Back to the scene of the crime: publishing heads back to Austin

In case you haven't heard, it didn't go so well the last time the publishing industry headed to Austin.

The scene of the crime was SXSW Interactive.

Remember?

New Think; Old Publishers; infamous hashtags (#sxswbp); snarky tweets; frustrated geeks; and another public flogging of the publishing industry.

The Casual Optimist called it a 140 character assassination. Booksquare said "there wasn't a single new think in the room." Medialoper connected "crash" with "burn" in its analysis.

Although I think the panelists were walking into a lion's den at that event, it doesn't change the fact that it produced some very negative press thanks to what many considered to be a lack of new think.

Since then, the clichés have flowed like wine at a book party. “It’s time for publishing to turn the page and embrace digital content delivery.” “Book publishers need to close the book on risky multi-million dollar advances.” Ad nauseum.

This recession has been just that—a wake-up call for numerous industries that have been avoiding change—including publishing. But now that the economy has the publishing industry’s attention, how should we respond?

Would heading back to Austin be a good start?

Many in publishing seem to think so, as a star-studded group of literary agents, editors and authors will be in attendance at the 16th annual Writers League of Texas Agents Conference the weekend of June 26-28th.

The event features provides a full schedule of panels and lectures on a variety of writing and publishing topics, including “Is It Really a Book? How to Tell if Your Big Idea Is Book Worthy” (with Gail Ross), “Publishing Insiders: How Books Are Bought and Published” and “Querial Killers: How NOT to Get an Agent” (with agent Katharine Sands, author of Making the Perfect Pitch).


Perhaps most notably, Michael Murphy, former publisher at William Morrow and founder of Max & Co. Literary Agency and Social Club (love that name), will deliver the keynote speech titled “Sitting in a Cardboard Box, Saying Vroom Vroom & Pretending It’s a Car: Book Publishing 2009.”

“For the last six to nine months, the book business has felt much closer to Revolution than Evolution. It seems that all of us in publishing are obsessively talking about the bottle rather than the wine,” says Murphy. “My talk at the conference could well add to the clutter and confusion as I try to make sense of what's going on. But I also aim to offer a glimmer of hope to any writer aspiring to be read.”

Here's betting Murphy sets the tone for an event that allows us to continue the dialogue on how our industry can evolve in a way that reflects the high level intellect, innovation, creativity and savvy of those working in it.

Those attending the WLT Agents Conference are likely to find fresh ideas, tips for polishing their manuscript, the latest publicity tactics, great networking opportunities, 100 degree heat, Shiner Bock Beer, great enchiladas and an awesome night life.

I'll be looking for some new think and will keep you updated throughout the weekend via our Twitter account and the event's hashtag (#wltcon).

Full conference press release available here.

Quick hits: Kindle 2.0, "How to Publish in a Recession" and farewell to Domino magazine

It’s already shaping up to be a busy week here at Phenix & Phenix and it seems that this is the case with our colleagues elsewhere in the industry! I thought I’d write some brief blurbs on a few headlines that caught my eye this morning:

Kindle 2.0 is here

A couple of years ago the first Kindle "Wireless Reading Device" was released to quite a bit of buzz and mixed opinion. Personally, I’m not sold on it just yet. I love having a real book in my hands and I don’t know that I’d be able to get used to reading a book on a little screen! To date, Amazon has sold over 200,000 Kindles and the features on this new model can only make it more enticing to the gadget lovers among us. The Washington Post has a really nice write up on the new Kindle. Some of the improvements include longer battery life, more memory and “it’s much less ugly.” What do you think? Are you a fan of the Kindle?

"How to Publish in a Recession" series

I’ve been reading this very interesting series on the blog Conversational Reading thanks to a link on GalleyCat. Aptly titled, “How to Publish in a Recession,” Conversational Reading is featuring a series of interviews with publishers at small presses and getting their perspective on what it takes to be successful during an economic downturn. Today’s piece features an interview with Margo Baldwin, publisher and president of Chelsea Green Publishing. Chelsea Green is a small press that focuses on sustainable living and environmental titles. The publisher had a banner year for sales in 2008 (along with several best selling titles in the last few years,) while many of the major publishers have had to restructure. Baldwin has some really interesting thoughts on the future of publishing and the business model of the small press.

Bye-bye Domino

Several of us here at the office were saddened to learn recently that Domino magazine is folding. Another victim of the economic downturn, this Condé Nast publication was a great source of design inspiration and articles on achieving a chic look with pieces from the likes of Target. The New York Times has a lovely story on the magazine and its former editor, Deborah Needleman. The article also provides great insight into the life cycle of a modern magazine.

Book publicity, Facebook, and ELVIS

Yesterday, our friends at Overlook Press had a genius idea for book publicity: hold a Facebook giveaway! While the contest has closed already - it fell, appropriately enough, on Elvis' 74th birthday yesterday - you can follow this link to see how they did it.

The innovative idea even caught the eye of the folks over at GalleyCat, who wrote up a nice post about it. Last I heard, the folks at West Coast Live contacted Overlook about the contest as well!

Book publicists, I think this is a pretty awesome idea for book buzz. Sometimes authors (and even we publicists) don't realize the value of social media when it comes to informing the masses about new books, but clearly, it can have quite an effect...even spilling over into traditional media opportunities.

What are your thoughts?

ICRS: Day 1

In true publicist form, I thought I'd boil down my day one observations into a few bullet points:

- David Tyree's new book, More Than Just a Catch, is going to be a big, big title from Strang this fall. Strang Senior Publicist Woodley Auguste left the floor at 4 PM to head to LA to attend the ESPY awards with Tyree, an event that is a prelude to a very hectic book tour commencing before the Super Bowl hero heads off to training camp. Auguste is orchestrating a savvy launch amisdst challenging circumstances--Strang & Tyree are lucky to have him at the wheel.

- Tony Dungy seems to be making himself at home in the publishing industry. After he and Tyndale launched his blockbuster Quiet Strength at last year's ICRS, he was back on the floor today to sign his new children's book You Can Do It.

- Karen Kingsbury remains one of the most personable best-selling authors within the CBA. She spent Monday bouncing around from booth to booth signing several of her new titles.

- Our press kits went a lot faster than I thought they would. I brought 20 of them with me, dropped them off in the press room yesterday and by 3 PM today there were only three left. Thanks to Katie and DHL for making sure more arrive in the morning (DHL: your thank you is a bit premature).

- One of our clients, Dr. Kevin Leman, was a popular man today--signing copies of his best-selling parenting book from Baker Publishing Group, Have a New Kid by Friday (not a P&P book). I thought about waiting in line to say hi but I knew he'd be disappointed when I told him Tolly didn't make the trip with me.

- Thomas Nelson's absence was definitely felt.

- I had several meetings with publicists, media contacts and publishers who "just LOVE Austin," making me wonder why ICRS, BEA and other industry conferences don't head to town for future events. Why not Austin?

- Though I sense trade shows are starting to lose some of their steam, it is amazing how much a firm like ours can get accomlished at these events. We are able to pack face-to-face meetings with clients, authors, agents, publishers, media contacts, competitors and other industry contacts into a very short period of time and nothing is as powerful as a good personal impression.

ICRS: Day 0

Though ICRS formally gets underway Monday morning at 9 AM, the Sunday before the show is always full of important events. For that reason, I left Austin a day early and took a direct flight from Austin to Orlando (thank you JetBlue!) yesterday afternoon. I got into Orlando about 7:30 PM, checked into the hotel, grabbed dinner and watched SportsCenter before drifting off to sleep. Since we have a nine month old at home, I appreciated every minute of sleep that was available to me.

This year I am flying solo--I usually have Stephanie or another member of our team at the event--but since we've been at several events over the past few weeks and we are in the middle of a full campaign schedule, I decided to make the trip on my own this year.

After checking in at the ICRS registration desk, I dropped P&P press kits off in the ICRS media room. Our cover page read "P&P is proud to represent the leading voices in the CBA" and this year we have a number of great books. They include A Tale of Two Sons, by Dr. John MacArthur (Thomas Nelson), Two Wars, by Nate Self (Tyndale), Between Us Girls, by Vicki Courtney (B&H), God in the Marketplace, by Henry & Richard Blackaby (B&H), Trading Places, by Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott (Zondervan/HarperCollins), Coming Unglued, by Rebeca Seitz (B&H), Castway Kid, by r.b. mitchell (Tyndale), The Nehemiah Factor, by Dr. Frank Page (New Hope Publishers), Designed for Success, by Dondi Scumaci (Strang), Compelled by Love, by Ed Stetzer & Philip Nation (New Hope Publishers), The Gift of Christmas Cookie, by Dandi Daley Mackall (Zonderkidz), We Believe in Christmas, by Karen Kingsbury (Zonderkidz) & others.

Though ICRS is not near the media event it used to be, it's nice for outlets that are present to be able to see the entire P&P roster in those press kits.

After I dropped the press kits off, I headed to the Alive Communications event at the Peabody Hotel. Alive is one of the best literary agencies in the country and this event was a savvy way to honor their clients and industry contacts before the show got underway.

Rick Christian, who started Alive in 1989, opened the event by thanking attendees and telling a few stories before highlighting three new Alive Communications books featured at the event. One of those books was Two Wars, by Nate Self, and when Rick introduced Nate (after saying a few words about him) the crowd gave Nate a well-deserved standing ovation. Ann Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) then gave a great presentation before the networking got underway.

It was great to see Lee, Rick, Beth & Joel and a number of our clients at the event. One of the many great things about ICRS is the family atmosphere at events like this.

After the Alive event finished, I headed back to the convention center for the media meet & greet session, which featured a panel discussion moderated by the CBA's media maven, Nancy Guthrie. I always enjoy this event because it puts all the industry publicists in one room before the show gets underway. This year's panel included Kelly Hughes (one of the CBA's most respected publicists), Dan Merchant (who wrote and directed a very interesting documentary titled "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers") and David Kinnaman (author of unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters).

It was a very progressive panel that brought a refreshing perspective to the table. The main question looming for publicists that represent Christian authors was how can I get top secular media contacts past a) the disdain they have for 'religious' authors and b) the desire to only put Christians on the air to argue a far right-wing perspective in a point/counterpoint debate?

Dan Merchant told an interesting story about his recent Today Show appearance where he had a producer confess "we usually don't do religion because it just makes everyone mad." That same morning The Today Show also covered stories dealing with crime, drugs and other societal ills.

Kelly Hughes closed with some advice that I agree with: publicists have to be honest with their media contacts about the perspective their client is going to bring to the table. If the author is going to rock that producer's notion of what a Christian is (i.e. David Kinnaman), tell them so.

We've always found that the best way to package "CBA" authors for general market exposure is to focus on the mainstream issues that their books deal with (and that they have expertise relating to). FOX News, CNN and other national outlets look to Vicki Courtney as an expert on issues affecting teen and tween girls. CNN Headline News, Nancy Grace and others look to Dr. Les Parrott as an expert on relaitonship issues. The Associated Press, Newsday and others look to Nate Self as a great resource on PTSD and the War on Terror. As with an interview opportunity, an author's focus simply has to shift depending on the market the media outlet is trying to reach.

Retire the catalog mailout.

HarperCollins just announced an eco-friendly industry move - online catalogs! According to the AP, Penguin (USA) and Random House are moving in a similar direction. Mike Merschel over at the Dallas Morning News just blogged his thoughts on the possible industry shift, confirming a little inkling I had.

Formerly a publicist at a division of Random House, I logged many hours (and subsequent papercuts) stuffing the shiny new catalogs into envelopes addressed to our list of coveted media contacts and over the years. I wondered how many trash cans they might have graced. I was in the literary pr biz at the crux of a ditigal turning point, yet the old school catalogs kept coming. As it turns out, things like blindly-mailed catalogs only tend to multiply in said contacts' mailboxes and then migrate to the garbage bin.

Recent initiatives in green publishing are also good news for book publicists. Online galleys + digital catalogs = more time for targeted pitching.

Talking Shop: Q&A with your favorite insiders

Karen Campbell, Director of Public Relations, Zondervan
Karen Campbell heads up the Public Relations department at Zondervan and is one of the best in business. It is always interesting to hear about publicity from the publisher's perspective, so we asked her to share some of her wisdom with our readers...

Describe your role as Director of Public Relations at Zondervan.
Create communication and PR campaigns to increase awareness of Zondervan and it’s brands with consumers, retailers, and authors. I communicate with media regarding new product releases, best-selling backlist products and titles that speak to news-breaking events and trends. I also secure interviews and media attention for Zondervan authors, contributors, and related spokespeople for maximum sales and brand impact.

Zondervan has been on the cutting edge of Web 2.0 promotion (a blog, online newsroom, social networking pages and other initiatives) for many years--how have these ventures helped your titles?
We have an amazing team of people at Zondervan who are completely dedicated to communicate information about our authors, books and tours online through social networking sites, blogging, websites, etc. It really is amazing how fast word can spread about a new book by posting information on our website or working with an author to create a group on a social networking site.

How have you seen book publicity change during your years at Zondervan?
I think book publicity changes as the publishing industry changes—more technology based. It is also directly affected by culture and as pivotal events take place, the need for experts, information or just a good story change. There are also more and more media outlets available with more and more competition for those spots.

What type of media do you think is most effective for new authors?
I think it’s getting the word out there about your books—having people engage with it and start talking about it. Whether that’s through interaction online via a YouTube video, an author’s personal blog, reviews or television interviews.

How would you describe your ideal author?
Someone who doesn’t want to be on Oprah. Seriously, I would have to say it’s someone who has reasonable expectations, is available for appropriate interviews and appreciates the hard work put into getting the word out about their book.

What is one thing that would surprise authors about what publicists do?
An author of mine recently wrote her own press materials. She mentioned in her email that writing these materials was a lot harder than she thought. It took her days to figure out what to say and she is the one closest to the book!

What is your favorite thing about working in the publishing industry?
It’s the pleasure of reading books and talking about them for a living. It’s a great industry to be in for a book lover!

Is there a particular booking that you are most proud of?
I secured an article in The New York Times for Greg Boyd, author of The Myth of a Christian Nation. At the time, I wasn’t sure where the article would be placed. When I got the paper the morning it ran, I looked and it was on the front page! Needless to say, the article spurred more media attention and we doubled our first year sales expectations in just a couple weeks.

What advice would you give authors about book publicity?
Let your publicist know about any media outlets you’ve been on or worked with in the past or any relationships you have with media that might help secure coverage for your book.

Be patient. It’s not always an instant thing and may take a month or so to build interest and momentum.

How do you think book PR is likely to change over the next few years?
I definitely think coverage and word-of-mouth will continue to grow online/electronically.

What should readers be watching for from Zondervan this fall?
We have quite a bit!

Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden, Sin Boldly by Cathleen Falsani, Where’s Your Jesus Now? by Karen Spears Zacharias, Faith & Doubt by John Ortberg, You Matter More Than You Think by Jim Cymbala, Every Now & Then by Karen Kingsbury, The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher by Rob Stennett

What are you reading right now?
The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR by Al Ries and Laura Ries, Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw, My Beautiful Idol by Pete Gall and Certain Girls: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner.

How did you land in the publishing industry?
One of my most respected college professors was an author at a publishing company and knew they were looking for people. I started out my first year in customer service and then moved to publicity—that was 10 years ago…

Who is an author we should keep an eye on?
Rob Bell.

What would surprise Zondervan authors about Karen Campbell?
I’m a huge NHL Hockey fan. Let’s Go Red Wings!!!