RESOURCES SECTION/PUBLICISTS

One of the most helpful sections in the market guide--aside from the market info--is the Resources for Writers section. It is filled with hundreds of resources to help writers with almost any need or interest they might have associated with writing. One such section is the listing of publicists under "Promotion: Publicists." It lists a growing number of companies and individuals that provide publicity services for book authors. Some of you may be asking, "Why do I need a publicist--I thought the publisher provided someone to fill that need." While it is true that the larger companies have an in-house publicist, many of the smaller publishers do not. Even if they have a publicist, that person will have to handle the publicity needs for all that publisher's authors. More and more authors are hiring their own publicist who will focus more directly on the unique publicity needs of that author. The important thing to remember if you hire an outside publicist is that that person needs to coordinate their plans with the plans of the in-house person. For information on these publicity specialists, see that section in the front of the market gude.