A Day In The Life Of A Book Marketing And Publicity Coordinator At Penguin Random House
Rylie's role as a Book Marketing & Publicity Coordinator at Penguin Random House involves a dynamic mix of marketing and publicity tasks, collaborating with teams in both London and Orange County. A typical day includes meetings focused on sales, PR mailings, and advanced reading copy distribution, alongside tasks like creating Amazon A+ content and scheduling social media engagements with a large online following, with the goal of promoting authors and their books.
Communication, Project Management, Teamwork, Marketing, Public Relations
Advizer Information
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Job Title
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Undergrad
Grad Programs
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Rylie Walsh
Book Marketing & Publicity Coordinator
Penguin Random House
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Chicago, MBA
Communications
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Communication and Marketing
Honors Student, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. The daily tasks are diverse and vary depending on the projects and deadlines. Rylie works with two main bosses, one focused on marketing and based in London, and the other focused on publicity and located in Orange County, leading to a varied schedule.
2. The role involves a mix of team meetings, such as weekly sales, marketing, and PR meetings to discuss sales performance, author needs, and reprint decisions. There are also huddles to coordinate mailings, galley distribution, and plan events.
3. Rylie's work includes a lot of behind-the-scenes tasks such as creating and uploading Amazon A+ content, scheduling social media live sessions with authors, and coordinating bookstore signings and book tours. This shows the varied skills needed in book marketing and publicity, from digital marketing to public relations and event planning
Transcript
What does the day in the life of a book marketing and publicity coordinator look like?
Every day is different. I work for two different bosses. I have a main line manager who handles time off requests and payroll. I also work for the director of global marketing and the director of public relations in the US.
We have offices everywhere, and we're mostly a remote hybrid company since the pandemic. My marketing boss is based in London, and my publicity boss is in Orange County, much closer to me.
I typically start my day with marketing tasks because of the eight-hour time difference with London. My marketing boss is finishing her day as I begin mine. We usually have our marketing calls in the morning so she's still online.
In the afternoons, I usually focus on publicity work. Tuesdays are a bit more fun as I go into the office. I usually start my day with our weekly sales marketing and PR meeting.
In that meeting, we recap the past month of sales, discuss author needs, and check if we need to reprint books due to selling out. We also have our weekly PR huddle with our small PR team. We discuss what mailings need to go out, like influencer mailings.
Galleys, or advanced reading copies, are usually sent out for certain titles with a big projection. We make these copies well before the final product is ready and send them to media to start booking podcast or TV interviews for our authors.
We also discuss bookstore signings. These are sadly becoming less popular, but it's still great that our authors want to get out and meet people. I pitch bookstores to see if we can set up book tours to promote their books and connect with their audience.
On a different day, we'll have our weekly marketing meeting with our London boss, but it's for the US team. We have a marketing team in the UK that she also oversees. Because of time differences, we meet separately.
In this meeting, we discuss what's coming up on the schedule and who's in charge. We all get assigned to different titles and collaborate to brainstorm promotional ideas. We go through a checklist, like confirming we've uploaded Amazon A+ content.
Amazon A+ content includes graphic images on a product page that explain what you're getting. We create and upload these to Amazon. We also discuss who is doing Facebook Live sessions that week.
We have over a million Facebook followers, and our audience loves to engage with our authors. It’s fun to see them connect with the community. Hay House is special because people know us as a publisher that values all the authors we publish.
On days I go into the office, it's typically for mailing purposes. While it can be exhausting physically mailing everything, it’s rewarding to ensure everything goes to the right people and to see the final products.
I go in with another office assistant, and we’re conveniently located next to a UPS, so they know us well. We go there often to send out packages.
Most of my meetings are in the morning or at the beginning of the day. In the afternoons, I work on galley mailings, A+ content, scheduling Facebook and Instagram Live sessions, and other backend tasks when I’m not on calls.