Behind the Author
We at The Reading Cafe thought it would be fun to find out what goes on behind the scenes to help an author publish their book. So “Behind the Author” was born. We plan to meet with those who work closely with the author, such as their publicist, agent, editor, assistant or the illustrator who helps with cover of the book. Today we start it all off with publicist extraordinaire...Erin Galloway.
Behind the Author – an Interview with Erin Galloway
TRC: The Reading Café would like to welcome Erin Galloway, who is a publicist for Berkley/NAL, a division of Penguin Group (USA). Erin is the publicist of some wonderful authors that many of us read. Erin is here to give us a look at what is a publicist, and what goes on behind the scenes to promote the authors book.
TRC: Tell us a little about yourself, how you decided to get into the publishing field, and how you became a publicist.
Erin: I love books, so publishing seemed a natural fit for me. I started out in editorial, but one of my supervisors persuaded me that my talents were best used in publicity and he was right! I’m able to read the books I love and promote them for a living. It doesn’t get much better than that.
TRC: Tell us what a publicist does in helping the author, as well as in publishing and selling the book.
Erin: My job is to get as much media attention for a book as possible, whether that’s print, radio, TV or online coverage. My role is to ensure as many people as possible know about a book’s release.
TRC: What is a day in the life of Erin Galloway like?
Erin: One of the things I love about publicity is that no two days are the same. I work in a fast-paced department with wonderful colleagues. Some things that I regularly do are contact media members to pitch and promote books and set up blog tours, book tours and other events.
TRC: Do you read your author’s book after it’s done, and if necessary, offer advice?
Erin: Yes, I read my authors’ books—one of the best parts of my job! Any advice I have to offer is limited to publicity. I leave the editing up to the very talented editors here at Penguin!
TRC: Tell us the scenario of when an author completes their book, and now it is in the publishing company’s hands. What do you do with the author from that point, until the book is released?
Erin: I typically begin working with an author around five months in advance of the book’s publication. I work to ensure that a book receives as much media coverage as possible, through reviews, interviews, articles, etc. I also schedule book tours and author events.
TRC: Are there any books coming up in 2012 that you are excited about, and want to share?
Erin: There are so many wonderful books releasing this year. Some of the books I’m excited about in the next couple of months are Nalini Singh’s Tangle of Need, Karen Rose’s No One Left to Tell, Christine Feehan’s Samurai Game, Maya Banks’ Echoes at Dawn, JoAnn Ross’ Moonshell Beach, Kay Hooper’s Haven, and debut author Juliana Gray’s A Lady Never Lies, which is the first in a fabulous new historical romance series.
TRC: What is your favorite Genre to read?
Erin: Romance! I also love urban fantasy and romantic fantasy novels.
TRC: Do you have a favorite author you enjoy reading?
Erin: I have way too many favorite authors to list here. I’m so fortunate that I work in publishing because I never run out of books to read.
TRC: What is your favorite Novel, and Character?
Erin: I simply can’t name just one. I will say that I really love characters that I can return to over and over again. That’s one of the reasons I love J.D. Robb’s In Death series as well as Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series.
TRC: How do you think the rise of eBooks will affect the publishing world? As a publicist, you are still promoting the author, therefore it would seem that your job would remain similar. Any thoughts?
Erin: I can’t predict what the future holds for book publishing in general, but I will say it’s an exciting time. And regardless of whether readers prefer to read in print or digital format, books still need to be promoted in order for readers to take notice of them. So while the role of publicists may change and evolve, I know there will still be plenty of work to do!
TRC: Is there anything else you would like to add and share with us?
Erin: I’d just like to thank all of the readers out there to who enjoy our authors work. It’s such a pleasure to hear the responses from readers when they’ve found a book or series they love.
TRC: Thank you, Erin, for taking the time to talk to us. This was fun, as it gives everyone a chance to see what is behind the author and meet them personally.
Erin: Thanks for having me!
Thank you, Erin for this wonderful interview. It was great to see what goes on behind the scenes to publish a book.
I totally agree with you about series that allow you to see your favorite characters. I love love the In-Death, as many people here know. lol Love Eve and Roarke, and Nora (JD Robb) has the best secondary characters, whom you come to love and are not secondary at all. Again to repeat what I tell everyone who listens, there is no better hot romantic male character then Roarke. 🙂
Nalini Singh and her psy/changeling series is awesome too, and you get to see the main characters from each book often. Great series.
this is a nice new feature. i always wanted to know what the author has to do to get the book published. thank you erin for sharing this with us
HI Erin and welcome to The Reading Cafe. You are our premiere interview for Behind the Author….
And how did Barb find another compatriot for her ‘IN DEATH’ obsession?? 🙂
hey Sandy, plenty of In Death fans, just need to look at the best seller list when a new book comes out. *grins*
I think this a great interview and I love hearing what happens behind the scenes. Very cool.
Great interview Barb, very informative. I believe there is a definite future for the hand held book, so many people I know (young and old alike) prefer to hold that package of paper in their hand. I think it is also very satisfying for the author to hear that the story that they had to tell is being well received, and that is undoubtedly where the role of the publicist comes in. In many ways I think the role of the publicist is lost behind the scenes. A lot of organizing skill come with the territory that the author would be lost without. I read a lot of the authors that were mentioned in the article, I can only imagine what it has taken (beyond their talent) to get them where they are.
Mary Ann, well put. I really enjoyed that the publicist reads the books also. I’m still holding on to my paperback but I know that I’ll eventually have to get a ereader.
Great interview Barb!! I love love the premise of “Behind the Author”!!! And thank you Erin for participating! You represent several of my FAVORITE authors, and, I have to admit, I’m a little jealous!! 😉 Keep up the good work!!
yep Vickie, I can be jealous too, sounds like a fun job, but I’m sure a lot of pressure when it’s time to publish the book
Barb, great job as always. We have the model’s and the publicist view so who’s next?
Thank you for this wonderful interview Erin. I loved reading about what a publicist does to help publish the authors work.
Ms. Galloway is great at her job because she is so passionate about it! How awesome.
Great thinking to hear a different perspective, Barb. While we love our authors, the work “backstage” is definitely worth highlighting. 😉
Truly interesting information that I would never have thought about. Thank you Erin and The Reading Cafe for bringing to us.