on New Shelves:

At some point, most authors—especially the first-timers—find themselves in the same place. You’ll be there, too, if you’re not already, i.e. with this bouncing baby book in your arms, that you want to introduce to the world—with no idea how to go about that, outside of the friends and family in the waiting room (and that second wave that’ll bring casseroles later).

Media is undoubtedly a huge part of the puzzle. You’ll want to:

do some press
drive new readers back to your social feeds
grow your audience
sell some books

But also, undoubtedly, as you begin the process of figuring out just how to land that coverage, you’re going to hear a few things—from people who claim to understand ‘the publicity game’—that just flat out aren’t true.

As a longtime publicist, who has worked on over 300 book campaigns and a dozen New York Times bestsellers, I feel compelled (and qualified) to tell you what they are.