Book publicity tips: Nodes and Influencers

As a book publicist, I’ve learned that embracing social media is an essential component in developing buzz about my clients’ projects. At one time – as recently as five or six years ago – getting a title reviewed by critics associated with newspapers and other dead tree publications was the only way that you could establish an audience for a publication. Now, in an age where, thanks to blogs, podcasts and microblogging platforms, everyone is a critic, these sorts of reviews are useful, but not mandatory. The traditional gatekeepers have been joined by the fans, readers and a whole legion of creatives and Influencers, and this new environment presents both promise and peril for the publicist.

Properly identifying key audiences is the first step I take when developing a campaign. In addition to listing the obvious audiences (core genre, fans of the author’s prior work), I always make a list of what I call “nodes” for each title. I define these nodes as large, general concepts that together form the story told by the author. For instance, a fantasy novel about an adventurer who discovers a hidden city beneath the earth could include such nodes as “underground,” “mythology (hollow earth),” “fantasy,” and “journeys.”For each of these nodes, I then work out a list of potential audiences, and how I might approach them.

By identifying and dissecting the general thematic concepts behind any work you can increase your potential audience many times over. In this day and age, just going for the “easy” genre reviews alone is criminal. The internet allows an individual practitioner to make contact with thousands of people and build networks of potential advocates for each and every title.

Identifying these advocates, these Influencers is very important. I look for the movers and shakers who seem to pop up again and again in newsgroups, bulletin boards, blog comments and more. What’s more, I look for people who are sincerely interested in my title, people with an emotional and intellectual investment in the node I’ve developed, as well as the means to tell the world about it. You need to include podcasters, bloggers and other broadcasters in your media plan. Your influencer should have access to at least one of these social mediums, as well as the willingness to utilize them on behalf of your title.

There has been tons of stuff written about how to properly approach bloggers, podcasters and other Influencers, and to tell you the truth, I don’t think that there’s any “right” way to do it. I think that at the end of the day it’s about sincerity. You, as the publicist, need to care about what you’re offering – in most times this is media content in the forms of author contact and potential review copies – and to approach people as you’d like to be approached. Carefully study what your potential Influencer’s “beats” are, and don’t approach him or her unless you are sure your pitch is appropriate.

If you’ve done this, you need to give your Influencer everything he or she needs to spread the word about your title: enable them to evangelize. If they need author contact, make sure they get it. They need an extra copy of the book to give to a friend or maybe for a contest? Make sure they get that too. I try to serve in a support capacity at all times because at this point the Influencer is my “client” too. You should make sure that nothing stands in his or her way to tell the world about your title.

Honesty, sincerity and patience are the hallmarks of this sort of campaign, and here’s where the peril can come in that I referred to in the first paragraph. Taking people for granted – and this includes both blowing off potential interviewers just because their audience is smaller as well as simply assuming that a big Influencer will do what you want – is a sure way to kill your title before it hits store shelves. Remember: for the most part, people like bloggers and podcasters are online because they get a personal sense of satisfaction from what they’re doing that extends beyond simple material compensation. They deserve your respect, and giving them anything less than this can result in repelling the very audience you want to cultivate.

Matt Staggs

mattormeg@gmail.com

Deep Eight LLC