Publicity Question for Weinman-ites

The issue came up the other day on this blog about publicists, and writers who hire their own publicists versus those who rely solely on in-house publicity. I’ve never hired my own publicist and have heard conflicting things about the effectiveness of it. I think Laura mentioned that she’s had great experiences with her in-house staff because of the clout the house has with the media…Some publishing professionals are in the camp that writers should only use their own publicists when they need to take the final step toward reaching the bestseller lists. Perhaps a private publicist can help secure a spot on “Good Morning America” or “The Today Show,” and do that extra bit to help make a writer a blockbuster bestseller, but for a writer who isn’t really breaking out yet it’s a waste of money. You might get some mentions in small newspapers, but no additional major addition that would justify the expense of the publicist …Still, a lot of writers I know disagree with this adamantly, and feel that having their own publicists is a huge advantage. They feel that in-house publicity people are overwhelmed by the amount of books they need to promote and can’t do much more than send out review copies…Anybody out there have positive or negative experiences with hiring publicists? …I also wonder if you feel that having your own publicist causes your in-house publicist to work less on your behalf, or if it has no effect on what they normally do.