Smith Publicity works with publishers in several ways, always designed to achieve specific goals:
- Publisher-funded campaigns for specific titles, or a retainer to promote books as needed and designated by the publisher
- Author-funded campaigns, in which the publisher refers Smith Publicity and the author pays for a book publicity campaign. Publishers are involved, if desired, and included in updates and campaign communications
- Long-lead ARC/Galley distribution and follow-up
- Consultation: We work on either an hourly or retainer basis, providing guidance and planning to publishers for specific titles
Smith Publicity provides book marketing for publishers with clear goals of helping to sell books and enhance author brands. We understand publishers can have limited budgets for book marketing services — and that every dollar spent must count. But we get results, and show publishers how outsourcing book publicity can be an excellent investment and with positive ROI. Typically, the cost of paying for an internal publicist is more expensive than outsourcing book marketing services to Smith.
With all of our clients, especially publishers, our goal is to become an invaluable book marketing resource and build long, sustaining relationships. We work with small and large traditional publishers, university presses, niche/special interest publishers, and ebook-only publishers. We can handle projects of any size, and work independently, or in coordination with your in-house staff. Our unique team of marketers employs proven successful techniques and we have more new ideas for how to market a book than anyone else. We’ll do everything we can to help sell as many books as possible.
“It was a pleasure to work with Smith Publicity. Our publicist and the whole staff were very attentive and did great work. I would definitely recommend working with Smith Publicity.”
Hallie Warshaw, Publisher & Creative Director, Zest Books
The Structure of Smith Publicity’s Book Marketing Service
Kellie Rendina and Corinne Moulder
We have the resources to work with publishers on book marketing in many ways. The most common are publisher-funded campaigns for one or multiple authors and author-funded campaigns. Because of our experience and the flexibility of our team, we can structure a book publicity campaign to suit virtually any book, need or budget. In some cases, a publisher may bring us in to support an in-house publicity team, especially for the launch of a significant title where a multi-faceted and proactive campaign is needed. Whichever the case, we arrive with ideas, an outstanding list of contacts, and industry-leading approaches.
At Smith, we are one of the world’s most successful agencies for publicizing books and have the largest network of contacts and the most bandwidth of any book publicity firm. Our powerful marketing campaigns help publishers sell books by engaging traditional and blended media as well as digital-only players (top-ranked websites & blogs). We also advise on book and author websites, and share strategies for greater success on social media. The result of our efforts is to get your books and authors in front of target audiences of potential readers. Effective author marketing is an essential part of our work, and we’re experts at getting exposure for eBooks. With ever-increasing competition and never-ending increases in the number of titles published each year, you need the best book publicity programs on your side.
Watch Smith Publicity in action! Click here to watch our company video.
Test Drive Our Book Promotional Services!
We often invite publishers to test us out with a short book publicity and marketing campaign so we can demonstrate the results that Smith Publicity can produce. We then prove our value and continue to work on new titles. Our publisher-clients include Plexus Publishing, the publisher of Boardwalk Empire, the bestseller which served as the basis for the hit HBO series of the same name; HarperCollins and The Writer’s Coffee Shop, original publishers of the international literary sensation Fifty Shades of Grey; and others including:
- Simon & Schuster
- Penguin Random House UK
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Harper
- HarperCollins Leadership
- Scribe
- Doubleday
- Crown
- Running Press
- Henry Holt
- W. Norton
- Free Press
- Bloomsbury USA
- William Morrow
- Crown Archetype
- Dutton
- It Books
- The Penguin Press
- Wiley
- Thomas Nelson
- Harvard Business Review Press
- Kogan Page
Let our clients speak for us. Read our testimonials from publishers.
Consulting Services
Smith Publicity provides in-depth consulting services; publishers can pay by the hour or monthly retainer. Consulting topics include:
- Marketing plan development
- Release timing
- Author platform assessment, including social media, website, blogs, etc.
- Book development assistance, including cover input, website design, vendor acquisition for editing, layout, cover design
- Marketing assistance to answer questions throughout tbook production, launch and campaigns
Janet Shapiro
Unmatched in Uniqueness and Innovation
We’re always at the leading edge with our marketing programs for books, and take pride in driving change. For example, the use of bylined articles as a book and author publicity technique is a tactic we pioneered and popularized. With us, every campaign is custom and unique. It means we dig in at the beginning and genuinely get to know a book and its author. The results of this careful information-gathering lead to campaign suggestions and ideas that help us make your books newsworthy. Media contacts look to us to bring them not only story ideas but also authors who are subject-matter experts in their fields.
If you’re considering outsourcing the marketing and publicity for one book or multiple titles, let us show you how we can improve the ROI of your promotional investment. We’re well-known in the industry and can put our talented staff to work on your behalf almost immediately. Our track record for conscientious client service is unrivaled, and we’re ready to share book promotion ideas for titles in every genre and subgenre.
“We were delighted with the work that the excellent Smith Publicist publicist did to promote Mighty Spice Cookbook by John Gregory-Smith. She worked tirelessly to arrange an author tour across the US, securing excellent TV coverage and widespread reviews.”
Francesca Yarde-Buller, Duncan Baird Publishers
We urge you to compare Smith Publicity’s track record and pricing options with other book-marketing firms. You’ll see the difference!