by Linda White

Publicist: Here’s a novel that was published last March. I know it’s October now, but this is a very interesting story. It’s about a couple who . . .

Editor: Oh, yeah, well, um, sorry, but you know, I’ve got about a thousand books that came after that one, and they kind of need some attention. Is the author doing anything currently?

Publicist: There’s a signing at the mall next month.

Editor: Next month? Hmm. Well, you know, I like to give my reviewers a little more time than that. Sorry. Try me earlier next time.

Yes. Try the editor earlier—every time. Oh, and it’s likely you will never have this exchange; the editor is just too darn busy. He doesn’t have time to be this charitable.

I have run into dozens of authors at various events who just seem puzzled. They cannot understand why no one will review their books. Maybe initially they sent out a few copies the month it was published. But then they kind of got busy, and they were hoping the momentum would build, and they were able to scrape into a few events, and all was good. But then suddenly—nothing. Now why won’t those review editors review those books?

As a former book review editor, I can tell you a little bit about why that is. Reviewing is a long-drawn-out process. Not only does the book review editor have to give a reviewer time to read the book and write the review, but as an editor, you have to get the book early enough for it to make it into your pile of books being considered, and then on the other end you need to get the review back in time to edit it and do any necessary follow-up, and then place it in the publication. And this holds true for online reviews as much as for print reviews. Of course, print reviews need even more lead time, because they have to, yeah, print the thing.

The publishing world time line is largely dictated by the big trade publications, like Publishers Weekly. They request galleys six months in advance of publication. They give their reviewers a nice long lead time, and they have umpteen books to sort through before even assigning them. Plus, they like to publish the reviews a couple of months before the book comes out. This all adds up.

And all other publications follow suit because, after all, who likes to be behind the pack? So BookPage, Booklist, Foreword magazine, Library Journal, and on and on, all require that galleys be in their hands months in advance of publication. Even your local newspaper’s book review editor would prefer this much room in the schedule, since then he or she can report on new, fresh titles, instead of stomping all over ground already covered elsewhere.

Sometimes there is an exception. Maybe the author is doing a great big event, and you let the editor know at least a couple of months in advance. Maybe then the editor can get a reviewer to do a quick turn and will run a short review with an event notice.

On the other side of the desk, as a corporate publicist, I generally stopped proactively working a title three months after it came out. And most of those three months was spent reacting to the huge book mailing we did initially at the release. I booked radio interviews two months before publication, television even earlier. I arranged signings three months before publication. Not only did the outlets want that kind of lead time, but hey, I had ten other titles that I had to pay attention to and new ones releasing every month.

There are always more books in the pipeline. If there is something crazy going on with your book, such as being incredibly timely or newsworthy, or you have won the Man Booker Prize or some other such thing, well, congratulations. You can breathe a little new life into your campaign. But unless that is true, and really true, you must be content with what you have garnered so far.

Finally, please be patient. If you take the plunge and send out a large mailing of galleys, you will see more reviews appearing soon after publication. If you wait until publication, you may see some reviews, but they will come out later. There is very little that can be done to rush this process. And no, it doesn’t do any good to continually call papers or magazines, unless they have indicated an interest in doing a feature. They are not going to dig through their piles of books to find yours. If they’ve already set it aside, then it’s probably out with a reviewer anyway.

So that poor publicist you wanted to hire the month after the book came out? She will be fighting an uphill battle. By the time she gets going, precious months have slipped by. She will be leveraging her contacts against the unlikely event that your book is really something the editor will like. Will this publicist risk her credibility to push your book, when she knows it is just too late? Probably not. She would like to use these contacts sometime in the future. Maybe for your next book, that will prove to be a benefit to you. She will likely turn to other ways to gain some attention for your book or not take it on at all.

But you are not likely to hire that publicist next time, are you? Because you believe the whole industry is stacked against you. Well, simply put, it’s just not true. All you have to do is learn a little bit about how it works—and baby, work the system.

Linda White has 15 years of experience in the field of publishing. She has worked with many bestselling and award-winning authors, managed book tours, and placed authors on numerous national radio and television programs. She currently runs BookMania (www.bookmaniaonline.com), which offers book services to publishers and authors. Linda offers talks to groups and classes on publicity for authors, with the next session taking place at the Loft on December 11, 2010. She especially enjoys talking with authors about the publishing world and helping them find their way through it. She hopes to see you on December 11!