How to be Your Own Publicist
Plus, notes on rejection and cold pitching
I’m Tawny, author of Dry Humping and co-author of The Sobriety Deck, co-host of the Recovery Rocks podcast, and co-founder of the vinegar-based botanical spirit, (parentheses)
There are several ways to get your work featured in a magazine or website, and those routes typically fall into two categories: hiring a publicist or being your own publicist. My book was recently featured in Wondermind’s article, 17 Actually Helpful Tips for Dating While Sober, by Samantha Brodsky.
Here’s an example of how I’m my own publicist as an extremely online human.
Step 1: Friend and fellow author,
, DM’d me an Instagram story posted by Wondermind, a mental health site created by Selena Gomez. The IG story mentioned they’re writing about sober dating (a subject I wrote a book about) and looking for sources. Thanks, Jor-El!Step 2: I replied to Wondermind’s IG story. See below DM exchange.
Step 3: Their staff writer, Samantha, emailed me some questions for the piece.
Step 4: I replied to her email with A’s to her Q’s.
Step 5: Danced around the living room because my book was featured in Wondermind!
That’s it.
Literally.
Authors pay publicists BIG BUCKS to do what I just did.
The more I learn about publishing, the more I realize how lucky I am to know how to pitch media sites. Being your own publicist is a recurring subject in my book proposal courses.
Pitching is not a skill I was formally taught. I didn’t study PR or journalism (I studied business💅🏼), but I’m a professional journalist and publicist (I also do PR for my drink brand). I learn best from experience and asking for help. I still ask fellow journalists, authors, and publicists for advice/feedback on my pitches. I still get pitches rejected on a regular basis.
I have an email folder quite literally titled Rejected Pitches. I add to this folder all. the. time.
It’s also worth noting that just because someone interviews you as a source, your quote may not make it into the final piece.
While my 5-step approach to getting my book featured in Wondermind might seem simple, it’s worth noting some other skills I bring to the table: I’m extremely online which means I know how Instagram works on a professional level, I’m comfortable with DMing a stranger, and I’m pretty much impervious to rejection at this point in my career.
I never expect an answer, let alone a “yes,” when I send a cold pitch. I look at sending cold pitches as “Hey! I see you’re looking for this thing. I know how to do this thing. LMK if you wanna do our thing together!”
If the thought of cold pitching terrifies you, I hear you. It can feel scary AF. But so is spending big bucks on PR. Nobody knows your work better than you. Press that send button on your cold pitches, y’all!
For more info on hiring a publicist vs. doing your own PR, check out the following links:
How much I made on my first book by
Should you hire an independent publicist for your book launch without a guaranteed ROI? by
How to "surprise and delight" your publisher by
Here's how I got my book into Cosmopolitan, Elle, and more by
Buy these books
And because this feature wouldn’t have happened without
, here are the links to his incredible books that you should 100%:
XO,
Tawny
Love this! Doing your own PR is one of those simple-but-not-easy things. Thanks for the shoutout, Tawny (and congrats on the Wondermind love)!
Please tag me! I will try to do the same with my stacks. I am really trying to gain some traction. That means more courage and not allowing perfect to get in the way of good.