Book Coverage: It’s All About Connections — Or Is It?

I’m sure you’ve heard this before: “If you want to get any attention for your book, you gotta know the right people. It’s all about connections.”

There’s some truth to that. Humans do tend to prefer people we know to people we don’t. (And for this reason, you should expand your network!)

But think about it. It’s simply not possible for editors and producers to meet all their coverage needs with people they know. If, for example, they have to produce 3 interviews a week, they’re not going to 3 friends who all have just published a book—each and every week.

Second, the sentiment as a whole is outdated. It comes from a bygone era in media when a set of gatekeepers determined access to a limited number of opportunities. Back then if you knew someone who was booking a given show, that could help get your foot in the door.

But the media landscape has changed. There are infinitely more opportunities now, which makes things so much more competitive for outlets: the audience has innumerable options so if you don’t give them the information and stories they want, they’re going to go elsewhere. A good producer isn’t going to think, “my 40k subscribers want to hear from my friends and my friends only!” She’s going to know her subscribers want the value and content they signed up for, so she’ll find the best people to deliver on that—which might be you!

Because at the end of the day, journalists need stories. Stories that will nurture a loyal audience of listeners, readers, and followers. Figuring out how to pitch your book with a compelling story hook is key.

At our sister company Press Shop, we’ve been doing book publicity for decades now—so sure, we do have tons of contacts and they come in handy. But for any campaign, more than 75% of the hits we coordinate are with people we had no prior connection to; most of our success comes from people we found via thorough media research and reached out to for the first time.

So there’s tons that you can do with no connections at all — as long as you understand the basics of publicity. We rely on it for each and every project.