BY KATHI KAMEN GOLDMARK AND SAM BARRY

The Author Enablers are here to answer your questions about writing and publishing. Together, Kathi and Sam have more than 25 years of experience in book publishing. Kathi is an author, radio producer and former publicist; Sam is a marketing manager at a major publishing company and a freelance editor. They are also proud members of the Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band founded by Kathi in 1992.

NOTE TO READERS: Our first column addresses a question we've been asked many times over the years. The title and subject of the book have been changed to protect the innocent.

Why wasn't my book a bestseller?

Dear Author Enablers,

My first book was published last year. When the Sparrow Cries Wolf is a 600-page novel about murder and mayhem in a bird-watching club, and everyone I've talked to says it should have been a bestseller. Unfortunately, my publisher didn't do much publicity and the book barely got reviewed. Would it make sense to hire my own publicist to help get the word out?

—A Frustrated Novelist

Dear Frustrated,

First of all, please accept our congratulations. You are something that many people would, um, kill to be (so to speak)—a published novelist! Your storyline sounds unique; we've never heard of anything quite like it, and we read a lot.

Unfortunately, the wall you are hitting is one that debut authors, especially novelists, often encounter. Many new authors have worked so hard and dreamed so long about being published that they have certain expectations that are understandable but also naive.

Here's how it usually works: after a book is acquired by a publisher, a publicity and marketing plan and budget are put together before the manuscript is completed. Plans can change, but the initial budget is based on such factors as sales projections and early media interest. Your company-assigned publicist will start sending out copies of galleys or advance reader editions (ARE) of your manuscript to reviewers several months before your publication date, and once the book is in stores you'll have about six more weeks of her attention before she has to move on to other projects. Keep in mind that this publicist is working on several other books at the same time, has to go to way too many meetings, and in most first-fiction cases is working with a small budget. Perhaps you're beginning to understand why it doesn't seem like much is being done on the publisher end.

There are ways you can supplement your publisher's efforts. Several months before publication, ransack your address book and provide names and addresses of your personal media contacts and any authors or prominent people you know who might give you endorsements; set up some book-signing events in areas where you know a lot of people who are likely to show up; and let your publicist know when and where you plan to be traveling on your own, in case there's media or bookstore interest in other cities. Also, refrain from bugging your publicist to the point where she has to spend so much time talking to you that she doesn't have time to publicize your book and might even grow to dislike you. Here's a top-secret trick we learned from our friend, novelist Lynne Hinton: send her an occasional box of chocolates. Remember, publicists are pros—some better than others, but it's their job—and they're doing their best. Let's hope this is the first of many books you'll be writing, and you want to build good relationships with people in publishing. Not every book is a hit, and many books—the majority, in fact—never make much money. Hang in there.

As for the question of whether to hire your own publicist, this is sometimes a great idea—but not several months after pub date. Save your money, apply butt to chair and concentrate on writing Novel Number Two instead.

Thanks for writing,
THE AUTHOR ENABLERS