When To Break The Rules

Earlier this year, we broke a huge book publicity rule — and we think it offers a good lesson for authors working to promote their books. 

We pitched a very prominent producer the day before July 4. There are few ironclad rules in publicity, but “thou shalt not pitch on the day before or after a major holiday” is one of them! 

But on this day, we decided to just press Send. We love to champion our clients; we had some really good contacts left on our list—plus, we’re unapologetically book-obsessed and chronically online. The historically slow day for work meant that our pitch landed in an emptier-than-usual inbox, and lo and behold, on July 3rd, that producer booked our client for one of the biggest national broadcast spots out there.

What’s the takeaway? We are not recommending that you spend Christmas pitching, but in the days leading up to it, as emails are slowing down and out-of-office messages are proliferating ahead of the holidays, it’s worth a try! And going forward, keep in mind that sometimes it’s helpful to go against the grain. 

It’s difficult to break through the noise these days, so you have our permission to take a chance and try zigging while everyone else is zagging. Everyone you email is a real human with their own schedule, email habits, and idiosyncrasies — who knows, maybe the only time they have time to wade through their inbox is the day before everyone heads out of town on Dec 20!