Dear Geist,

? A friend of mine just had a book published, so I called an old school buddy who works at CBC Radio to get an interview for her, and the marketing people at her publisher’s were really cheesed off about it.

Dear Mitchell,

Marketing covers just about every activity having to do with sales of a book (to stores, libraries, individuals, universities, etc.) and promotion of that book (advertising, media attention, author appearances at festivals, other public readings, etc.). The marketing strategy for each book is worked out early in the process by the publisher, editor, designer, sales people, publicity people, rights people—everyone whose work will figure in the book’s success. The heart of the strategy is a clear, consistent message to a well-defined audience, carried out by all of the above-mentioned workers on a timeline that makes the most of industry rhythms. All publishers encourage authors (and authors’ friends—good on you!) to be as active as they can in marketing, provided you work in sync with the marketing managers. If the publisher’s publicity workers had contacted CBC around the time you did (highly likely), eventually the two separate approaches would come to the attention of producers, who are quite careful to vary the focus when any book, event, etc., is covered in more than one show. The last thing your friend needs is for busy producers simply to say no because this publisher/author seem not to be talking to each other, and not to know the protocols. So yes—be a friend to literature, but work from the centre, not the edge.