Self-publishing makes it easier for journalists to cover you

Authors love to debate the merits of having a book published by a publishing house, versus self-publishing.

I’d choose the latter any day. Here’s one more reason why.

I’m featuring the new book “Publicity for Nonprofits” published by Kaplan Publishing in the July/August issue of The Publicity Hound subscription newsletter and was hoping to excerpt several tips from the book to accompany the short item describing the book.

If I had included tips, there’s an excellent chance I would have reprinted them in “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” my ezine that goes to 18,000+ subscribers.  

On deadline, I mailed associate publicist Lisa Schuble asking permission. She emailed me back a “Permissions request template,” a short questionnaire that would take me about 15 minutes to complete and return.

I would have had to drop what I was doing, look through the book and choose the exact material, tell her what page it was on and how it was to be used. Then I’d have to print it out and fax it to her.

Then I’d have to wait for her to fax the permission slip back to me. 

But I was in a hurry. So instead of going through all that hassle, I sent her an email that said: “I don’t have time to fill out this form. I’ll use somebody else’s material.”

And I did. Then I made a mental note: “Monumental pain in the neck to deal with.”     

Why do publishing houses make it so difficult for journalists like me to give their authors publicity?