The Publicity Machine

    Publicity is a funny old business. I'm not a natural seeker of publicity - when I used to do work with theatre companies, I was most comfortable behind-the-scenes, and such is the way with life in general!

    However, having a book published has made me conscious of the need for being more publicity-aware, even if I try and resist it!

    Sara, owner, CEO, MD, Chief Publisher, Senior Training Officer and Tea-Girl-Friday of Inspired Quill (the publishing company I'm signed with), entered a BBC competition a while ago called "Be Your Own Boss", which is all around encouraging entrepreneurs (particularly young entrepreneurs, and dammit, she's only 23). A couple of weeks ago, she got through to the next round of this competition (to the last 500 entrants) and was tasked with a brief that had a very short turn-around time, to say the least!

    We've been having discussions recently about new marketing strategies for Fall From Grace, and I've actually been "given" (SO not the right word) an IQ intern, who is coming up with some fab ideas. Sara found out that she had got through to the next round of this competition the day after one of our chats, so we decided to try and work on something together.

    Essentially, each of the successful applicants is given a small amount of money and told to make a profit through whatever sphere they work in. This being the BBC, they can't keep the profits, of course, so all proceeds are donated to Children in Need - which is an excellent charity in my book.

    Oh, by the way - did I mention the turn-around time for this project? Two weeks.

    Yes, just two weeks - and it's amazing how short two weeks actually seems when you're trying to organise an event of some kind.

    Sara came up with the concept of a writer / publisher / editor talk and Q&A session in my Kent hometown of Broadstairs, which sounded a great idea, so we went full-steam-ahead with that concept. Two short weeks later, I met Sara & Peter (IQ's chief editor, and the man who worked on my book) off the high-speed train, and suddenly it was very real what we were about to do.

    I've recently done a schools talk, and (once I got over my nerves) really enjoyed it. The two classes I worked with were actually very cool, and set me at my ease quickly. More than anything, that day proved that I could, if I had to, talk in front of a group of people, and be creative enough to think on my feet if I needed to.

    Talking in front of a group of adults is a very similar process, of course, except that it felt a lot more nerve-wracking. I'm not sure whether it was because I knew some of the audience, or whether I knew some of them were writers more successful than myself, or whether it was just my nerves playing tricks on my addled brain. It might have been all three, of course!

    The rumour of me, two minutes before the start of the talk, attempting to bribe my publisher and editor to give the talk for me are, I must confess, entirely true. They declined my offer of a Cadbury's creme egg and £5 each (quite a generous bribe, if I do say so myself), and told me to get on with it. Fair enough - can't blame a guy for trying.

    I was relieved at how it was received - that's always the fear, I think; if you're actually making sense, or whether you're boring your audience to tears. I hadn't actually prepared my speech until that morning, primarily because I'd been so involved with the prep work for it, that it hadn't occurred to me to write any notes down until the day before. Nothing like last-minute preparation!

    However, it seemed to be well-received (phew) and the Q&A session with the three of us was actually a lot of fun - I think we could have gone on for longer if we'd have been allowed to! Everyone got into the spirit of the evening, and we raised money for Children in Need in the process - which, to me, trumps my nerves ten-fold.

    Some of the evening was recorded, so I'll be asking Sara if I'm allowed to share any of it (it may well be restricted because of the BBC competition, but we'll find out!) and, if we can, I'll share it on here to a wider audience.

    Onwards and upwards, as they say. As I write this (early on Sunday morning), I have a sleeping publisher and editor in the next room. I'm just trying to find some steel drums ... or even just a well-timed alarm clock - to wake them up. I wish I could say it was for research purposes for my next book, but it's not - I'm just a little bit sadistic!