The Team: Publicist Cathy Yardley – Entangled In Romance

Today, we are presenting one of our superstar publicists, Cathy Yardley Wilson,
in our Quick Question series. Feel free to introduce yourself and ask Cathy about
tribe-building, her specialty!

1. One thing that sets Entangled Publishing apart is the fact that every
author is assigned a publicist. Tell us what an author can do to promote
him/herself.

I think the best thing an author can do to promote herself is to become a
part of the reader community, not just the writer community. Join in the
conversations, and really engage. don’t simply push product. When you do
promote your novels, you won’t have to hard sell, because they’ll know you
already, and if you’re a solid part of the community, they’ll want you to
succeed.

2. Tell us about yourself! What do you, as a publicist for EP, bring to
the table?

I’ve been a published author for twelve years, with Avon, St. Martin’s, and
Harlequin. In that time, I’ve gone from being a promo zealot to an
embittered hermit and every shade in between. Now that I’ve got a decade
under my belt, I’ve finally hit a happy medium: I’ve learned how to connect
in a way that doesn’t feel like a used car salesman, but it also doesn’t
mean throwing manuscripts out and hoping something hits.

I send my authors relevant information on stuff like setting up a Facebook fan page, or how to
have things auto-update without sounding mechanical – doing less work and
getting it out in more places. Things that authors often read about, but
don’t have the time to research. I also come up with the launch plan for
their release, as well as their “maintenance plan.” Ideally, my authors
shouldn’t be promoting more than half an hour or so a day unless it’s
prelaunch month.

3. How do you see an author/publicist relationship working?

The author’s job is to write the next book to the best of her ability. As a
publicist, my job is to not only sell her books, but to put her mind at ease
that the promotion side is taken care of so she can focus on her work in
progress.