, to start with, “publicity” isn’t a dirty word for me. It’s actually pretty admirable.

Second of all, I tend to agree with the great philosopher, Stephen Sondheim, who wrote, “A vision’s just a vision if it’s only in your head/If no one gets to see it, it’s as good as dead.” (Side note, apparently when Barbra Streisand recorded the above for her “Broadway Album,” she wanted Steve to rewrite the words on the basis of: How can you see a vision? It rhymes, Babs, move on). What this means is, I don’t write my mystery novels merely for artistic fulfillment. I write them so they will be read. And the best way to insure that, is to go out there and publicize the hell out of them.

I will go to any conference, any writer’s group, any event to help sell my book. (Don’t believe me? Ask the folks who saw me at this year’s Malice Domestic shlepping a breast-pump over one shoulder). I participate in every on-line chat that will have me, and a few that won’t. I play the hometown angle in ALL the cities I’ve ever lived in. I hit up the Jewish press even when my books don’t have a Jewish theme — after all, I still do. I don’t just walk into B&Ns demanding to be allowed to sign stock; I make friends and family in other cities go to their local stores and pretend to be me.

When it looked like I might miss a Berkley Prime Crime promotional event due to work commitments (damn, day job), I had Sarah go in my place as a designated representative. Wearing a poster-board my husband made, with a blowup of “Murder on Ice” on the front and one of “On Thin Ice” on the back. (She was crashing at our place in New York at the time… that’ll teach her that “freedom isn’t free,” and neither is the price of being our house-guest).

I have also made my personal assistant from the above-mentioned day-job carry boxes of books for me in the rain, so I can make a signing. My newly retired father now spends several hours of his “free” days sending out press releases for me. My brother makes sponsorship deals with local businesses. I’m even not above using my children for cute photo-ops.

The big question, of course, is: Does any of this do any good? Am I attracting readers, or am I actually repelling people with the hard-sell approach? Are the hours and hours I spend on PR efforts worth it, or would that time be put to better use writing other books? Or, you know… sleeping?

Any opinions would be welcome. And folks with hard numbers, even more so.