I have long waited to talk to a publicity agent and learn about their bookish world and, today, I am thrilled to bring you this conversation with Chelsea DeVries. Since I started reviewing books, we have been in touch and I read the hilarious Loved Mars Hated the Food because of her outreach. Get ready to learn about the life of a publicist, how to become one and what they can do for you as an author!
Welcome to The Creator’s Roulette, Chelsea! Tell us a little bit about you and how you became a publicist.
Hi Kriti. Thanks so much for having me today. I guess my love for publicity came way before I went to college. I grew up having many encounters with famous people but for some reason, it felt like they appeared in front of me and I never had to seek them out like normal fans do. And I realized how easy it was to talk to them, and at the end of the day, they were just regular people who happened to have a smart team around them who helped them be as famous as they are. I didn’t even go to college to be a publicist. I actually was studying to be an accountant but I entered a contest sponsored by a professional skateboarder and his foundation and I ended winning most creative for my video entry. That along with my wanting to better understand why the media choses certain people to target and prolong their fascination with made me want to become a publicist so I could protect them from the unfairness of the news media. For example, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, and even recently the media treats our current sitting president here in the USA the same. It was this idea of getting a law in place that protects people from writing or fabricating a false story without written permission that made me want to be a publicist. So I switched my major to marketing and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and minor in International Hospitality and Tourism.
Are there particular genres of books that you like to take on?
I definitely like to help indie authors because when I was a teenager, I published two novels and had absolutely no idea how to market myself. I just liked writing and had these stories I wanted to share with the world. Being that I don’t want any other author to feel that lost in the dark, I try to be an advocate to any author I meet, even if they don’t end up hiring me as their publicist because writing in general is a lonely profession, and it seems to me like an even lonely career once you put a book out because unless you have an established audience, like Danielle Steel, J. K. Rowling, and Stephen King, it can be hard to break the mold but you just have to find a way to connect directly to your audience. Like if you write adult fiction, your best platform to connect with readers would be Facebook. If you write science fiction, Twitter would be your best place to connect, etc.
There are so many people involved in the publication cycle of a book! Editors, agents, publicists, reviewers,… how many of these different roles do you interact with?
I interact with other publicists if I am doing book reviews. I also interact with reviewers such as yourself to secure my clients a feature with a platform that has a good engaging audience because then it will ensure that they sell some books from the feature or that they gain more people in their own audience at least.
Can you tell us more about being a publicist? What does a publicist do?
I actually don’t think that a lot of people know what my role is but basically I am supposed to be your mediator and advocate between you and the media if you are the talent which means I’m supposed to know everything about you at all times so that if the media inquiries about it, I have the information necessary to spin it in your favor if it’s bad, or use it to promote you if it’s good. I would even go farther to say that a publicist is like a filter for what you want the world to know about you and your product or service. An author without a publicist might say: “Hey, I wrote a book if you want to check it out.”
An author with a publicist would communicate: “Hey I wrote a book that features a chef that got picked for a NASA mission gone awry and now he is stuck on Mars. Will his culinary skills be enough to survive?”
I also wrote an article that I keep atop my website because when I first launched my PR firm, it seemed that some authors who signed with me (They no longer are active clients) understood that for the most part, I am supposed to do the majority of the work in terms of any bookings, networking, research, and promotion is concerned. I can even help you prep for an interview like this one if you have never done one before because I can teach you what to focus on for your answer and what to leave out. Some people need help in that area too. Basically, your publicist is supposed to be your best friend. They can help you out of a bad media storm, and they can keep buzz going until you reach the best-seller list. I also wrote that article because even my own family is unsure of what I do so it just made it easier to communicate it as a general education piece on my site.
How important is networking for a publicist to be successful?
Networking is everything. I wouldn’t be where I am with the Smart Cookie Philes if it weren’t for the network I built up mostly through Twitter and running a hashtag game for the first two years I was in business. I met a lot of writers that way and was able to let them know that I could help them with marketing if that wasn’t their strong suit. I also ran The Smart Cookie Philes as a book and music blog for the first year so I could gain exposure and a network through Booktube and Bookstagram because once people could see I could talk about books and music that way, I figured once I launched my PR firm it would make sense. And by the time I launched my PR firm, I had about four years of PR experience under my belt working for other firms in an internship capacity learning different techniques to book and music publicity.
The coolest internship I landed was a stint where I got picked to work for Rachel Platten’s Tour Crew when she debuted as a major label artist with her album Wildfire. It was a new experience I never got before from any other internship and I was able to see firsthand how much work goes into planning and executing a concert stop on a tour. Plus, Rachel Platten picked me for that tour because of a review I did on The Smart Cookie Philes of her album Wildfire. It was surreal for me. I just went there in work mode but it was funny, I didn’t know we were going to meet her too but we got to meet her, and when she hugged me, I could tell that she was a genuine person.
And that’s basically what I look for in a client now. They have to be genuine otherwise I could do $1000 worth of PR work and they won’t sell anything because people can see right through disingenuous people. And even if you can sing well and your story is interesting, if you are egotistical or have an air of pride people don’t really want anything to do with anything you’re about. That’s just my experience. Not always though. It seems that being arrogant and egotistical, even somewhat narcissistic works in the political spectrum. Again, like anything it’s all about that person. Not every single person who gets involved in politics is that way.
For my readers who might be interested in becoming a publicist, how can they go about doing that?
Definitely stay in school. And it helps if you like to write because being a publicist is all about writing. I spend most of my time writing press releases, media lists, pitches, etc. You need a college degree for anyone to take you seriously within the industry so work toward that. For me, my college degree helped me from a business standpoint because it gave me the knowledge I needed to start and run my own business. And also it helps if you know what kind of publicist you want to be when you finish with school. You can be a general publicist which means you can do networking and publicity for anyone. For me, I love books and music almost as much as I love my dogs and coffee so I knew that I wanted to work within those niches and genres. Yet, a big to-do for publicity is the research element but most writers are already very good at that. For me, that’s my favorite part because you are learning new trends and different aspects of that particular genre or niche.
What has been the most fun part about being a publicist? What are some challenges of the profession?
The most fun is the research. For instance, marketing a Christian mental health book is going to be a bit different than marketing a Children’s book, so you will have to curate your research to that specific genre. Find reviewers and bookstagramers that only feature that genre, etc. I am someone who loves to learn so for me, the research is my favorite part. I had a client that I worked with for over a year who wrote a children’s book and found out that there is an endless amount of things to learn about that genre.
The most challenging would be that I sometimes feel out of the loop or underappreciated for the work that I do but I remind myself that it comes with the profession and not to take it all so personally. I wish my clients (past and present) opened up to me more but I understand that some people I work with, don’t see me as their friend but instead just someone who is helping build buzz for them, and understand more about their own market. This is definitely a perfect profession for someone who doesn’t always like being directly in the spotlight but helping others look good. If you like to help people, this is a great profession for you. I am an extroverted introvert so I love connecting with people but I prefer to have the attention and fanfare be on them, not myself.
You’re a published author too. What lessons have you taken away from your job as a publicist to being an author?
Being a publicist has actually given me that courage to put out a new book after fourteen years because I now understand how to put together a press kit, present yourself as an author, and most importantly sell your personality and niche. Plus, the network I’ve built up through my clients past and present has led to me having people I can reach out to and say, “Hey, I have a book coming out. Want to help me tell more people about it?” And that feels exciting to me.
One thing with my recent book I was shocked to find is how so many bloggers, bookstagrammers, and booktubers either don’t read poetry or don’t feature self-published books and that has made me even more determined to expand on that with the Smart Cookie Philes and offer more of a platform for poets and indie authors because every person who puts a book together should have someone who makes them feel proud of that accomplishment regardless of how it was published or put together. I understand certain genres aren’t for everyone but with the growth of self-publishing, and more big corporations jumping in the ring in that regard, I think those reviewers, bloggers, etc are missing a huge opportunity to expand their audience. Independent authors are a growing niche. It’s 2020. Let’s stop being so close-minded.
Is there something else you want to know about publicists? Be sure to add your questions in the comments!
If you interested in reviewing Chelsea’s poetry book or just want to talk to her about her publicist services, check out the services she offers (she is a reviewer herself as well) on her website. You can also email her directly at smartcookiepr26@gmail.com. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Thank you so much for reading. 🙂
All images except the Creator’s Roulette graphic are from Unsplash.
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