Elaine Hughes
2/5
Authors need to be aware that YOU will do most of the work ... by far. Knowing she was working with a first-time author, Penny completely neglected to explain the amount of work required and the need to be ready with a variety of materials. You must be prepared to dedicate a lot of time to filling out forms and following thru on AME's suggestions. Penny and her team simply advise and point the way -- and they don't even do that to any significant extent. I had to come up with a list of all the libraries and bookstores and she only pitched to a couple of stores. When she successfully pitched to 1-2 magazines, there was only a 1-3 day window in which to submit an article! No prior warning to have articles ready to go! And I never received the pitch letters she sent out -- the ones I paid for! Completing her forms definitely helped organize the marketing campaign, but results in terms of the work done by Penny and her team didn't come close to being worth what was spent on a very comprehensive package. She's quite masterful at marketing herself, but authors need to understand that regardless of who you hire and what marketing map you use, it is YOU who sells your book and it takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. You must be ready with articles, pitches, summaries, and elevator speeches and be ready to get out there in person on a moment's notice.
I have since read AME's response, which is factually incorrect. I was involved in every single phone call -- from the original pre-proposal call on -- as well as all correspondence, have had a copy of AME's proposal from the get-go, and a copy of the full contract, also from the beginning, for a comprehensive marketing campaign package. I was involved in the entire process every step of the way. Penny switched the AME staff personwho was working with us twice, so over the period of the contract, without any forewarning or explanation, we worked with three different people, which only added to the confusion. My review stands.
