The Bookshop Podcast
The Bookshop Podcast
Megan Beatie: A Publicist's Journey
In this episode, I chat with book publicist Megan Beatie about book publicity in a revealing conversation about the art and science of literary promotion.
Drawing on over 25 years of experience working with authors ranging from Linda Ronstadt to Tess Gerritsen, Megan shares how the publishing landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation since she began her career. She explains the crucial difference between publicity (earned media) and marketing (paid media), and why authors need to understand both to succeed in today's competitive marketplace.
"I'm only as good as what I'm representing," Megan explains, revealing why passion for the books she promotes has been fundamental to her success. This philosophy has served her well, helping numerous clients achieve bestseller status and prestigious awards, including Danielle Trussoni's recent LA Times Book Prize for Best Mystery Thriller, The Puzzle Master.
For debut authors feeling overwhelmed by marketing expectations, Megan offers practical wisdom: start early (ideally a year before publication), maintain an updated website as your "ground zero," choose social media platforms that match your personality rather than trying to be everywhere, and recognize when to seek professional help instead of attempting DIY publicity.
Beyond tactics, our conversation delves into the deeper value of cultivating genuine relationships with booksellers, fellow authors, and readers. Megan challenges the common "is it worth it?" mindset about events and appearances, encouraging authors to see the long-term value in the connections they make. "If you go to a festival and don't sell a single book but you're on a panel with a better-known author who might give you a blurb for your next book, you just never know."
Whether you're a published author looking to elevate your publicity game, an aspiring writer curious about the business side of publishing, or simply a book lover interested in how your favorite titles find their way to you, this episode offers valuable insights into the evolving art of connecting books with readers in meaningful ways.
The Puzzle Master, Danielle Trussoni
The Puzzle Box, Danielle Trussoni
The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club, Martha Hall Kelly
The View From Lake Como, Adriana Trigiani
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson-Beverly and I'm a bibliophile. Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast. Each week, I present interviews with authors, independent bookshop owners and booksellers from around the globe and publishing professionals. To help the show reach more people, please share episodes with friends and family and on social media, and remember to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to this podcast. You're listening to episode 293. Hi there, and thanks for tuning into the Bookshop Podcast.
Speaker 1:I have a couple of in-person events coming up in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. To sign up for the Santa Barbara Lunch with an Author Literary Series, please go to my website at wwwmandijacksonbeverlycom. Forward slash events. These events require reservations and prepayment. So let's begin with Santa Barbara, where I'll be in conversation with the following authors about their latest books this week Thursday, june 12th, martha Hall Kelly the Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club. Thursday, july 10th, tova Mervis we Would Never. Thursday, august 14th, dr Peniel E Joseph Freedom Season how 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution. In Los Angeles, on July 8th, which is my birthday, I'll be in conversation with Gillian Flynn. That's going to be a fun day. September 9th, paul Rudnick what is Wrong With you? And October 14th, bruce Holsinger Culpability. For the Los Angeles Literary Luncheons. You'll need to contact me at thebookshoppodcast at gmailcom, and in the subject line just put Los Angeles Literary Lunches. Okay, now let's get on with this week's episode.
Speaker 1:Megan Beatty is a veteran publicist with more than 25 years of experience in publishing. She is president and CEO of Megan Beatty Communications MBC, a book publicity and marketing agency. Megan has forged publicity campaigns for numerous best-selling authors, including Linda Ronstadt, adriana Trigiani, tess Gerritsen, melissa de la Cruz, tembi Locke, and launched the debuts of many novelists such as Carolyn Cleveland, victoria Lee and Amber Smith. She has represented authors in nearly every conceivable genre, including literary and commercial fiction, mysteries and thrillers, science fiction, fantasy and graphic novels, as well as nonfiction books covering pop culture, film, entertainment, health, lifestyle, parenting and relationships. Megan is the fifth generation Thank you. With a degree in English literature.
Speaker 1:She joined Goldberg McDuffie Communications as a publicist, where she spent nearly two decades rising to the level of Vice President, director of Publicity. While there, she cultivated strong, long-standing relationships with editors, journalists and producers at the most influential television shows, radio programs, magazines, newspapers, websites and blogs around the world. In 2015, she formed her own namesake agency so she would be able to focus on more personalized strategies and outreach opportunities for authors and books about which she's truly passionate. Since then, her company has grown to include a talented and hardworking support staff. All told, nbc has delivered dramatic results for its chosen authors and has promoted dozens of bestsellers. Megan has been a guest lecturer on book publicity at Chapnett University and guest faculty member of UC Riverside, palm Desert's low residency MFA program. Megan is a fitness nut who has completed eight marathons, two Spartan races and one triathlon. She currently resides in Los Angeles, where she's outnumbered in her all-male family by her husband, their two sons, a dog and a cat. Hi, megan, and welcome to the show. It's great to chat with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so nice to be on your show, Mandy. I'm just really excited to talk with you and I'm so thrilled you're actually interested in what I do.
Speaker 1:Of course I'm interested in what you do, not to mention. I love having people from behind the scenes in publishing on the show because it reminds readers of what goes into the publishing of a book before it even gets on the shelf in a bookshop. It's important. Before we dive into our chat, can you share a recent moment, professional or personal, that sparked joy or inspiration for you?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and it's one that we shared, which was Danielle Tressoni winning the LA Times Book Prize for Best Mystery Thriller last month for her book the Puzzle Box. I mean, I get emotional just thinking about it, because it's such a good book and I was so proud to work with her. She's such a good writer. She was up against some really hefty competition. I mean, attica Locke is an amazing writer. Michael Connelly, liz Moore, whose book got every best of, it seemed, of 2024. She was just up against such stiff competition and for her to win win for the judges to recognize how brilliant her book is, was just, was, just the most amazing moment. And just for me personally, when she got on stage and she thanked me tears came to my eyes because, um, almost everything I do is behind the scenes, is not seen and for her to acknowledge me like that was really, really meaningful.
Speaker 1:Well, those of us who know you personally know that thank you was well-deserved and it was from Danielle's heart. Danielle is a sweetheart and it's been fun watching her Mike Brink series fly and for her to be recognized as such a brilliant storyteller and, yes, that was a truly special moment at the Los Angeles Times Book Awards. It was really something. Now I would like to hear your story. You've had a wonderful education, great experience in publicity, but I want to hear about that year of schooling you did at Oxford University.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh my gosh, that was really. I mean I still get goosebumps when I think about it. I went to Middlebury College. I'm a SoCal girl, fifth generation Californian. Both my parents had gone to the East Coast for college and they really encouraged me to leave California and have experiences in other parts of the country. So I went to Middlebury and I had always thought I would go to Spain to work on my Spanish and my English professor said hey, there's this basically an exchange program with St Hugh's College at Oxford and I think you should apply. They only take one candidate from Middlebury every year. And I applied and I got it and I was basically at Oxford University as a matriculating student, as opposed to an exchange Like they really took me in as for one year you are an Oxford student and it I mean really I had to pinch myself like walking through the streets and, you know, being in the center of this old, beautiful historical place.
Speaker 2:The study was so different than what I was used to. I mean it was you don't just read a novel by Thomas Hardy, you read everything Thomas Hardy's written and write about it. And instead of professors they have they call them tutors, and so my tutor was Anne Wordsworth, who was distantly related to William Wordsworth, and I would go into her office and she would look out the window and smoke and just say all these brilliant things and I just I could not believe that this Southern California girl had this opportunity. Two of my best friends of my life I made from my year at Oxford was really, really an incredible time.
Speaker 1:And after that year did you go back to Middlebury College to finish another year?
Speaker 2:I did, I did and I thought I'm done with the East Coast, it's the weather, it's too winter, it's terrible. And back to California. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I got this marketing job at a company in Los Angeles. That was sort of sales and marketing. It was management training. It was really nothing I was interested in and I sort of floundered along for a few years and then thought I've got to find what I really want to do. I mean, there's more to life than just a paycheck and I wanted to figure out how to bring my passion with something that I could make a living with.
Speaker 1:Was it about that time that you decided to do the Radcliffe Publishing Course?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I thought I had wanted to get into book publishing but I had no idea how to do it and at the time you had to be in New York to work in book publishing. So I found out about the Radcliffe publishing course, which is um was run by, uh, this fantastic uh woman, lindy Hess. She's since passed away and the course has is now a part of Columbia publishing course. But, um, yeah, for a summer I was a student at Radcliffe College and this course was really, really something. Lindy had connections with all these New York publishing execs, so she would bring in these top level publishers and agents to come to the course and talk about what they did and then work with us and then help us get interviews at the end of the course. So for me it paved the way to getting to starting a career in publishing.
Speaker 1:And how long was that course?
Speaker 2:I think it was about six weeks. So Carol Schneider was the head of publicity at Random House at the time and she came and spoke to us and I had thought, oh, I'll probably want to be an editor. But Carol Schneider came and talked about what publicity was and it was like a light bulb went off for me and I thought that is what I want to do. She talked about all the fun parties you go to and calling book review editors and setting up author tours and all these things where I thought, oh, that's what I want to do. But it really was a moment I can remember. All these years later, a lot of years later, almost 30 years later, I can still take myself back to that time and hearing her speak and thinking that's what I want to do.
Speaker 1:I love that you took a leap of faith by doing that course. It's also great when we can look back at our life when we're older and actually pinpoint the moments or the people or the circumstances, the locations that actually took us toward a path that felt like we were meant to be on. Yeah, so you've met Carol Schneider and she inspires you toward publicity and marketing, but did you realize at that point that it was book publishing that you wanted to focus on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, at the time the course was half book publishing and half magazine publishing. So good, good, I didn't go that route Because we have so few print magazines anymore. But yeah, I mean I was really interested in going into book publishing. And then at the end of the course Lindy set us up with interviews. The week after I finished this course I had an interview with the head of publicity at Norton and the head of publicity at Putnam and I got job offers from both and Norton. I'll just tell you Norton's offer for an annual salary in 1996 was $19,000. And Putnam's was 20, I think it was 27,000. And I thought that's the way to go.
Speaker 1:And I'm guessing sunny Southern California was on the back burner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So I went right to New York with my two, my two closest friends from the course, and we rented a one bedroom for the three of us. It was totally cockroach ridden, I mean, it was everything like. So it was, it was a thing. But yeah, we, we all got entry level jobs in publishing and just starved. But we were so, so happy. Yeah, we were happy to be together and we were happy to be in.
Speaker 1:And to be learning and experiencing the book publishing trade. Oh, what fun. Can you explain the job descriptions for a publicist and a marketing professional?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think that's. There's a lot of mystery around that because the terms are all used interchangeably. Is it advertising, Is it marketing? Is it publicity? And, in simplest terms, publicity is securing earned media and marketing is securing paid media. So with publicity, you're selling something but no money is exchanging hands. So trying to convince a journalist that the book that I'm representing would be interesting to their listenership or their readership or whoever that is, and then marketing advertising falls under marketing. So you would say you know, if you wanted to buy an ad and buy Goodreads, ads like that would fall under marketing. Social media is sort of the lines are blurred because a lot of publishers keep social media under marketing. But I do a lot of social media outreach myself, so I'm reaching out to influencers on Instagram and TikTok. But if they're saying, sure, I'll feature your book and then want to charge something, then that goes into the marketing bucket.
Speaker 1:Megan, I get the gist that you do a lot of both. Is that right?
Speaker 2:I do, yeah, because 30 years ago there were dedicated book editors at every single newspaper and some markets had two major newspapers. When, all those years ago, when we'd send an author on tour to Denver, it would be well should we go after a feature in the Rocky Mountain News or the Denver Post. And now there are very few dedicated book editors at any newspaper. So with our kind of traditional media opportunities diminished, publicists are trying to figure out what else we can do to be relevant. In my work I can do a lot of social media influencer outreach.
Speaker 1:Earlier, we were chatting about book publishing and magazine publishing and how you were glad you went with book publishing, and that reminded me of a conversation I had with Vinnie Brown from Charlie Bowen's Bookshop in Galway, and we started talking about the Stinging Fly and other fabulous literary magazines. For any listeners who aren't familiar with the Stinging Fly, I'm just going to read this from their website it's a literary magazine, book publisher, an education provider and an online platform. The publisher and chief executive is Declan Mead and I think they're out of Dublin. The Stinging Fly is kind of known for launching a lot of new Irish authors through short stories or poetry that have been submitted to the magazine.
Speaker 1:Anyway, getting back to Vinnie at Charlie Burns, I asked him if he carried the stinging fly in the bookshop and he said oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course we do. You know people come into the store specifically to buy literary magazines, and it reminded me that Ireland has this great history of literature, but it's still ongoing, so magazines aren't dead over there, you know, and that's a part of literature I kind of miss. We have a lot of online magazines you can get them through the post, but it's very rare that you walk into a bookshop and you actually see a copy of the Sun, for example. Is that just me? Am I missing something here? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 2:No, I think that's absolutely true. I used to get so many magazines. I subscribe to everything. I still get People magazine every week and I get the Week too. I get Real Simple. I used to get O Magazine and that stopped, so they're just. I think print is just. People are turning to their tablets and their phones to read as opposed to print.
Speaker 1:And what makes this sad for me regarding literature is that it's always been a great stepping stone for any creative. Whether you're wanting to post, you know, submit a photograph you've taken or a piece of artwork, poetry, you know, a short story, that was always a good way to get your foot in the door. It's extremely difficult to have a submission accepted here, but you and I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles and I just remember magazine stands being everywhere. I would get them for costume design and fashion, because I wanted to see who was designing what it was important to me and I wanted to see the stylized versions of photography, of fashion photography. I really miss not seeing all those magazine stands and, as you said, I'm sure we lost a lot of great magazines when they stopped print and went over to online magazines.
Speaker 2:I completely agree. Like Book Soup had that whole big section of periodicals and I don't even know if I have that anymore.
Speaker 1:And Liz says if you have a favorite literary magazine, I would love to know all about it. So please email me through the contact form on the bookshoppodcastcom. Every day, hundreds and hundreds of books are being published, and I'm sure you get hundreds and hundreds of requests every week to ask whether you'll work with a client. What steps do you take in deciding to accept a new client, because we all have to be selective about what we accept.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, and I'm very, very lucky because I have the opportunity to choose what I work on and truly that's the most critical aspect of the process, because I'm only as good as what I'm representing, and I've tried to work on a few books that just haven't been to the standard that they should be, and I know I can get people to take a look, but I could never convince anyone to write about something or to interview if it's not good. So really that's the most important thing that the book is really good and that I like it, because my work is very personal to me and if I don't love a book, how can I convince someone else to be interested in a book? And I have turned down books that someone else would jump at the chance to represent just because it wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe it's great for somebody else, but that's a big part of the decision for me.
Speaker 1:And once you've accepted the author as a client, how early in the book publishing process is your ideal time to begin working with an author before the pub date of their book?
Speaker 2:I like to start way in advance. Some authors I start close to a year in advance. It's interesting because in the olden days the lead times were very clear cut. So when you were pitching magazines, you had, you know, a four to five month lead time because they had all the time that they needed to get go to print. Now, because there's less of those print opportunities and things, you can pitch something and have it show up online the next day and I've done that.
Speaker 2:But, um, the process is still a long process and plenty of authors have contacted me a month before their books coming out saying I need publicity, can I hire you? And I just't. I can't work like that, because the things that will come to fruition like, for example, I'm working on a book that publishes on in two, almost two weeks and I've been pitching a journalist at the Boston Globe to do a story on this book for months and I just got the green light that the story is going to happen today, which is thrilling, but it's just, it's an example of how long the process takes and how far in advance you have to start, and it's similar with what I do.
Speaker 1:So if I'm booking for the Lunch with an Author or I'm booking for the podcast, I need at least a couple of months to read the book, because we're pretty much booked six to eight months in advance. So if a publicist or a marketing team sends me a book and says the pub date is in two weeks, is there any way you could get them? No, I'm not going to be able to get them on the show and it makes me sad. And I know I'm about to say the one thing that most writers or creatives don't like to hear.
Speaker 1:We do look at your author platform because we put a lot of work into doing our show, but if the author and the publishing team doesn't help promote the author's episode, then that's really disappointing for us. So my assistant, adrian, makes sure that everybody has a good platform. If, by chance, it's a new author and I just love the book, then I'll probably bypass that a little bit. But yeah, you have to plan way in advance. Even when you're writing your book, you need to be working on that author platform.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, they absolutely are, and I think that's a difficult shift for a lot of authors who have been holed up alone writing the book and to have to, like overnight, go. Okay, now I have to put on the dog and pony show. It's difficult, it's really difficult, and I think there's a way to have a balance. And many authors do hire people to run their social media so they have the time to focus on the work. But I do think you, as an author, can do it yourself. You just have to figure out the balance and not feel like you have to do everything, like do one or two things really well.
Speaker 1:You don't have to be on every single social media platform. Choose the one which best supports your personality and the theme of your book.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, last week I had new social media platforms sent to me and I've never even heard of them.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, and you know, and there's always one that's the flavor of the month and it's good to try them. I hear from so many authors that they're loving Substack and they're finding that as not just as a way to put out their content but as a social media interactive way. So, yeah, I think it's good to try them and then settle into one or two that you really feel like you can do well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great advice. And how do you collaborate with authors, editors and publishers during the launch process?
Speaker 2:It's a great question because it's challenging, because I'm an independent publicist and I'm being hired. I need to you know, like going back to school terms show my work. So you know, so much of publicity is your pitch like you could pitch 100 people and you only hear back from five. So how do you convey to the client, publisher, author, whoever look, everybody, I'm doing my work, but just this has come through. So I try to find a balance. I want to work with people who trust me, who know my work, who know I will do everything for you, so that I can not feel like I have to be showing every step I take.
Speaker 2:But I do find again, olden days, we publicists used to be very much like we don't show our pitches, we don't reveal our hand to anyone, we just like do our thing. And then here are the results. I really try to be with the authors I work with, be very much like look, we're partners, we're in this together. You know, here's my pitch, what do you think? And then they can give me their feedback and give me some ideas. So I do try to really let the authors in to the process. The publishers, you know, they know what the process is so. They're really more about like let me know what the results are. We don't have time to see every single thing you're doing.
Speaker 1:And are you hired mostly by publishers or authors, or a little bit of both? It might be 50-50.
Speaker 2:It really depends. Some publishers will say, like one of our publicists is going on maternity leave, can you jump in or could you take this on? And then many authors you know they just want to find a way to distinguish themselves. And it's really hard when you're a mid-list author and there's so many books being put out.
Speaker 1:And for authors who are signed with publishing companies, is it right to say that they get about six weeks of publicity and marketing?
Speaker 2:Well, I do think that the in-house publicists they're pushing farther ahead than that. But it can often, you know, be part of a list. You know here, here are my spring titles, or here are my summer titles. So I really try to make sure that my list there's no one who would be in direct competition and hopefully they complement each other. So I worked on a Southern thriller in the spring who was pretty well known, and then I'm working with a debut Southern thriller for the late summer and so a lot of the media contacts that I you know the relationships that I developed with the first one I'm going to be able to leverage for this debut.
Speaker 1:Can you walk us through the design and development process of marketing a book?
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah. So really, the first part of it is I do two things With the author. I send a written Q&A, so with questions such as what are the inspirations, why did you write this book? Because there's always something. There's always something in their lives that sparked the story and those are things I want to pull out to use for to entice the media. So I try to get what, find out what those things are and then find out who they know. So you know where do they live. So let's look at their local media. Where did they go to college? Their alumni magazine, what other kind of niche aspects are there to them and to the book? That we can, instead of just sort of this is a great book and sending it out to everyone, we can kind of drill down on the connections, because there's always connections, on the connections, because there's always connections.
Speaker 2:So many of the you know media in Chicago or Milwaukee or wherever it may be, they want local. So if your author's from there, if the book is set there, that's going to give you a leg up over all the other books that that person might be being pitched. So I really try to figure out like, what's the? I mean, what's the backstory to the book, what? Where did it come from?
Speaker 2:Because that will inform the press materials I write and I really try to highlight who the author is as much as what the book is about, because I just don't think it's enough to say hey, so and so this is a great book. It's, you know, a page turner. You know all the words that I'm sure you see when you're pitched. You know these kind of words that are used over and over. So I really try to take a journalistic approach with my press materials and not use a lot of fluffy adjectives but say like I'm trying to think of a good example. A historical novel I'm working on for the fall is inspired by the author's family history in the Philippines and Italy during World War II.
Speaker 1:So those are really interesting aspects to this novel that I'm going to highlight when I'm pitching it out, yeah, and after everything all the publicity and the marketing is done, it is still imperative that the author builds relationships with their readers face-to-face, one-on-one, you know, at book fairs or author events at indie bookshops. You know I'm a huge supporter of independent bookshops and I'm always amazed at the ideas independent bookshop owners and booksellers come up with to help promote authors. But the thing is, before you do that as an author, you need to build up a relationship with your local indie bookshop. In other words, where do you buy your books? And I'm hoping you're saying I buy them from my local indie bookshop. But anyway, chris Stibe, who is the owner bookseller of Transom Bookshop in Tarrytown, new York, had this great idea he invites authors to come in and be a bookseller for a few hours in the bookshop and I thought, wow, what a fantastic idea.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, oh, what a great idea.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a truly innovative idea. I mean they get help selling books. They put it out in advance so that you know the local reading community know that such and such an author is going to be selling books in their store for half a day. It's a win-win situation. And one more idea I think is kind of imperative you and I were recently at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which is a huge book fair, and as you walk down the aisles, every single booth has something to do with books. It might be an author and their book collection, or it could be a store that sells bookish t-shirts and bookmarks and candles.
Speaker 1:But one of the things I found that made me look and take notice of each booth are the booths where the author is standing out front of their booth engaging with people, or if they're behind their table, they've art directed their booth so that it represents their book. For example, perhaps it's a World War I or World War II historical fiction book. Consider having model airplanes hanging from fishing line from the ceiling of their tent. Or, if it's horror, have slightly melted black candles I don't know cobwebs, something like that decorating the tent. But a table with just books on it and empty space around isn't going to do it. I mean, I am so impressed with some of the art direction of these booths. It just draws me in and that's what you want readers to do. You want readers to be interested enough that they can walk over to your tent and start chatting with you, and don't be that author who is sitting behind their table on their phone. There is nothing more off-putting than that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally agree, and you said it right. And you have to get out in the world as an author. And we had the ultimate shutdown with the pandemic where no one was out and um, and that that was something for me personally. Once we were free again, I thought I'm gonna get out in the world as much as I can and go to book festivals and it's been. I mean just for me as a publicist. It's been. I mean you and I would have never have met, if you know I hadn that the San Diego Writers Festival, exactly.
Speaker 1:And I'm so glad we met.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So for authors it's critical. I would say to authors you can't get hyper-focused on well, is it worth it? Because I get asked that all the time. Well, is that podcast worth it? Is that event worth it? Is it worth it? I don't know, it might be, it might be, and if you go to a festival and you don't sell a single book but you're on a panel with a better known author who might give you a blurb for your next book or invite you to some other event, you just never know. So I just think it's so important to say yes to things and to get out in the world and, like you say, interact with readers and other writers.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love what you just said about building relationships with other writers. You know, there's a couple of authors that I've worked with over the years and my hat goes off to them. I've never seen authors work as hard as these two to promote their books, but also to promote other authors. Look, I'm sure that every new author who has just finished their book thinks great, it's out there, someone else is going to take care of that. I'm just going to go on merrily and write my next book. Hopefully that's what they're thinking about writing the next book. But the thing is it doesn't work like that, I know, and also, it's not always about you.
Speaker 2:That's a key point. Yes, absolutely, you can't just be. I call it me, me, me, me me. You can't do that.
Speaker 1:It's definitely reciprocal. Okay, back to what you do. How has book marketing and publicity evolved over the past decades, and which platforms do you think authors and publishers need to be focusing on right now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you know, as we were talking about before, print is so diminished. It's interesting, though I think in the minds maybe it's just for the older, the elders of publishing print is still feels more, just feels more special. But so much has gone digital and I mean, let's face it, digital is so shareable so you could have a print clip and show it to all your friends or you can have a link that you can post and it can be shared and shared and shared and go everywhere. Digital media is certainly key In terms of platforms. The most basic thing for authors, just, you know, have a good website and keep it updated. It's sort of mind boggling to me how many authors you know they're all over their Instagram, but then I go on their website and they still have their events up from 2022.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's such a turnoff and it doesn't look good.
Speaker 2:No, no, because your website is your ground zero and if someone wants to know something about you, they're going to start at your website and then maybe go. You know, look at your Instagram link, look at your Facebook link, look at TikTok or whatever it might be. So that's really important. And, like I mentioned before, substack I'm hearing from so many authors they're loving Substack.
Speaker 1:And I just don't know a lot about it yet. Yeah, I don't know too much about it either. I want to dip my toe in it, but you're just so busy with everything else right, yeah, yeah, exactly, Exactly so.
Speaker 2:But it seems to me a good, good way of sort of the like how we used to do blogging. And, like you say, Instagram, I think is still really important, and Facebook is. You know you can share things and you know you can put links come out better on Facebook and there's still there's a lot of readers on Facebook, so and I don't know what your thoughts are on this, but I think there are a lot of older women on Facebook.
Speaker 1:So if your novel is a historical fiction novel, then you need to be on Facebook, exactly.
Speaker 2:Agree.
Speaker 1:Okay, what advice would you give to debut authors navigating marketing for the first time? Hire you.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it's you don't. When you're a debut author, you don't know what you don't know. So I think you have to educate yourself so that you're in a position to make decisions, and well in advance. So I think it's you get the lay of the land from your publisher what they're going to do, what they're not going to do. If you can get a clear picture of that, then you know what is going to really be on you as the author, whether it's hiring your own publicist or getting your website designed or having someone help you with social media.
Speaker 2:There are lots of things as an author you can do yourself. There are a lot of things that you really need to leave to professionals. You cannot pitch the New York Times yourself. You could set up a book signing. Plenty of authors do that. There are some publicists who are offering kind of DIY packages to authors. You know, do all these things and you can market your book yourself, and I don't recommend that. I've been honing this craft for 30 years and it's you know. I still learn every day. I'm still learning things every day. Yeah.
Speaker 1:One bit of advice I would like to give to authors out there. I don't take on hardly any. I think there's maybe been a couple of self-published authors and one of the main reasons is, if you're emailing me and asking to be on the show to be interviewed, please get my name right. It's Mandy. Just hi isn't going to cut it Because more than likely I will delete your email immediately. You've obviously not listened to the podcast. You've obviously not listened to the podcast. You've obviously not done your research and, honestly, it's just rude and lazy.
Speaker 1:The other thing is, when you hire a publicist, they know how to write up an author fact sheet that goes out to people like me to tell them about the author in the book, and they know my name and they know they listen to the podcast, so they know what kind of books and authors I like to speak with. I am not going to speak with any self-published author whose books aren't available in independent bookshops, because, hello, that's what I promote independent bookshops. There's a lot of things like this that you have to think about and I can tell you from experience, megan Beatty, communications are pros. They do it really well. Thank you, fadi. Communications are pros, they do it really well, thank you. It amazes me and also frustrates me that authors don't even Google. You know how to approach a podcaster about my book, how to approach a blogger for my book. You can just start there.
Speaker 2:That's going to really be helpful. Yeah, that's absolutely true, and my education in publicity was I learned from many fantastic publicists about how your job is. To make your job, Mandy, the media their job as easy as possible, so don't make them search for things. Be clear, succinct. Here's what it is and here's why it's great.
Speaker 1:And this takes me back to something you said earlier in our conversation.
Speaker 1:I asked you how you collaborate with authors and editors and publishers and you said well, first up, I send the author a questionnaire about their book, about them, and I'm going to tell you, from the flip side of that, why that matters. Before I agree to have an author on the podcast, I'll obviously read their book and then sometimes I'll read their backlist if I have time, which isn't that often, but I always research them, you know, on the internet, and I look for a thread, something that brings us together, something that I know we can talk about apart from the book, because personal threads and the author's story are what makes people remember you in an interview. And for authors, when you hire a publicist, if they're a good publicist, they're going to figure all this out, so that I don't have to Mind you. I probably will do it anyway, because I love to do it. I love going down rabbit holes and really learning about people and discovering things about them that we can talk about. As Megan said, your job is to make my job a little easier.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's not just about getting an email address and sending a generic pitch. You know when I, when I do my work, like the great thing, one of the great things about the internet is there's so much about people online. So if I'm pitching someone at a local TV station, I'll look them up. I'll read their bio. I see like, oh well, they're like a huge historical fiction fan. So that's something that I can highlight. There's so much work below the surface when it comes to publicity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and as an author you can't do it all, you just can't, okay. Now, if you're looking back at your career, is there a campaign or book launch you're particularly proud of? I realize that's a really tough question because I know you and I know how hard you work for every campaign.
Speaker 2:It is because there's so many, you know I think back of. You know there's so many I'm proud of. The famous authors are so fun to work on because the doors open more easily. It's almost like the debuts that I'm so proud of because no one's heard of them and I've been able to open the doors for them. You know, I sort of think about like I just finished working on Tess Gerritsen's Martini Club series. You know that's sort of on my top of mind because she's been such a you know she's one of my author idols and to have been able to work with her and to you know I love her Martini Club series so much. So I'm sort of I guess today I'm feeling really proud of working on that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, congratulations, that's great. Okay, what are you currently reading?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I just finished. The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali.
Speaker 1:Oh how funny, I just bought this book.
Speaker 2:Oh good, yes, yes. So my book club. We met last night. We just discussed it. My friend who hosted had all Persian food. We had such a good discussion. I love the book so much. Everyone had something to say about it and then different tangents. It was really, really special.
Speaker 1:I think having conversations with our friends who have read the same book is. It's hard to beat. That's pretty fun. Did you ever watch the documentary Join or Die? No, I'll put the link in the show notes. Basically, the premise of the documentary is why you should join a club and why the fate of America depends on it. Anyway, it made me think a lot about the importance of being in a book club and just gathering to speak about books. It lifts us up when we're part of something that everyone is excited about, and I definitely got excited about a book you recently sent me which I devoured in one or two sittings, of course. Then I had to go out and get a bar of chocolate, because the author's description of chocolate is just your mouth starts to water. They are so delicious and that's a big hint about what this book is about. Megan, can you tell us all about the author and all about this delicious book?
Speaker 2:Yes, okay. So 25 years ago Chocolat by Joanne Harris came out and the book was beloved. And then the film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp a bunch of other famous actors was. I think it got an Oscar nom and was a huge, huge hit. Then Joanne Harris, she's in the UK. She wrote a few other books after Chocolat. Now, 25 years later, she's written the prequel to Chocolat. So it's six years before the start of Chocolat, and it's basically Vianne. It's her origin story, and I think origin stories are so cool and I love. So. This is really how Vianne became the magical chocolatier that she is in the book, how she came to France and through her friends she learned about the art of chocolate making. So the book is just. It's so lyrical, it's so beautifully written and then, like you say, the descriptions of the chocolate are to die for.
Speaker 1:And what's the pub date here in the United States?
Speaker 2:September 2nd.
Speaker 1:And you also sent me this little beauty by Martha Hall Kelly, the Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club. Such a delightful read and you and Martha are my guest this Thursday at the Lunch with an Author literary series in Santa Barbara. I cannot wait.
Speaker 2:Yes, so it's so fun. We were talking about book clubs because Martha Hall Kelly today wrote an essay that was published on People Digital about her mother's. That book was inspired by her own family growing up on Martha's Vineyard and her mother's book club. The essay was about how her mother had this book club on the vineyard and now her daughter has a book club and how, like you were saying, how book clubs bring us together and we talk about books but we talk about the things going on in our lives and our fellow book club members lift us up and help us keep going. So, yeah, so Martha Hall Kelly, martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club is set on Martha's Vineyard. It's set in the present day, on the vineyard and during World War II. And it's set in the present day, in the vineyard and during World War II and it's about I didn't even know that these Nazi subs came and were like lurking outside the island and actually invaded.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm like you. This book had me going down a rabbit hole of research about Martha's vineyard and World War II. It was really interesting. But I also love Martha's descriptions of people, places, and she's just a sweet writer. It's just beautiful, a lovely, lovely book. Okay, now here's another book and author, if you can tell me about them the View from Lake Como.
Speaker 2:Oh, the View from Lake Como. I think this is going to be the summer read of 2025. Adriana Trigiani is a force of nature. She's been writing novels for 20 years. She writes about these larger-than-life Italian-American families in history and now. So this book is a contemporary novel set in New Jersey. So I had no idea that South Belmar, new Jersey, the name got changed not that long ago to Lake Como, new Jersey. So this Italian American family is living on Lake Como, new Jersey, and it's a young woman. She's recently divorced, she's just at a loss, and she ends up going to Italy, to Lake Como, and basically finding herself. So it has like a little bit of the you know, eat, pray, love, vibe and there's a little bit of my big fat Greek wedding and you know, it just fills you up. So, yeah, coming out July 8th.
Speaker 1:What a great day. That's my birthday, you up.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, coming out July 8th what a great day. That's my birthday, oh, yay, okay, good, good, well, and I must tell you so, adriana is doing this. It's called the Lake Como Tour. It's all on sort of the Eastern seaboard, new Jersey, rhode Island, connecticut, but she's doing these performances. So she's not. It's not just like stand up and do a reading, she's going to do a comedy act. She has her, her brother's band coming in to play music. There's going to be this interactive aspect where the audience's family photos are going to appear on screen in the finale. It's.
Speaker 1:These shows are really so, oh my goodness, they sound like a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, so you can find out about her shows. The tickets are selling actually pretty fast, so, um, you can go to her adriana trugianicom, and um, you know, look, look for a city near you will she be coming out to southern california? I'm working on it yes, yes, great.
Speaker 1:Well, keep me posted. Well, megan, we have talked for nearly an hour and could probably talk for another hour, uh, but thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you for sending me these fabulous books. I trust your recommendations. I think authors are lucky to have you as their publicist thank you, mandy.
Speaker 2:it's been, it's been really fun to talk to you and I'm so glad to know you. I mean, this is why I love what I do is finding and making friends like you. So thank you.
Speaker 1:You've been listening to my conversation with Megan Beatty, President and CEO of Megan Beatty Communications NBC, a book publicity and marketing agency, and I will make sure to put links for Megan in the show notes To help the show reach more people, please share episodes with friends and family and on social media, and remember to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to this podcast. To find out more about the Bookshop Podcast, go to thebookshoppodcastcom and make sure to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to the show. You can also follow me at Mandy Jackson Beverly on X, Instagram and Facebook and on YouTube at the Bookshop Podcast. If you have a favorite indie bookshop that you'd like to suggest we have on the podcast, I'd love to hear from you via the contact form at thebookshoppodcastcom. The Bookshop Podcast is written and produced by me, Mandy Jackson-Beverly, Theme music provided by Brian Beverly, executive assistant to Mandy, Adrienne Otterhahn, and graphic design by Frances Farala. Thanks for listening and I'll see you next time.