PARTNER


DESCRIPTION


 from publishing houses and freelance PR agencies to gather and share information on a regular basis.


PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR ALISON BARROW


THE SHORTLIST


Ciara Berry PENGUIN


MICHAEL JOSEPH


Hayley Camis & Zoë Hood LITTLE, BROWN


Kirsten Cozens WALKER BOOKS


Etty Eastwood CORNERSTONE


Emily Marples BLOOMSBURY


CHILDRENS BOOKS


Susanna Peden HARPERFICTION Virginia


Woolstencroft ORION


T PICTURED


BONNIE GARMUS FIRST NOVEL WAS BOOSTED BY ITS APPEARANCE


ON BETWEEN THE COVERS


he eight campaigns on this shortlist were all winners at the Publishers’ Publicity Circle’s annual awards. Alongside the


title of Marketing Strategy of the Year, the award for Publicity Campaign of the Year completes a remarkable double for the most visible début of 2022, Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry. It is also a second British Book Award in six


years for Transworld’s Alison Barrow, following success for her work on The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. There were hallmarks of that publicity strategy in her campaign for Lessons in Chemistry, which began at the point of acquisition and has not abated since. It was clearly a passion project with endless creativity and innovation, first building a word-of-mouth buzz and an army of advocates, then achieving an exceptional level of media interest. There were acres of magazine, review and supplement coverage and successful


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pitches to key TV/radio slots, including “Between the Covers”, “Open Book”, “Woman’s Hour” and several book clubs. A book that initially seemed tricky to position


went through 11 reprints and stayed in the best- seller lists all year. Particularly impressive were the ways Barrow pivoted publicity around the world of Elizabeth Zott and nurtured Garmus—an author who had never even been interviewed— through a daunting round of events, including dozens of festivals and bookshop signings. “This was a PR masterclass… it feels like it


successfully shepherded a snowball down a really, really long mountain,” said the judges. “Lessons in Chemistry seems an obvious hit now, but it was not at all a given. Alison Barrow has made making a début a bestseller look and sound so much easier than it is. The campaign was tireless and got the absolute best from the author… it is really inspiring”.


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