Currently President and CEO of Campbell Public Relations, LLC, Kathleen Campbell is an innovative public relations and communications professional with extensive experience in literary publicity. Kathleen’s expertise is in the preparation and implementation of highly creative publicity and marketing plans and media strategies, including author coaching. She has well-established relationships with national, regional, and local media contacts. Kathleen Campbell has worked with a wide variety of publishers, authors, ministries, and nonprofit organizations. Her clients have been on several nationally syndicated radio and TV interviews such as National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and Focus on the Family Radio, Fox News Live, CBS Evening News, and The 700 Club. In addition, they have been featured in articles in numerous publications, including USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Post, and People magazine.

My journey into the world of publishing was born out of personal tragedy when my husband died from cancer fifteen years ago. With hardly time to catch my breath, I was thrust into the role of breadwinner for myself and our three children. It was not what I had planned. This wasn’t supposed to be my story. But there I was.

I was advised to make a list of people I knew who were in business and set up networking interviews. One of those people was marketing director at David C. Cook, International. He told me the book publishing division was looking for a publicist and he thought it would be a great opportunity and a good fit for me. He recommended me to the marketing director, who interviewed me then hired me as their new publicist. Though I had some background in PR and communications within the nonprofit arena, I had never done book publicity before.

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” Nothing could have been truer in my case. The job turned out to be perfect for me.

That was April of 1998. Since then I have worked in PR and communications for Compaq North America and as the in-house publicist for NavPress, doing general market publicity. In the spring of 2004, I launched Campbell Public Relations, LLC, and have worked with several publishers in CBA as well as ABA.

Over the past eleven years, the Lord has taught me many things about the art of publicity:

1. Be sensitive to your authors’ needs. One of the hallmarks of a good publicist is listening to the clients and continuously involving them in the entire process. Author and publicist getting to know each other help create a good team.

2. Even the best PR person cannot “make” someone book an interview. Every interview I’ve scheduled, and each review or article I’ve worked to get published is in reality a “Divine Appointment.”

3. Do the work: Read the book before trying to publicize it; develop solid relationships with broadcast producers and hosts as well as print/Internet editors; get the information into the hands of the decision makers in a timely manner; then follow up, follow up, follow up, while trusting the Lord to open the doors.

4. Not all books and topics are “just perfect for Oprah.” One of the most important things a good publicist does is to get to know the talk shows’ producers and hosts. Listen to programs on radio and watch the TV shows, becoming familiar with their formats. Get to know individual editor beats, preferences, and styles by reading the articles they write. Then pitch accordingly.

5. E-mail is great. So is social media and the Internet, but it is only one facet of publicity. Blasting the media with random book announcements and news releases that may or may not be appropriate for their format or their beat is counterproductive. It may even get you put on a “nuisance list” or tag your e-mail as “junk mail.” Nothing beats doing your homework and then picking up the telephone.

6. A comprehensive campaign includes marketing, advertising, and publicity. Public relations spreads information to gain public awareness for a product, person, service, cause, or organization. Publicity gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items. A publicist expands the opportunity to gain exposure in credible third-party outlets. In so doing, it offers a third-party legitimacy that advertising does not have.

7. Publicity is not “free advertising.” Reporters and producers do not give away print space or airtime unless there is something newsworthy, particularly interesting, or your product relates in a timely way to current events.

I love my job. I really love what I do. It’s a tough business filled with bumps and potholes, but I come to work excited every day because in Proverbs 3:5, God reminds me that the battle belongs to Him. He asks me to be faithful to do the work He has given me to do and then trust Him with everything else.