PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY: PUBLISHERS’ PUBLICITY CIRCLE
WINNER: ANNA-MARIE FITZGERALD
FOR THE ESSEX SERPENT BY SARAH PERRY (SERPENT’S TAIL)
A three-figure publicity budget for a second hardback novel from a small publisher and an author who was hospitalised just before publication: the outlook for The Essex Serpent was not promising. But 125,000 copies, widespread reviews, numerous rights deals and the Waterstones Book of the Year Award later, author Sarah Perry is one of the most acclaimed literary novelists in the country. While editors, agents, booksellers and the media
have all had a hand in the phenomenal success of the book, there is little doubt that the publicity campaign by Anna-Marie Fitzgerald (pictured right) lit the fire under The Essex Serpent. It started with a blitz of proofs and retailer book drop that built a buzz in the trade ahead of publication, then progressed to tenacious chasing of media coverage and careful event planning with an engaging but incapacitated author. The Waterstones award can be traced directly back to the word of mouth that Fitzgerald nurtured. “Serpent’s Tail loved this book into life, and Anna- Marie takes a lot of the credit,” judges commented. “She jumped over plenty of hurdles and constantly reinvented her campaign. It shows what can happen when a publicist gets passionate about a book and makes it resonate with others.”
The shortlist was picked from the 12 winning campaigns at the Publishers’ Publicity Circle’s annual awards.
KEY STRENGTHS
◆ SUPERB PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF A BUDGET CAMPAIGN FOR A POTENTIALLY DIFFICULT BOOK ◆ EXEMPLARY AUTHOR CARE THAT GENERATED EXTENSIVE MEDIA INTEREST ON LIMITED AVAILABILITY ◆ A KEY FACTOR IN THE ESSEX SERPENT’S SIX-FIGURE SALES ◆ KATE GREEN HIGHLY COMMENDED FOR A DEFT AND FLEXIBLE CAMPAIGN FOR PAN MACMILLAN
25. BRITISH BOOK AWARDS - WINNERS 2017
For over 50 years the Publishers’ Publicity Circle has enabled all book publicists from publishing houses and freelance PR agencies to gather and share information on a regular basis.
THE SHORTLIST
HIGHLY COMMENDED: KATE GREEN FOR WATCHING THE WHEELS BY DAMON HILL (PAN MACMILLAN) Generated strong first-week sales last autumn despite limited author involvement, then sustained them through to Christmas. “Kate is an exemplary publicist and she did great work on a tricky book.”
CAROLINE BROWN AND ELLEN BASHFORD FOR SIMPLE BY DIANA HENRY (OCTOPUS) Used events and regional media to raise the author’s profile in the ultra-competitive cookbook sector.
ELIZABETH MASTERS FOR BRUNO VINCENT’S ENID BLYTON FOR GROWN-UPS SERIES (QUERCUS) Generated the media interest that triggered the surprise bestsellers of last Christmas.
ADELE MINCHIN AND LIZ HYDER FOR M G LEONARD’S BEETLE BOY (CHICKEN HOUSE) BY THE RIOT COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY Assiduously courted retailers and the media to push a début children’s author into the mainstream.
SOPHIE PORTAS FOR ANIMAL BY SARA PASCOE (FABER) Publicity across print, broadcast and social media platforms helped turn an established name in comedy into an intelligent literary name to watch.
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