The Pros and Cons of Launching a Book Without a Publicist

Today’s post is by author Heather Sweeney.

When I got a publishing deal for my memoir Camouflage: How I Emerged from the Shadows of a Military Marriage, I assumed I would have a publicist to help promote my book. However, when I discovered how much it would cost me out of my own pocket, I procrastinated so long on making a decision that it was too late to hire one for my book launch.

My memoir is out in the world now, and I’ve learned a lot about book promotion by doing it myself. In some ways I’m glad I didn’t spend time and money vetting and hiring a publicist, but in other ways I wish I had someone’s expertise to guide me and relieve my already heavy workload.

If you’re on the fence, consider these pros and cons of launching a book without a publicist.

Pro: You’ll avoid a huge expense.

It’s no secret that book publicists are costly. The fees depend on many factors, including the length of the campaign, but I’ve heard of authors paying anywhere from $5,000 to well over $20,000.

Not only did I not want to dish out all that money, but I also underestimated the other expenses of promoting a newly published book. From traveling and providing food for author events (how could I resist those adorable cake pops with my book cover on them?), to ring lights and podcast recording equipment, to a Goodreads giveaway and shipping the books to winners, to applying for awards with no guarantee of winning anything, the expenses most publishers won’t cover seem endless. I felt like I was already blowing my budget even before factoring in a publicist.

Pro: You can manage your own expectations.

Handing over thousands of dollars to a complete stranger and trusting they’ll do what you hired them to do is risky. Even if you get a referral from a trusted author friend, there’s no guarantee the publicity campaign you’ve paid for will produce the results you imagined, whether it’s because the publicist wasn’t delivering what was promised or because your book sales didn’t come close to compensating for the cost of the campaign.

If you do it yourself, you’re in the driver’s seat. You know your own work ethic and your limitations. You know your ability to network and your time constraints. When I made my plan of how I wanted to promote my memoir, I had very realistic expectations. And while I was disappointed by some doors I couldn’t open, I was surprised and thrilled by others I could. Plus, as positive results added up, I gained confidence and momentum to jump outside my comfort zone and aim higher.

Pro: You can rely on literary citizenship.

I’ve been told I’m a good literary citizen. What does that mean? It means I read and share other writers’ work. I’ve helped other writers with edits for free and passed along editor contact information for pitching essays. I’ve shared my query letter and book proposal for others to use as templates. I’ve offered tips and advice in writing groups with thousands of members. I’ve read many advance reading copies and left reviews.

While I do these things because I genuinely enjoy helping other writers, it also benefited me when it came time to launch my book. Just as I’ve never forgotten the writers who have shown me kindness and good literary citizenship, I learned at my book launch that others didn’t forget mine. Whether writer friends read and reviewed my book, posted pictures of my book on social media, or connected me with appropriate podcasters or essay pitch calls, my writing community came through when my book was published and continues to do so.

So if you’re a good literary citizen—and you should be long before you start asking for favors—your book launch is the perfect time to ask others to help you as you’ve helped them.

Con: There’s a steep learning curve.

I’d never published a book before, so the only knowledge I had of book promotion came through paying attention to what other authors were doing. But I was only seeing the results, not the behind-the-scenes work. I had to teach myself everything through research and asking other authors for advice.

At the same time I was learning how to be a publicist, I also had to learn how to be a debut author. I wasn’t just learning how to pitch podcasts, I was also learning how to speak on podcasts. I wasn’t just learning social media best practices, I was also learning how to make book-related reels and compose effective captions. I wasn’t just learning how to find venues for events, I was also learning how to overcome my lifelong fear of public speaking. Learning both roles at the same time wasn’t easy.

Con: Publicists have connections you don’t have.

I’ve been a freelance writer for 15 years, and I’ve curated a long list of editor contacts at national outlets. But even though those contacts helped me when pitching companion pieces for my memoir, I had to start from square one when it came to booking podcasts, interviews, and author events.

Publicists have extensive lists of connections and know how to send pitches and who to send them to. Even if you’d prefer to send an essay or podcast pitch yourself to give it a personal touch as the author, a publicist can do the leg work of finding the appropriate email address and help draft the pitch. Despite everything I knew as a freelancer, a publicist would have compensated for everything I didn’t know.

Con: Publicists have time you don’t have.

Outsourcing this part of your publishing journey frees you up to write the companion pieces the publicist is pitching, practice your talking points for the podcasts the publicist is booking, order those adorable cake pops with your book cover on them for the in-person events the publicist is booking. And while I was able to do all of these things myself, the burnout from doing it all for months hit me pretty hard.

Plus, if you’re like most authors who aren’t making enough money from their books to quit their day jobs, without a publicist, you have to do it all in your free time. Just as I wrote my book in the pockets of time I found between my full-time job, parenting, and neverending to-do lists, I had a very limited amount of time to dedicate to book promotion.

A publicist can be an invaluable part of your launch team when your book is published, but it’s also very possible to do it on your own. Happy book launch!

Heather Sweeney

Heather Sweeney is the author of the memoir Camouflage: How I Emerged from the Shadows of a Military Marriage. She writes about divorce, life as a military spouse, parenting, and women’s health, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, HuffPost, Business Insider, TODAY.com, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Healthline, Reader’s Digest, Electric Lit, and Military.com, among others. She lives in Virginia. Camouflage is her first book.