Latest / Cookbook Love Podcast / Episode 418: Cookbook Publicity Secrets: What Top PR Agents Want Cookbook Authors to Know

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Episode 418: Cookbook Publicity Secrets: What Top PR Agents Want Cookbook Authors to Know · Cookbook Love Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker: You are listening to the
• 0:03
  Speaker: cookbook Love Podcast with
• 0:04
  Speaker: Maggie Greene, episode number
• 0:07
  Speaker: four eighteen.
• 0:10
  Speaker: Welcome to the Cookbook Love
• 0:12
  Speaker: Podcast, a podcast that
• 0:14
  Speaker: celebrates cookbook readers,
• 0:16
  Speaker: buyers, collectors, writers, and
• 0:18
  Speaker: clubs.
• 0:19
  Speaker: And now your host, cookbook
• 0:21
  Speaker: author, culinary dietitian, and
• 0:23
  Speaker: cookbook writing coach, Maggie
• 0:24
  Speaker: Greene.
• 0:31
  Speaker: Hi, everybody.
• 0:32
  Speaker: Welcome back to another episode of the cookbook Love Podcast.
• 0:35
  Speaker: How's everybody doing today?
• 0:37
  Speaker: Hope you are all doing well.
• 0:39
  Speaker: And that those of you in the US had a great Labor Day weekend.
• 0:43
  Speaker: I am recording this episode right after Labor Day, getting
• 0:47
  Speaker: it ready for the show this week, and bringing to you some
• 0:51
  Speaker: cookbook publicity secrets.
• 0:53
  Speaker: What top PR agents want cookbook authors to know.
• 0:58
  Speaker: I'm excited for this episode
• 0:59
  Speaker: because it's a little bit
• 1:00
  Speaker: different, instead of just one
• 1:02
  Speaker: interview, I pulled together
• 1:04
  Speaker: transcripts for the best
• 1:09
  Speaker: publicity advice from top
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  Speaker: cookbook PR agents that I have
• 1:13
  Speaker: had on the show over the past
• 1:15
  Speaker: eight years.
• 1:17
  Speaker: So I've mashed together their
• 1:19
  Speaker: advice, pulled together what's
• 1:22
  Speaker: very relevant for twenty twenty
• 1:23
  Speaker: six, and looked at what is
• 1:26
  Speaker: actually going to be something
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  Speaker: that you're going to want to
• 1:29
  Speaker: focus on as you head into twenty
• 1:31
  Speaker: twenty seven.
• 1:33
  Speaker: So the publicist that I have
• 1:35
  Speaker: spoken to on the show over the
• 1:37
  Speaker: years have worked with
• 1:38
  Speaker: incredible names Jacques Pepin,
• 1:41
  Speaker: Julia Child, Ina Garten, and
• 1:43
  Speaker: publicity agents who specialize
• 1:45
  Speaker: in helping first time authors
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  Speaker: build their online presence from
• 1:51
  Speaker: scratch.
• 1:52
  Speaker: So when I sat down and looked at all the advice side by side,
• 1:56
  Speaker: there was a lot of overlap and there were different practices,
• 2:01
  Speaker: different client rosters, but they kept coming back to the
• 2:04
  Speaker: same core principles.
• 2:07
  Speaker: So before I dive into their
• 2:10
  Speaker: publicity secrets, I want to let
• 2:12
  Speaker: you know, first of all, that
• 2:14
  Speaker: talk about a little bit about
• 2:15
  Speaker: the difference between publicity
• 2:17
  Speaker: and marketing.
• 2:18
  Speaker: So publicity is media that is earned and it is organic.
• 2:26
  Speaker: And an editor or a producer or a
• 2:29
  Speaker: reviewer decides on their own
• 2:34
  Speaker: whether you or your book is
• 2:36
  Speaker: worth covering.
• 2:38
  Speaker: So a perfect example of this is
• 2:40
  Speaker: any time a cookbook author comes
• 2:42
  Speaker: on my show, the Cookbook Love
• 2:44
  Speaker: Podcast, that is a decision that
• 2:47
  Speaker: I make to invite them to the
• 2:49
  Speaker: show.
• 2:50
  Speaker: Their publicity agent or their PR agent at the publisher, or a
• 2:56
  Speaker: private PR agent that they have hired reaches out to me and
• 3:00
  Speaker: pitches the show to me.
• 3:01
  Speaker: But I'm the one that makes the decision about whether or not I
• 3:04
  Speaker: want people to come on the show.
• 3:06
  Speaker: I get pitched authors all the time.
• 3:08
  Speaker: I get books sent to me all the time.
• 3:10
  Speaker: I only have a limited number of spaces for interviews, so I get
• 3:13
  Speaker: to make the final decision.
• 3:16
  Speaker: They don't pay me for that.
• 3:17
  Speaker: That is free publicity for them, but I'm the one that controls
• 3:22
  Speaker: whether or not they get to come on the show.
• 3:24
  Speaker: So so the the author might be paying the publicist to get them
• 3:29
  Speaker: placement on podcasts, on news shows on the today show.
• 3:36
  Speaker: Um, but the author does not do
• 3:40
  Speaker: the reaching out the, the PR
• 3:42
  Speaker: agent does now with marketing,
• 3:45
  Speaker: then the real distinction is, is
• 3:47
  Speaker: that marketing isn't just paid,
• 3:52
  Speaker: it's also free, but the
• 3:54
  Speaker: marketing message is controlled
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  Speaker: by the author or the PR agent
• 4:00
  Speaker: with marketing.
• 4:03
  Speaker: Whether or not you're paying for marketing, you control the
• 4:07
  Speaker: content or your PR agent controls the content.
• 4:11
  Speaker: In the easiest type of marketing, that's the clearest
• 4:13
  Speaker: example to think about is advertising, or what you put on
• 4:18
  Speaker: your website or your email list, or your social content.
• 4:24
  Speaker: If you do a giveaway or a cross promotion with another author,
• 4:27
  Speaker: all of that is marketing too.
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  Speaker: Not all of it is paid for, but
• 4:32
  Speaker: the the locus of control is on
• 4:35
  Speaker: your end.
• 4:36
  Speaker: Your headlines, your texts, what you say on your website, what
• 4:41
  Speaker: emails you write.
• 4:42
  Speaker: That's all completely up to you.
• 4:45
  Speaker: So why should a cookbook author care then about the difference?
• 4:49
  Speaker: Because you probably need a little bit of both.
• 4:52
  Speaker: When you're promoting a book and
• 4:54
  Speaker: they do different jobs,
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  Speaker: marketing gets your message out
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  Speaker: on your terms and publicity gets
• 5:00
  Speaker: your book covered on someone
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  Speaker: else's terms, which is exactly
• 5:05
  Speaker: what makes both of them so
• 5:07
  Speaker: valuable.
• 5:09
  Speaker: Okay.
• 5:10
  Speaker: When you're working with a PR agent, they're specifically
• 5:13
  Speaker: trying to get you media that you can't control, that you would
• 5:19
  Speaker: love to appear on.
• 5:20
  Speaker: But the decision about whether they actually have you on their
• 5:23
  Speaker: media is up to them.
• 5:25
  Speaker: So I want you to grab a notebook.
• 5:28
  Speaker: Let's talk a little bit about what is happening in twenty
• 5:32
  Speaker: twenty six, where you should be spending your time for PR and,
• 5:36
  Speaker: uh, some advice from what the pros that I have had on the show
• 5:40
  Speaker: want you to know about PR.
• 5:43
  Speaker: First of all, one thing that's really changed recently is that
• 5:47
  Speaker: independent bookstores are having a real moment.
• 5:52
  Speaker: They've grown by roughly seventy percent since twenty twenty.
• 5:56
  Speaker: Hundreds of new little shops are
• 5:59
  Speaker: opening and independent
• 6:01
  Speaker: booksellers are reporting higher
• 6:03
  Speaker: sales last year than the year
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  Speaker: before.
• 6:07
  Speaker: Even the big chains like Barnes and Noble are using the
• 6:12
  Speaker: community and borrowing this cozy atmosphere to try to have
• 6:17
  Speaker: people come into their stores.
• 6:19
  Speaker: People are loving in-person events.
• 6:22
  Speaker: Is that any huge surprise with the advent of AI?
• 6:27
  Speaker: When you see an author in person, it's a live event.
• 6:31
  Speaker: You meet them in person, you're dealing with real people doing
• 6:34
  Speaker: real things, and you get to build a relationship with a
• 6:38
  Speaker: local independent bookstore.
• 6:40
  Speaker: Or if there's two or three nearby or in towns nearby, you
• 6:44
  Speaker: actually can go do signings.
• 6:46
  Speaker: You can encourage staff to pick your book for a staff pick.
• 6:50
  Speaker: You might earn a spot in their newsletter.
• 6:53
  Speaker: You could get a built in
• 6:54
  Speaker: audience that already trusts the
• 6:55
  Speaker: store's taste.
• 6:56
  Speaker: So if a store recommends an author, then even if they don't
• 7:00
  Speaker: know you, they know that the store is going to pick someone
• 7:03
  Speaker: good to talk about.
• 7:05
  Speaker: And there's a pretty high return
• 7:07
  Speaker: for a low cost right now with
• 7:09
  Speaker: independent bookstores.
• 7:11
  Speaker: So start local with all the bookstores that are around you.
• 7:14
  Speaker: Be sure to go in, introduce yourself, and make sure that
• 7:18
  Speaker: they know that you have a book that's either been published or
• 7:21
  Speaker: that you have one coming.
• 7:25
  Speaker: The next thing you want to think
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  Speaker: about is rather than doing one
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  Speaker: single splashy launch party, the
• 7:34
  Speaker: stronger move for something you
• 7:36
  Speaker: might consider for twenty twenty
• 7:38
  Speaker: six is to do smaller, more
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  Speaker: repeatable classes or demos at
• 7:44
  Speaker: local kitchen shops, hosting
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  Speaker: supper clubs, doing cooking
• 7:50
  Speaker: classes.
• 7:51
  Speaker: A recurring gathering builds a group of people who will come
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  Speaker: back to you specifically.
• 7:59
  Speaker: They're not just there for a big, huge launch party.
• 8:03
  Speaker: This is where the term often micro and micro gatherings is
• 8:10
  Speaker: beating out huge gatherings.
• 8:13
  Speaker: So think about the micro gatherings you can create for
• 8:17
  Speaker: your book to have some fun with the people who want to read your
• 8:21
  Speaker: book, engage with you, and see what you have to offer.
• 8:26
  Speaker: The third thing is to be sure to
• 8:30
  Speaker: build a folder on your laptop
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  Speaker: that has assets in it that your
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  Speaker: PR agent can access or use for
• 8:42
  Speaker: PR events.
• 8:44
  Speaker: This topic came up over and over
• 8:47
  Speaker: again with the PR agents that I
• 8:48
  Speaker: spoke with.
• 8:50
  Speaker: Make sure that in this folder
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  Speaker: you have a copy of a bio, both a
• 8:54
  Speaker: long version and a short
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  Speaker: version.
• 8:57
  Speaker: You want to have a nice
• 8:58
  Speaker: headshot, maybe some fun things
• 9:01
  Speaker: like a playlist of what you like
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  Speaker: to listen to while you cook, or
• 9:06
  Speaker: some a handful of different
• 9:08
  Speaker: listicles like your top five
• 9:10
  Speaker: pantry must haves, or four
• 9:13
  Speaker: family recipes that you can't
• 9:15
  Speaker: live without.
• 9:18
  Speaker: Prepare and have all of these things ready before your book is
• 9:22
  Speaker: published, because publicists need to start working with this
• 9:26
  Speaker: content three to six months before your publication date,
• 9:30
  Speaker: and scrambling to create this after the book is finished will
• 9:35
  Speaker: cost you the best publicity time that you have, which is actually
• 9:40
  Speaker: before your book comes out.
• 9:43
  Speaker: So again, this is a very important folder.
• 9:46
  Speaker: Most every PR agent that I've spoken with has mentioned this,
• 9:49
  Speaker: and you want it to include assets that you can share with
• 9:53
  Speaker: your PR agent.
• 9:56
  Speaker: The fourth thing is knowing your own story.
• 10:01
  Speaker: And this is the answer to the
• 10:03
  Speaker: question about aren't there
• 10:05
  Speaker: already too many cookbooks out
• 10:07
  Speaker: there?
• 10:08
  Speaker: Let's even talk about cookie cookbooks specifically.
• 10:11
  Speaker: There's probably dozens of cookie cookbooks out there, and
• 10:14
  Speaker: I know there are.
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  Speaker: I've talked to many of the authors here on the show.
• 10:17
  Speaker: But what makes your book different is not the cookies.
• 10:23
  Speaker: It's you, the recipes that you choose to include based on the
• 10:29
  Speaker: story that you tell and why you love this topic.
• 10:35
  Speaker: Where did this cookbook concept come from, and what is the story
• 10:40
  Speaker: or the memories that are attached to it?
• 10:43
  Speaker: Sometimes in marketing, this is
• 10:45
  Speaker: called your origin story and
• 10:48
  Speaker: it's exactly what it sounds
• 10:49
  Speaker: like.
• 10:50
  Speaker: It's the very moment or the reason that your book exists in
• 10:54
  Speaker: the first place.
• 10:56
  Speaker: Maybe it's a dish your grandmother made on Sundays.
• 10:59
  Speaker: Maybe it's the year you had to
• 11:01
  Speaker: relearn how to cook because of a
• 11:02
  Speaker: health diagnosis.
• 11:04
  Speaker: Maybe it's a cuisine you fell in love with on a trip, or one you
• 11:08
  Speaker: couldn't stop creating once you got home from a trip.
• 11:13
  Speaker: Maybe your origin story is
• 11:16
  Speaker: something that is very personal
• 11:18
  Speaker: to you, but this story is
• 11:21
  Speaker: something that your PR agent is
• 11:25
  Speaker: going to want to share with
• 11:27
  Speaker: everybody.
• 11:28
  Speaker: Because producers for shows,
• 11:30
  Speaker: journalists for print media or
• 11:32
  Speaker: online digital media and readers
• 11:35
  Speaker: latch on to the story before
• 11:38
  Speaker: they ever care about the
• 11:39
  Speaker: recipes.
• 11:41
  Speaker: So spend some time describing why someone should buy your
• 11:46
  Speaker: book, what your origin story is, and making this book something
• 11:53
  Speaker: that will matter to people.
• 11:54
  Speaker: Because if you can't answer this
• 11:57
  Speaker: question for yourself about your
• 11:59
  Speaker: origin story, a publicist isn't
• 12:02
  Speaker: going to be able to answer it
• 12:03
  Speaker: either.
• 12:04
  Speaker: They can help you make your
• 12:05
  Speaker: origin story maybe a little bit
• 12:07
  Speaker: more interesting, but you have
• 12:09
  Speaker: to be able to tell the story on
• 12:11
  Speaker: your own and have that ready for
• 12:13
  Speaker: your publicist.
• 12:15
  Speaker: The next thing is that you want
• 12:17
  Speaker: to get yourself an owned home
• 12:20
  Speaker: base online.
• 12:22
  Speaker: That includes a website and an email list.
• 12:27
  Speaker: This is not the same as Linktree or an Instagram bio.
• 12:32
  Speaker: This is actually a home base on
• 12:35
  Speaker: the web where people can land,
• 12:37
  Speaker: see your bio, browse some
• 12:39
  Speaker: information about you, and know
• 12:41
  Speaker: that you are a legitimate
• 12:43
  Speaker: cookbook author.
• 12:45
  Speaker: Plus, you want to have a contact page where people can reach out
• 12:48
  Speaker: to you so that they can actually connect with you.
• 12:52
  Speaker: This is one piece of digital infrastructure that never goes
• 12:57
  Speaker: out of style and can never be taken away from you.
• 13:02
  Speaker: In twenty twenty six, branding has expanded well past follower
• 13:07
  Speaker: counts on social media.
• 13:09
  Speaker: What publishers and readers are responding to right now is your
• 13:13
  Speaker: clear identity and things that you own and places people can
• 13:18
  Speaker: find you, and not just things you post online.
• 13:25
  Speaker: All right.
• 13:25
  Speaker: The next thing you want to think
• 13:26
  Speaker: about is relationships with
• 13:28
  Speaker: brands.
• 13:29
  Speaker: If you are the type of cook or
• 13:31
  Speaker: baker who uses a specific flower
• 13:34
  Speaker: or a particular type of salt, or
• 13:37
  Speaker: you love a certain type of pan
• 13:39
  Speaker: and you use it in any content
• 13:42
  Speaker: that you create, go ahead now
• 13:44
  Speaker: and tag the brands that you
• 13:46
  Speaker: post.
• 13:47
  Speaker: If you, if you, um, post on social media, you don't have to
• 13:51
  Speaker: wait until you want or need something from these brands in
• 13:56
  Speaker: order to do that.
• 13:57
  Speaker: They'll always appreciate a shout out.
• 14:00
  Speaker: If you feel like it's something
• 14:02
  Speaker: that you specifically love to
• 14:04
  Speaker: use now, you don't want to
• 14:06
  Speaker: overdo this, but I had a
• 14:08
  Speaker: cookbook author that I worked
• 14:10
  Speaker: with that did use a specific
• 14:12
  Speaker: type of flour, and she was
• 14:15
  Speaker: started posting.
• 14:16
  Speaker: When she talked about her baking, she would mention this
• 14:19
  Speaker: type of flour, and she did end up getting products sent to her
• 14:23
  Speaker: and ended up turning some of her content into sponsored posts
• 14:26
  Speaker: because they actually paid her to talk about the brand.
• 14:30
  Speaker: But you don't have to do that in order to share.
• 14:33
  Speaker: The same goes for other authors that you follow.
• 14:38
  Speaker: Follow the people you admire.
• 14:40
  Speaker: Comment on their work.
• 14:42
  Speaker: Jane Friedman calls this literary citizenship offering a
• 14:46
  Speaker: blurb if they ask you for one.
• 14:49
  Speaker: These relationships with people will become your support system
• 14:52
  Speaker: at the time that you actually launch your book.
• 14:55
  Speaker: But the thing is, is that these
• 14:57
  Speaker: relationships generally work the
• 14:59
  Speaker: best if they're already
• 15:01
  Speaker: established.
• 15:02
  Speaker: When you launch your book.
• 15:05
  Speaker: So don't forget about building relationships with brands and
• 15:09
  Speaker: with other people.
• 15:12
  Speaker: The next thing is when you think
• 15:14
  Speaker: about media, you want to go
• 15:15
  Speaker: local first.
• 15:17
  Speaker: If you are a first time author
• 15:20
  Speaker: getting a media placement in the
• 15:23
  Speaker: New York Times, Wall Street
• 15:25
  Speaker: Journal, or on the Today Show
• 15:27
  Speaker: might be a little bit of a long
• 15:28
  Speaker: shot.
• 15:29
  Speaker: But always know that your local print media, or if they have an
• 15:36
  Speaker: online space for your local media, alumni networks from
• 15:41
  Speaker: schools that you've attended, church groups, community
• 15:45
  Speaker: centers, exercise clubs.
• 15:48
  Speaker: These are the places locally where books will actually sell.
• 15:53
  Speaker: early on.
• 15:55
  Speaker: There's an old saying that you never overlook the room you're
• 15:58
  Speaker: already standing in.
• 16:00
  Speaker: It's okay to have aspirations to get placement in media that
• 16:03
  Speaker: you're not a part of, but for a first time author, the places
• 16:09
  Speaker: you're already part of and the places you're already standing
• 16:12
  Speaker: are very, very important.
• 16:15
  Speaker: I often call that grassroots connections.
• 16:18
  Speaker: Never overlook any of those for a first time author.
• 16:23
  Speaker: The next thing is that you want
• 16:25
  Speaker: to be sure that you are
• 16:28
  Speaker: realistic about the media
• 16:29
  Speaker: landscape.
• 16:31
  Speaker: If you want to be on a show,
• 16:33
  Speaker: it's because it's a show that
• 16:35
  Speaker: you actually watch and that you
• 16:38
  Speaker: know the kinds of things that
• 16:39
  Speaker: they put on that show and that
• 16:42
  Speaker: you know that you want to be on
• 16:46
  Speaker: the show before you actually let
• 16:48
  Speaker: your publicist know that you
• 16:49
  Speaker: might want to appear on that
• 16:50
  Speaker: show.
• 16:51
  Speaker: A publicist Publicists can only find outlets for you or work
• 16:58
  Speaker: with what's real.
• 16:59
  Speaker: She doesn't want to, or he
• 17:00
  Speaker: doesn't want to chase these
• 17:02
  Speaker: outlets if they do not fit with
• 17:03
  Speaker: your book.
• 17:04
  Speaker: Or if they don't exist anymore.
• 17:07
  Speaker: So be sure that if you're talking about media landscape,
• 17:10
  Speaker: that you would love to appear on to your PR agent, that it's
• 17:13
  Speaker: relevant and that you know that this is something that you
• 17:17
  Speaker: engage with and you can actively talk about this media as someone
• 17:22
  Speaker: who actively consumes it.
• 17:26
  Speaker: Okay.
• 17:27
  Speaker: So part two of this then is what might not be worth your time in
• 17:32
  Speaker: twenty twenty six when it comes to PR for cookbook authors.
• 17:38
  Speaker: Um, the first thing is chasing followers.
• 17:41
  Speaker: This has actually shifted a lot.
• 17:43
  Speaker: There used to be, um, that a
• 17:46
  Speaker: huge following on social media,
• 17:48
  Speaker: for example, was the price of
• 17:49
  Speaker: entry.
• 17:50
  Speaker: Now, I'm not saying that people with a lot of followers don't
• 17:53
  Speaker: get published, but publishers are looking harder at the
• 17:56
  Speaker: quality of the follower, at your unique perspective and whether
• 18:01
  Speaker: you represent a community or a cuisine possibly that's
• 18:05
  Speaker: underrepresented on their list.
• 18:10
  Speaker: So publishers publish catalogs.
• 18:14
  Speaker: Agents often talk about the books they've recently
• 18:16
  Speaker: represented, and if your group or your community or your
• 18:22
  Speaker: cuisine or someone of your nationality, if they are
• 18:25
  Speaker: underrepresented on that list, that might be an excellent
• 18:29
  Speaker: opportunity for you to make some headway with that publisher or
• 18:33
  Speaker: agent, rather than just relying on their follower count.
• 18:38
  Speaker: Smaller, engaged audiences can
• 18:42
  Speaker: matter more than a big generic
• 18:44
  Speaker: audience.
• 18:46
  Speaker: Um, the next thing that maybe isn't worth the time in twenty
• 18:50
  Speaker: twenty six is a huge book tour without a strategy.
• 18:55
  Speaker: In-person events are not a waste of time.
• 18:58
  Speaker: Where we're talking about here
• 19:00
  Speaker: is actually kind of the
• 19:01
  Speaker: opposite.
• 19:03
  Speaker: Booking a long list of cities
• 19:05
  Speaker: with no promotion lined up ahead
• 19:06
  Speaker: of time.
• 19:08
  Speaker: It's better to go with a handful of well promoted stops, with
• 19:12
  Speaker: local press looped in and a bookstore partner who's excited
• 19:17
  Speaker: to host you.
• 19:18
  Speaker: That will outperform every time.
• 19:22
  Speaker: Dozens of stops where nobody knew you were coming.
• 19:25
  Speaker: Now, it's very unusual that you
• 19:27
  Speaker: would plan a huge book tour
• 19:29
  Speaker: without people knowing that
• 19:30
  Speaker: you're coming.
• 19:31
  Speaker: But just remember that the
• 19:33
  Speaker: quality matters more than the
• 19:35
  Speaker: quantity.
• 19:36
  Speaker: And in twenty twenty six, that's still very true.
• 19:39
  Speaker: But, um, be very focused about the events that you plan.
• 19:44
  Speaker: Make sure that they are places that you want to be, that you're
• 19:48
  Speaker: excited to be at and know that these local in person, events
• 19:52
  Speaker: are becoming more popular.
• 19:55
  Speaker: And the last thing is that you don't want to assume that your
• 20:01
  Speaker: publisher has all the PR for your book covered.
• 20:05
  Speaker: In-House publishing teams are managing several titles at a
• 20:10
  Speaker: time each season.
• 20:12
  Speaker: That doesn't mean that they
• 20:13
  Speaker: don't care about your book, it
• 20:14
  Speaker: just means that they maybe don't
• 20:16
  Speaker: have the personnel to give every
• 20:18
  Speaker: book the same amount of
• 20:20
  Speaker: attention.
• 20:21
  Speaker: So ask very clear, direct questions early about what the
• 20:25
  Speaker: PR agent or the department can realistically do at your
• 20:29
  Speaker: publisher, and then make plans for yourself based on the answer
• 20:33
  Speaker: that they give you.
• 20:35
  Speaker: You can't even ask this when
• 20:36
  Speaker: you're negotiating your book
• 20:38
  Speaker: deal.
• 20:39
  Speaker: To talk a little bit about it so that you honestly go into a
• 20:42
  Speaker: contract knowing what kind of PR support is actually provided.
• 20:48
  Speaker: And let's see, I think that that is it in twenty twenty six, the
• 20:54
  Speaker: biggest opportunity right now is in your neighborhood, your local
• 20:59
  Speaker: independent bookstore, your small recurring gatherings
• 21:03
  Speaker: instead of big splashy ones, the platforms that you own, your
• 21:08
  Speaker: website, your email list, remember, those are always
• 21:11
  Speaker: things that you can leverage and they'll never disappear on you.
• 21:15
  Speaker: The other thing is you want to build your origin story, know
• 21:18
  Speaker: what it is, build relationships early, keep your asset folder
• 21:24
  Speaker: filled up with ideas for your PR agent, and remember that your.
• 21:29
  Speaker: You'll have fun continuing to show up long after the initial
• 21:34
  Speaker: splashy book launch ends.
• 21:37
  Speaker: You want to be the kind of author that continues to show
• 21:41
  Speaker: up, that continues to help people, that continues to talk
• 21:45
  Speaker: about their book, and to continue to be the kind of
• 21:50
  Speaker: person that ideal readers for cookbook authors actually love.
• 21:55
  Speaker: So publicity isn't about
• 21:57
  Speaker: something that just happens to
• 21:58
  Speaker: your book.
• 21:59
  Speaker: It's something that you're going to build.
• 22:01
  Speaker: And marketing then is actually
• 22:04
  Speaker: the wording and the things that
• 22:05
  Speaker: you put on your website and in
• 22:08
  Speaker: your emails that you can
• 22:09
  Speaker: control.
• 22:10
  Speaker: So that is it for today's episode.
• 22:14
  Speaker: My mash up episode of PR tips
• 22:17
  Speaker: from the experts I've had on my
• 22:19
  Speaker: show here at the Cookbook Love
• 22:21
  Speaker: Podcast.
• 22:22
  Speaker: This is your host, Maggie
• 22:24
  Speaker: Greene, and until next time,
• 22:25
  Speaker: have a great day and keep loving
• 22:27
  Speaker: your cookbooks.
• 22:32
  Speaker: Thanks for listening to the Cookbook Love podcast.
• 22:35
  Speaker: You can find out more information at w w w dot dot co.