Publicists 'under pressure' as reviews landscape shifts
Publicists are having to be "more and more creative" as they look to manoeuvre changing print and online opportunities for their titles, industry professionals have told The Bookseller.
While some newspaper literary editors say their print coverage is holding steady after cuts to pages during the Covid-19 pandemic, publicists say competition is tougher than ever for small spaces, with magazines and journals often hard-hit.
Jess Gulliver, associate director at Premier Comms, said: “Since 2021 review coverage has shrunk even more, there is less space than previously, and more books being published, and with that more novels being proofed and sent out earlier and earlier. Our industry publicists are having to be more and more creative. With non-fiction it can be easier to get traction, but there’s still as much of a drive from authors, agents and editors to secure reviews from traditional media.”
Gulliver said there is still the “enormous pressure to secure these really small spots” for the “highly-sought and tough-to-get reviews”. She added: “As ever, publicists are having to think more and more creatively, and I also think – especially in terms of commercial fiction — the lines between marketing and publicity are getting more and more blurred, and eventually both roles will be redefined or merged, especially as the media landscape continues to change.”
Freelance book publicist and publicity manager at Reaktion Books Helen McCusker told The Bookseller: “The literary coverage landscape has dramatically changed since I first started working in publishing almost two decades ago – even more so in the last two years. Print coverage continues to shrink — and in some instances, disappear completely — as many magazines migrate to online, subscription-based platforms. Technological changes have something to do with this — the rise in e-reading, social media and the way we consume our news.”
The pandemic has also left an impact. “I also think the post-Covid working environment has changed the way we all work, literary editors included, and with many journalists now working from home, most of our daily correspondence is virtual. Sending unsolicited review copies to home addresses is frowned upon and rightly so, which means publicists need to think more creatively about how they pitch their new titles. I’ll often pitch a new book on social media, rather than by email.... A viral social media post could ultimately sell more copies of a book than a lengthy long-read. Whereas digital coverage used to be a ‘nicety’, it’s now become an essential part of any book publicity campaign.”
McCusker believes that publicists now need to work holistically and comprehensively across a range of platforms. She said: “Publicists now have a wide array of alternative reviewers and influencers at their fingertips – a positive review by a popular BookToker or BookTuber could result in books flying off the shelves the same day. Followers are the new review column readers.
“The digital world has increased the promotional opportunities available for books, although one could argue that it has dispersed potential readers across a wider publicity landscape – thus making it more difficult to reach a larger number of potential book buyers in one hit. There is also the issue of editorial guidelines online, or lack of, with a book blogger being able to post whatever they wish on their personal site (good or bad).”
She added: “An expansion of diverse publicity channels for books in recent years – a mix of self-published magazines, celebrity endorsers, niche podcasts, professional literary reviewers and amateur bloggers – means that more opportunities are available to publishers, but with considerably less control.”
Among magazines, Stylist still has reduced coverage post-pandemic though it regularly features books and writers. Features editor Hannah Keegan, who oversees the book coverage, said: “Our books page is monthly and we run author interviews and book round-ups online and occasionally in print — space is more limited than pre-pandemic. In terms of interviews, the book’s subject and/or author needs to be particularly pertinent to the reader or well-known for us to run a profile.”
However the Times Literary Supplement has retained its page count. Martin Ivens, who took over from Stig Abell as TLS editor in 2020, told The Bookseller: “Pagination has not shrunk in the past two years. Instead, observing the reduction of literary space across the industry as a whole, the TLS editors have become more conscious than ever that every word, every piece, and every page needs to count.”
The magazine is also expanding its European coverage. “The TLS, like every other literary publication, faced challenges during the pandemic, but has emerged stronger, especially in its coverage of European literature and culture, where we have new specialist editors in French, Hispanophone and German literature and culture: we remain one of the only places where works of foreign literature are reviewed in the original language as well as in translation.
“In addition, having a specialist consultant editor in Russian and East Central Europe already in place proved invaluable when the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. We have run a number of expert pieces on the history and politics of the conflict, as well as its implications for contemporary poets and writers, and for the academic study of Russian literature.” The TLS has also devoted more space to new fiction and runs a new weekly column, Afterthoughts, in which four writers, in rotation, offer different perspectives on modern life and culture which Ivens said has “proved enormously popular”.
Tom Gatti, executive editor for culture and books at the New Statesman, revealed how digital subscriptions grew 75 per cent in 2020 and the mag has expanded its range of literary events. He told The Bookseller: “We redesigned and relaunched the magazine and website in September 2021, and our readership hit a multi-decade high earlier this year [rising 27 per cent from 2022 to 2023 to over 40,000 subscribers].”
Gatti added: “The New Statesman was founded as a weekly review of politics and literature and books remain central to our identity. This autumn we have added to our existing stable of stellar critics with the likes of Nicola Sturgeon, Jesse Armstrong and Tina Brown, and a fortnight ago we published a 20-page autumn books special featuring reviews, essays and highlights from the academic publishers. And in recent years our partnerships with the Goldsmiths Prize and Cambridge Literary Festival have continued to grow, with the New Statesman now hosting more events than ever before.”
Several literary magazines have recently reported difficulties recently particularly around funding. The White Review, co-founded by publisher Jacques Testard, revealed in September it would go on indefinite hiatus after failing to win Arts Council funding over the last few years. The RCW Literary Agency said in response to the White Review’s announcement: “We are saddened by this news. We represent several authors who launched their careers through the White Review.” Author Julia Armfield wrote: “The White Review was astonishingly important to me and to so many other writers at the beginning of our careers and throughout.”
Bad Form, run by Amy Mae Baxter, announced last month that it would cease online publishing. Baxter wrote in the Guardian: “The UK’s literary magazine scene is crumbling due to rising print costs. I had to announce that I couldn’t do it any more. The cost of printing magazines has grown astronomically. The cost of Royal Mail postage to ship the print issues has gone up. Even X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced its plans to start charging us to use its service, which would be a critical blow.”
The Cardiff Review also announced its closure in October while online and print magazine Gal-Dem stopped publishing in April after eight years, citing issues such as the pandemic, brand budget reductions and economic downturn.
