Rating: 
Summary: comprehensive coverage of book publicity
Review: A Savvy Author's Guide to Book Publicity has been very helpful in preparing me for dealing with the whole publicity process. Once you finally send off your last edits, this is the book you are going to need on your bedstand as you leave the realm of writing and enter the realm of selling your book.
I am impelled to write a review of A Savvy Author from the scathing and unfair review written by KDCmarvel below. I looked at the other reviews written by this marvel and was unsurprised that they were equally negative. I assume that someone savvy enough to have written a book and have landed a publisher, will be able to be unswayed by childish rantings. As always, read the reviews by reputable sources before making your decision to buy or not.
Rating:
Summary: A Warren (Master) Piece
Review: After finishing Warren's work, I had to ask myself: "Self, is the publisher kidding? Did I actually purchase this book for less than it costs to go out to dinner or get an oil change?''What a steal. Based on the knowledge available in those pages, the list price could have been $100 and it's still a bargain. Warren's industry anecdotes are fabulous, on top of everything else. I plan to order five more copies for my literary friends.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource
Review: As a publicist I've read one too many insipid books about book PR and marketing that don't offer much useful or thoughtful advice. "Get on Oprah! Oprah sells books!"--not so helpful in the course of everyday business. This book bucks that trend and offers readers an insightful, readable and completely nuts-and-bolts practical guide to book PR. A great refresher/reference for publicists, and a must-read for authors.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Masterful
Review: Dear Amazon readers: I didn't think it was possible to make a book about book publicity readable, let alone fascinating -- but Lissa Warren has done so, with aplomb. While not a novel or biography, it keeps you reading as if it were. The final pages leave you satisfied, yet thirsting for more. At the very least, you are injected with confidence to try to write your own book, simply because Warren has expertly drawn a road map for the trickiest parts of the process. The key is Warren's style, command of the language and grasp of the subject matter. The writing is crisp and concise. It does not get bogged down in jargon. By the end of the book -- better termed, a primer -- it is abundantly clear Warren knows her stuff. Nothing makes me want to read something more than when I have confidence the author knows more about the subject than I, because a significant education will take place. Congratulations, Lissa Warren, on a fine, fine work. I hope to read more from you in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: The worst P.R. book I've ever read
Review: First, the worst comment about the worst P.R. book I've ever read. The author teaches you how to manipulate Amazon ratings. NOW YOU KNOW WHY THIS BOOK HAS A GOOD RATING!!!!
According to her, you just need to get as many people as you can to post reviews here. Of course, your mother, and your friends in different states (variety is good to be convincing) will rate your book 5 starts, and suckers like myself will think it is worth to read it. There is in fact the main reason what I am making a point to write this review. I rarely write them. after all, good books are already full of good reviews, but this is an attempt to deceive prospect readers.
Besides that extremely unethical behavior, the book is very superficial and any basic P.R. book has much more in-depth information than this, without the unnecessary self-promotion and the incredible waste that is the reading of some chapters here. Guerrilla P.R. is a good option. You may think that this book is a better choice because is specificaly designed for authors, but if you read it I am sure you will share my opinions.
I'll tell you in just a few lines the most important ideas in this book:
- Publicists are lazy (too busy is the term the author prefers to use);
- Therefore the book author must do all the publicist's work for her/him;
-But the author must still pay the publicist because hmmm, errrr, they know so much, you know, at least if they have more time, hmmmm, send me a check, ok?
There is what I got from the book. There it goes a couple hours that I will never get back.
Rating:
Summary: Asolutely necessary for the first time author
Review: I have dozens of friends and acquaintances who have labored years to get a book written and published and then, when their book came out, were hurt and baffled that their book wasn't promoted and didn't sell. The Savvy Author's Guide can help first-time authors help realize their life dreams of getting their book out there into the hands of thousands of people.
The little secret that The Savvy Author's Guide lets you in on is that there is a short window, three to six months, after a book is published when the tide of public opinion will lift the book and it's sales, or it will sink to oblivion. Lissa Warren provides hand-holding advice for the author who needs to switch gears from laboring for years behind a computer to spending a few months out on the hustings and in front of the spotlight promoting his or her book.
I know most authors don't have a lot of money to spend on buying books, but this is one you will need.
I tell my new author friends that if they only buy two books, one should be The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published (by Bykofsky and Sander)(which, for some reason, is weak in the chapter on book publicity) and the other is this book, the Savvy Author's Guide to Book Publicity.
Rating:
Summary: Sold a book? Then buy this one. A must-have!
Review: I'm an advertising professional (and a short-story writer with her first collection), and I've read a bunch of books on book publicity. Most were mediocre and full of useless hype. This one is competent and efficient: well written, informative, and no-nonsense. It will clue you in on the essentials, and give you examples of relevant and intelligent press materials that you can adapt to your own use. It alerted me to the fact that, whether my publisher thought so or not, I REALLY needed a professional press packet, and it helped me create one (galley letter, bio, Q&A, releases, photo, etc.) in less than a week.
Intelligent publicity can really help a good book get noticed. If I had the money, I would hire Lissa Warren to publicize my book. This is the next-best thing.
Rating:
Summary: Warren hits grand slam
Review: In her new book, Warren gets a chance to show the world what kind of talent she has at publicity and marketing. The list of authors she has helped along the way is impressive. Page after page is filled with insightful ways to approach the jungle that is book publicity. What's great about Warren is her ability to tell it to you straight, yet not be so straight as to discourage. The reader comes away feeling like Warren is rooting for him/her to have a successful campaign. And Warren does not try to be the show. She simply acts as the guide. No question it is a book to read and keep as a reference.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Source for Writers
Review: Lissa Warren's book on savvy publicity for authors is one of the best books available in this field. Most authors, myself included, need help promoting their book. Too often book marketing is a strange and worrisome formula. This book changes the calculus. It helps you work with a publicist (if you have one), create a plan even if you do not, and it has numerous practical pointers and examples for getting your book noticed. With luck, you might even develop a buzz! Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Source for Writers
Review: Lissa Warren's book on savvy publicity for authors is one of the best books available in this field. Most authors, myself included, need help promoting their book. Too often book marketing is a strange and worrisome formula. This book changes the calculus. It helps you work with a publicist (if you have one), create a plan even if you do not, and it has numerous practical pointers and examples for getting your book noticed. With luck, you might even develop a buzz! Highly recommended.
| 
