Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The Publicist Book One & Two




Synopsis: The Publicist Book One 

Behind every book, there’s always more to the story.

Can one woman change an age-old institution like publishing? Probably not, but Kate Mitchell sure wants to try. As a publicist with a large, respected New York publishing house, Kate finds herself at the mercy of a broken publishing system, books that don’t always sell (at all) and author egos that are often, well, as big as the island of Manhattan.

Enter the star Editor, MacDermott Ellis. Tall, handsome, charismatic, married, and ready to save the day. Kate wants to do the right thing but her hormones seem to be driving her decisions. Then there’s Allan Lavigne, once a revered author, now as forgotten as yesterday’s news; and his nephew Nick, who wants to sweep Kate away from New York for another coast, California.

As Kate tries to navigate the landmine of publicity, the over-the-top author expectations, and the careful dance of “I’m sorry, your book isn't on the bestseller list this week”, she also finds authors who are painfully overlooked by a publisher wanting more sex, more celebrities, and more scandal.


Shelf Life: The Publicist Book Two

The story only an insider could tell.

Publishing: An industry of out-of-control of egos, unrealistic expectations, and books with the shelf life of milk.

This is Kate’s world, but for how long?

When one of Kate Mitchell’s star authors is carted away in handcuffs, she thinks it’s only the beginning of her troubles. As her world crumbles around her, Kate desperately looks for anyone to hold onto but finds that happy endings are truly works of fiction. When her career and love affair hit their expiration date, Kate sets off on a new adventure….

Starting over in California is easy, but Kate soon learns that leaving her old life behind isn't. Nicholas Lavigne is eager to help her forget, but two things still own her heart, the dream of discovering the next great American novel, and MacDermott Ellis.

As Kate tries to rebuild her life she finds a surprising gift that reboots her career in a new and unexpected direction. Suddenly her name becomes synonymous with one of the biggest bestsellers publishing has seen in ages and she’s welcomed back with open arms. At the height of her success the ghosts of her past come back to remind her of the world she’d been trying to forget and the man who never let go of her heart.


Author Interview:  I am so excited to have Christina George here today for some fun and interesting Q&A!

1.     Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? That’s funny because it didn’t. Well, that’s not to say that I didn’t noodle with writing and poetry (which God-willing will never see the light of day!) but these stories really came out of life experience and also, I wanted to know I could do it!

2.     Can you share a little of your current work with us? Sure… so much like Kate I work with authors and I work in publishing and for a publisher. I face many of the same battles Kate does: getting attention for my authors, getting publishers to pay attention to really great books. I love my job but it’s not always easy work.

3.     How did you come up with the title? That’s a funny question. So I wrote The Publicist Book One and had every intention of naming this The Publicist Book Two and then one night I woke up thought: Wow, that’s stupid, how will anyone be able to tell the difference between the two? So, I was on a plane the next day for a writer’s conference and the title Shelf Life came to me. And as anyone who has ever “named” a book knows, a title is right when it’s right. This one felt right and it still does. I love it!

4.     Can you tell us about your main character? I adore Kate, she’s my main character. She’s strong, she knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to tell it like it is. She’s also really dedicated to her authors which is so important in this line of work and she loves publishing. Despite the fact that the industry seems to be crumbling down around her, she loves it.

5.     Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Please be kind to your publicist or marketing person :-)

6.     How much of the book is realistic? It’s all very realistic. Ninety-five percent of what happens in the book actually happened to me while working at my job.

7.     Have you included a lot of your life experiences, even friends, in the plot? Yes, and yes --- people I adore, authors I adore and folks I didn’t care too much for. I’ve included all of it. That’s part of what made this so fun, much of it was pretty cathartic. It’s also kind of fun for folks to guess which author story is real and which one isn’t. Ninety percent of them are real.

8.     What is your favorite quality about yourself? I would have to say my sense of humor, or rather my ability to laugh at stressful situations or during stressful times. I feel like humor is so important and it can get us through a lot of tough times.

9.     What is your least favorite quality about yourself? Hmmmm, I am not good at picking good men. There, I said it. When I was a kid I was always bringing strays home. That hasn’t changed much :-)


10.  Where do you see yourself in five years? Hopefully on the set of my new HBO series called The Publicist. Wait, too far-fetched? Well, you know, a girl can dream!

11.  What are some of the best tools available today for writers, especially those just starting out? Well, first and foremost and author should have a website. As tools go, I’d say that’s the best one. You should be blogging there and really getting to know your reader. Your reader is your new BFF, you respond to their comments on your blog, you thank them for reading the book. It’s all about engagement. So, that said, you should also be on Facebook – but get a Fan Page because that’s a better way to promote yourself. Other tools? Well, I know there’s a lot of controversy around Goodreads but I’ve never, ever had a bad experience there. It’s such a fun place to engage with your reader. It really is.

12.  Do you have any advice for writers? Yes, I think it’s that you should really be vigilant with your marketing. You know stuff takes time – I always say that. But the key to a solid marketing plan is an author who is engaged in their own success. When you are engaged you’re commenting on blogs, you’re dialoging with your reader and you are careful about who you hire to do your marketing. Look, no one can do miracles. I’m on this book tour and it’s great but will I sell a thousand books? Probably not. That’s not why I’m doing it. I’m doing it for exposure. Get enough exposure and you’ll sell books. But don’t expect every “ping” you get to warrant a big blockbuster sale because it may not.


I've worked in publishing for twenty years (give or take). Here's what this book isn't. It's not a slam against publishing (though it is broken) and it's not a slam against authors (though some of them are crazy). This book is not autobiographical though many of the stories are true. No you won't know which ones, hell it's more fun to guess, right? I continue to work in publicity and help authors because at the end of the day I do love books, I love publishing, and I love authors. I hope you'll enjoy this romp through Kate's world as much as I enjoyed creating it.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for this interview! I'm really excited to be featured on your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for being a part of this tour, Jilleen!

    ReplyDelete

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