TODAY: book publicist Justina Batchelor
on pitching memoir, literary fiction, and nonfiction
Today I’m talking to Justina Batchelor, publicity manager at Grove Atlantic, who has worked on publicity campaigns for Lily King, Claire Keegan, Betsy Lerner’s Shred Sisters, Ada Calhoun’s Also a Poet (a perfect example of memoir plus), The Elements of Marie Curie by Dava Sobel, and Fi by Alexandra Fuller.
Join me today at 1pm EST, when I’ll be asking Justina:
As the media landscape shifts, how is the role of publicist changing? Is there anything she’s doing today that she would not have been doing 5 years ago, or anything she was doing 5 years ago that would be a waste of time now?
At Grove, how is Justina consulted at the acquiring stage of a book's life? Does she evaluate a non-fiction author's platform? What kinds of concerns or opportunities is publicity thinking about when an editor is excited about a submission?
When does she begin work on a campaign for a book? When does the window to pitch a book close?
Can she give writers some pitching tips, for when we have to pitch ourselves to podcasts or BookTok creators? How does she think about storytelling around an author or a title? What makes a literary novel newsworthy?
How does she see authors as collaborators in promoting their books? What excites her in an author questionnaire? What makes her job easier? What if an author is really allergic to promotion and would rather sit back and have someone else do that?
The pre-pub essay: Do we still have to write these? 🙃
Is she looking to Substack (or email newsletters more broadly) as an emerging media ecosystem to pitch?
I will interview Justina for about 30 minutes and then open it up to your questions! I know that a lot of you are writing literary novels and memoir and this is a rare opportunity to ask a publicist how she works in the attention economy on books like yours.
If you can’t attend live, there will be a recording available to watch for 7 days.
As a reminder, this is a private, off-the-record conversation, exclusively available to my diamond medallion members. You may not post quotes from the conversation anywhere on the internet, or create content out of my events. Keeping the Chat Room series private allows both me and my guests to speak candidly.