At some point in every conversation with a new client, a book publicist waits for the same question or joke: "And then we'll get on Oprah! Right? Right!"
It's a curious phenomenon, this specter of Oprah as the lottery ticket, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. An appearance on Oprah is the guaranteed book promotional tool, which is comforting in an industry where so many book promotions don't result in book sales.
Authors and publishers want results, but results and goal are one thing, guarantees another.
It is an art to manage the expectations of publishers and authors. Mr. Obie Joe advocates clarity of the cane. A promotional campaign might sell the books, and might not.
A huge amount of editorials on the issues in Leslie Bennett's book about the politics of stay at home mothers made the book's title familiar, but familiarity did not translate into book sales. As in the algorithm: advance + promotion budget = book sales.
Mr. Obie Joe has to remind those seated that book sales are only one component of why any one of us does promotion. Keep your book sales goals reasonable, and your other goals (building a fan base, creating momentum for secondary career) large and creative.
Sure, Oprah sells books for SOME authors, but not ALL authors.
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