Publicist Email Guilt
So I’ve decided to write this for two reasons - 1. Because suddenly this week, not one, but two very nice ladies have told me they’ve looked at my blog, after calling me to try and track my down, probably assuming I’ve died because I’ve taken so long to get back to their email so in the meantime they’ve scoured the internet for traces of my actual existence. I was pretty shamefaced to hear they’ve looked at this blog, which I update SO infrequently. But ironically, 2. Because Storm Doris came to town and blew all the trains away, meaning I couldn’t get to an event t’up North, I have an unexpected night at home and TIME to write this! Irony, right?Â
Firstly let me say - I know right? Let’s all get out the world’s tiniest violin to play a sad melody for the book publicist - slogging away at the coalface in a nice office, saving lives with every review in The Times. I’m fully aware that I’m INCREDIBLY lucky to have the job I do and in terms of doing good for the world, it’s not like I’m a tax evading stockbroker but I’m also not ACTUALLY saving any lives. But hey, I like to think that bringing good books to fame contributes to the fine tapestry of culture.
Listen, this post is really just a fairly flippant and self indulgent whine about how much of my life I spend feeling insanely guilty about being so slow to reply to emails. But you’re here now, so indulge me.Â
Based on three days’ worth of emails, I get an average of 179 emails a day. I arrive at work at 9:30am and supposedly leave at 5:30pm and supposedly have an hour for lunch. 7 hours. 25 emails an hour. That means I have about 2.4 minutes to spend on each email. Now, that’s assuming of course that I need to read or respond to every email. But for each one I can just delete, it feels like there will be another three that will require me to find an answer to a question, ask two other people to do something, arrange a meeting and work out some quantum mechanics. OK not the Quantum bit, I’m not Justin Trudeau.Â
That’s if I sat at my desk all day. But in fact, I’m in meetings regularly, because I’m totes grown up and managery. Averagely, I’m probably in meetings for at least 2 hours of the day, but on the worst days I have 5-6 hours of meetings and spend little time at my desk at all. Then there’s the fact that I’m a publicist - so I am often out of the office in schools or bookshops at events with my lovely authors (the best part, actually).Â
THEN there’s the fact that I have CAMPAIGNS. So sometimes, I have to write and send MY OWN emails TO people, not just respond to the ones I receive. I’ve got launches to organise, tours to manage, journalists to pitch to, mailings to plan, creative thoughts to be created.Â
I doubt it’s breaking news to anyone that jobs require you to WORK HARD and particularly if you’ve chosen a job because of pure love then yes, doing a lot is part and parcel of being passionate, and I wouldn’t swap it for anything, because books are literally my life and also I now have really niche, non-transferable skills (LOLZ). But in case any librarians, or festival organisers, or kindly book lovers google me to check I’m alive because I haven’t replied to their email, I’m putting this here so you can read it and know that I am SO SORRY. I wake up in the night thinking of people I haven’t replied to. I remember them in the shower. I write them in notes on my phone and post its, then get distracted answering the next round of emails. I have EXTREME non replying guilt. Just keep emailing me. Do not feel bad for chasing me.
Aside from making myself feel better about people thinking I’m a big blue non-replying meanie, I hope to write some posts that provide insight into publishing, because frankly WHO UNDERSTANDS IT? I certainly had no idea what it entailed before I got in, so maybe this can be the first. Because what you should take from this is - I’m still here guys! It’s worth it. But maybe if you’re planning on becoming a publicist - get some mad email management skills ASAP...Â
