Discover the pros and cons of hiring a book publicist, from media connections to campaign costs, and learn if PR is the right investment for your book.

Hiring a book publicist can add immense value and impact to your book launch, media campaign, and goals as an author. Before you can properly evaluate whether partnering with a publicist is right for you, however, make sure you understand what publicity is. 

Publicity is one part of a comprehensive marketing campaign. Its primary purpose is to create visibility through a variety of media coverage that introduces a book and its author to the public. Publicity raises awareness of you and your book, builds credibility and expertise, positions you and your book as having value to a certain audience, and complements other elements of marketing such as sales promotion, social media marketing, or advertising. Ideally, media coverage should be targeted to your book’s reader (or your brand’s audience), so the first step in considering publicity assistance is knowing just who your primary (and secondary) reader is. 

Media coverage can come in many forms including author interviews and profiles, original essays, expert quotes in articles, book reviews, round-ups, excerpts, and more. Media outlets can include anything from a substack newsletter to a national TV show, a podcast to an online magazine. As long as that media is consumed by an audience that would be receptive to your message and interested in your work, it’s a worthy outlet to target. 

So, what are some pros of hiring a book publicist?

1. Positioning. An experienced publicist will help determine which media will best help you reach your target reader. Sometimes a niche outlet with a highly engaged audience serves you best. The obvious “usual suspects” are not always the media outlets that will best reach your reader (though they might be.) 
2. Connections. A book publicist will have relationships with those relevant media outlets—or know how to find the right contacts to pitch. 
3. Strategies, A savvy publicist knows how to mine multiple angles and tie-ins for a book, and how to pivot when something isn’t working. They may combine multiple tactics to communicate on your behalf. 
4. Pitch skills. A skilled publicist will know how to craft a tailored pitch that resonates with target media and serves their needs. They can write well, speak the media’s language, and hone in on the most essential messaging. 
5. Management. Media relations execution involves a lot of moving parts: following up on outreach; sharing assets like images, review copies and press materials; scheduling interviews that work for all parties; getting the details of recordings and connections; providing links to social media, buy pages and websites; and more. Hiring a book publicist gives you a layer of support you might have to otherwise manage yourself.

What are some cons of hiring a book publicist?

1. Timing. You’ll need to plan ahead. Ideally, your publicist will have at least 2-3 months of lead time before the book’s publication date to set up your campaign and execute pre-pub outreach. Also, plan for no less than 4 months of total campaign time—longer if you start early. You’ll want your publicity campaign to continue into the new release window (the month or two following publication.)
2. Cost. Quality book publicity services aren’t cheap, although there are multiple options and approaches to consider at different price points. Length of campaign and services offered can impact the total investment cost. Consider what you need help with (traditional media outreach? social media content? digital marketing initiatives?) and how much you plan to do yourself. We built and offer our DIY solution, Author to Influencer Accelerator for those who can’t afford to hire a publicist. 
3. Expectations. While dreams of sitting on The Today Show set or being reviewed in The New York Times may be motivating you, your publicist may determine that those outlets aren’t realistic or even the most beneficial. Part of a publicity campaign is figuring out what media makes most sense given your topic, your timeline, and how your book is brought to market (traditionally published, hybrid or self-published), as well as what media will reach those people who are likely to want to buy or read your work. Hiring a book publicist may result in tweaking your expectations of what’s achievable and effective. A publicity campaign will usually combine an array of media outlets of various size, scope and reach; as aiming only for top-tier national names is not the only way to craft a campaign.

If the pros outweigh the cons for YOU, let’s discuss! Schedule your FREE Discovery Call today!

PR by the Book, celebrating our 23rd year as an agency and boasting a team with decades of book publicity experience, offers not just services but a partnership, designed to alleviate the pressures of book publicity while maximizing impact.

Looking for more Book Publicity tips? Check out:

• 25 Ways to Promote Your Brand in 2025
• 22 Things a Successful Book Publicist Does in a Day
• The Impact of Publicity on Author Success