book reviews | S J Miller Communications

Advance Book Promotion for Indie Authors

March 17, 2017 by Stacey Miller Leave a Comment

How much advance book promotion do you really need? Can you allot too much lead time and too much of your resources to advance book publicity?

The time to begin a book promotion campaign is before the book’s publication. Every author and publisher knows that. But this is where confusion can set in.

Advance Book Promotion Options Can Be Confusing

For new authors and publishers, it can be confusing to know how long before publication a book promotion campaign should begin. How would you know how much time and money you should invest in advance book publicity?

A Book Publicist’s Take on Negative Book Reviews

July 14, 2014 by Stacey Miller Leave a Comment

By Stacey J. Miller, Book Publicist
S. J. Miller Communications
[email protected]

Book publicists who snare book reviews for authors always want to give novelists and experts what they want: positive, affirmative book reviews. We want authors to feel good about their books, and all book publicists have worked with authors whose egos have been shattered by criticism of their writing. It’s particularly hard for book publicists to read negative book reviews since, as book publicists, we take on only projects in which we strongly believe. That means a negative book review doesn’t only reflect poorly on the author. It also is a statement about a book publicist’s judgment, and a book publicist’s reputation is only as good as the last book he or she promoted…so negative book reviews affect a book publicist’s bottom line, too.

Don’t Frustrate This Book Publicist or Yourself!

July 10, 2014 by Stacey Miller Leave a Comment

By Stacey J. Miller, Book Publicist
S. J. Miller Communications
[email protected]

Don’t frustrate this book publicist or yourself! If you’re seeking traditional book reviews for your novel, then approach book publicists between four and six months before your book’s publication date.

A new novelist just approached this frustrated book publicist to let her know about her upcoming novel. It will be published at the end of July, the author told me with great excitement. And could I work with her to get magazines and newspapers to review her book?

Kirkus is back, and just in time for your book promotion campaign.

January 6, 2010 by Stacey Miller

Well, Kirkus is back. Kirkus, as you know, announced in December 2009 that it would cease publication, but now both the New York Times and Publishers Weekly have announced that Kirkus is still seeking galleys — so maybe it’s not dead after all (or, at least, not yet). According to Managing Editor Eric Liebetrau, another company is in the process of acquiring Kirkus — perhaps in time for your book promotion campaign.

Why can’t I get book reviews?

November 4, 2008 by Stacey Miller

An author emailed me yesterday to complain that his self-published book has been discriminated against by reviewers. “Ive been trying for months to get my latest novel reviewed,” was the gist of his message, “and, so far, I’ve had no luck. Can you help me?”

As a book promotion specialist, I’d love to be able to say, “Sure, I can. Sign this contract, and you’ll have the book reviews you’re seeking in no time.” But, as you probably know, it doesn’t work that way. Rather than take on a client who would surely be disappointed in the results of a book promotion campaign that focused on garnering book reviews, I sent the author an email that said:

Steve Wasserman isn’t happy, and neither am I.

July 24, 2008 by Stacey Miller

Steve Wasserman, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, isn’t happy. According to a July 21 article in Publisher Weekly’s online edition, the Los Angeles Times is cutting out its standalone book review section. Two book review editors will lose their jobs, and countless of publishers and authors will lose yet another opportunity to have their books reviewed by a credible daily newspaper.

February 11, 2008 by Stacey Miller

Well, no. You still have to print galleys if you want such industry publications as “Publishers Weekly” and “Library Journal” to consider reviewing your book. But will that always be the case?

Maybe not.

According to an article in PW Daily, Rosetta Solutions is now providing a service called netGalley that might one day render printed ARCs and galleys obselete. For now, “Publishers Weekly” is using netGalley to capture such information as press materials and promotional plans, when publishers and authors submit their books for review.

https://bookpr.com/1215/

Boston Globe reporter speaks out about book reviews

October 23, 2007 by Stacey Miller

Just read an interesting Boston Globe article, “Internet offers book reviewers a new chapter,” by Alex Beam.

In that article, Beam points out that newspapers accept a lot of advertising dollars in their book review sections. Thus, by trimming back (or by eliminating) their book review sections, they’re actually sabotaging themselves. I never thought about it that way, but now that I have, I’m curious about why newspapers have been so willing to cut out a section of their publications that, potentially, was a moneymaker for them.

Imagine if there were no book reviewers….

April 24, 2007 by Stacey Miller

If you’re conducting a book promotion campaign, you’ll want to read a press release that I received last night and that I reprint here, with the author’s permission.

For immediate release

Last week, the Los Angeles Times folded its book review section into an opinion section, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution eliminated its book review position. Not a good week for book criticism, but not a surprising one, either: in the past few years, newspapers from the Chicago Tribune to the Dallas Morning News to the Village Voice have seen book coverage shrink.

Advance Book Promotion Options Can Be Confusing

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