An Interview with Pump Up Your Book Promotion’s Cheryl C. Malandrinos

Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a contributing writer for Writer2Writer, a monthly ezine which nurtures and encourages writers at all stages of their careers.  A member of Musing our Children, a group dedicated to sharing and encouraging the love of reading and writing in young people, Ms. Malandrinos is also a reviewer for the Muse Book Reviews. 

Besides interviewing authors and editors at her blog, The Book Connection, she also coordinates virtual book tours for Pump Up Your Book Promotion, a full service public relations firm specializing in online book promotion. 

She lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband, two children and three pesky cats. 

Thank you for granting us this interview, Cheryl.  With all your writing commitments and family obligations taking up most of your time, why did you join the staff of Pump Up Your Book Promotion? 

I became a tour coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion in October ’07, but I had been hosting clients at my blog, The Book Connection for months before I began working with them. 

As to the why part, that’s easy – I love helping authors promote their books. 

How has the company changed since you joined? 

When I first joined Pump Up Your Book Promotion, the client base was a bit smaller than it is now.  The good word about what we offer at such a great price has spread and we have prospective clients contacting us daily to ask about our services.  We’ve also added staff, so there are now four people coordinating tours. Perhaps the biggest change has been the introduction of the video trailers which we offer with our Gold Package.  These are awesome promotional tools, which clients can use at their websites to promote their books and their virtual book tours.  Podcasts have also been added to our list of services at no extra charge. 

What is the best part of being a tour coordinator? 

There are really two things.  The first is that I meet so many wonderful people.  The authors who I have worked closely with are all wonderful.  They are committed to making their books successful and will do just about anything to promote them.  They are also all around nice people who it is a joy to get to know.  The blog hosts are also fabulous.  They willingly take time out of their schedules to help a fellow writer gain exposure for his/her work.  Often times, it isn’t even someone whose work they are familiar with. The other thing is knowing that I am helping talented writers connect with readers around the world, increasing their Internet presence and gaining more fans.  While no one can be as committed to the success of a book as its author, I feel I am not far behind.  I want to see every one of Pump Up Your Book Promotion’s clients do well and I am committed to giving them the most out of their virtual book tours. 

What are the biggest challenges you have faced? 

It takes a huge time commitment to be a tour coordinator.  I have two young children at home and I feel guilty when I put in long hours at my PC instead of spending time with them.  Thankfully, one of the girls is in school during the week and the youngest still takes naps, so I use that time to get as much work done as possible. Another challenge can be organizing all the information.  If you are coordinating one tour, it’s not hard; but when you have two or more, it can be difficult to remember where you are at.  Luckily, I am a very organized person. I use my day planner and another calendar to keep me on track and each of my clients has a dedicated folder on my PC where everything is kept, so I know right where to find anything relating to a particular tour. 

How do you find your clients? 

Most clients come to us.  They find us on the Internet or hear about us from a friend who has toured with us in the past and they inquire about our services.  I do, however, promote our services at my blog, my website, and when speaking with other writers.  I know the dedication of our staff and I am confident that authors will be happy with how we handle their virtual book tour. 

Where do you find bloggers to host your authors and how much work goes into each author during the month-long tour? 

As soon as a client is turned over to me, I begin working on finding bloggers for his/her tour.  Most times that’s a month, but it can take longer.  I do a lot of browsing at various sites to find blog hosts who are the most appropriate for my clients.  I try to have a healthy mix of genre-related blogs and blogs that center around the craft of writing or book marketing and promotion, so that everyone gets something out of following an author around the blogsophere for a month. I am in regular contact with my authors so that they know how things are proceeding and a lot of time is spent in forwarding requests for review copies to be mailed, asking for interview questions to be answered or guest posts to be completed.  I also stay in touch with all the blog hosts before the tour kicks off so that I can make sure they have what they need to post what they have committed to. A big part of my job—and a part that is never ending—is promoting the virtual book tours on a daily basis so that readers know where they can find our authors.  I say that the promotion never ends because I often take advantage of a situation to promote an author’s book even before the tour kicks off or after the tour has been completed.  Like I’ve said before, I am committed to helping my clients succeed.  A huge part of that is in maintaining a relationship with them.  I don’t forget if a certain book has touched my heart or scared the heck out of me or made me double over with laugher.  I use appropriate opportunities to share that with people I come in contact with. 

Do you do this fulltime or do you have other employment? 

I concentrate most of my time on serving Pump Up Your Book Promotion and its clients, but I am also a freelance writer specializing in helping writers increase their productivity through time management and organization.  My articles appear at Writer2Writer, an ezine which nurtures and encourages writers at all stages of their career.  I also write book reviews for Pump Up Your Book Promotion, Pump Up Your Book Promotion’s Galleria of Books , the Muse Book Reviews and my blog, The Book Connection. 

What’s the most satisfying part of your job? 

Knowing that I had a hand in helping talented writers promote their work.  I can honestly say that every day while I am searching for blog hosts, staying in touch with my clients, or promoting a virtual book tour, I am doing something that I absolutely love.  I hope that shines through to my clients and the bloggers who host them because I feel like I have become part of a wonderful family of people who are on similar journeys and who wish each other the best.

Tags: book marketing, book promotion, expert interviews, Cheryl C. Malandrinos