A book deserves more than a release date. Guardian's team has promoted nearly 70 titles for authors and publishers across the faith space—earning the interviews, reviews and coverage that move books into readers' hands.
Book publicity is the discipline of earning media attention for a book: interviews on radio, television and podcasts, reviews, features and news coverage. It is different from book marketing, which buys placement through advertising. Publicity is earned—an editor, producer or host chooses to give the book their audience's time because the story merits it. That independence is exactly what makes earned coverage persuasive. Audiences discount ads; they trust a host they listen to every week.
For authors in the faith space, publicity carries extra weight. The readers these books serve are reached less through bestseller-list advertising than through the voices they already trust: Christian radio networks, ministry podcasts, denominational publications, and the broader religion press. Knowing that landscape—who covers what, which programs take author interviews, what each outlet's audience expects—is most of the work.
Before anything is pitched, we sharpen what the book is about for a media audience: the cultural conversation it belongs to, the questions an interviewer would want to ask, and the moments on the calendar that make it timely. A book about sacrifice and hope reads differently pitched into Lent than into a summer news lull—timing is strategy.
A news release announcing the book, talking points and suggested interview questions that make the author easy to book, and a fact sheet an assistant producer can scan in thirty seconds. Materials are built for the people who receive them.
We build targeted lists for each book rather than blasting a master database—the national programs, regional radio, podcasts, print and online outlets whose audiences actually match the book's readers.
Advance reader copies go to long-lead media and key hosts months ahead. Finished copies follow to a wider list at release. Then the sustained work begins: pitching, following up, offering the author for interviews, and converting interest into scheduled coverage.
We schedule and prepare the author for every interview, coordinate logistics with each outlet, and report the results plainly: where the book appeared, what it reached, and what we learned for next time.
Many of our campaigns run alongside a publisher's in-house publicity team. We set a clear division of labor at the outset—who owns which outlets, who mails which copies—so the efforts compound instead of colliding. Publishers keep their trade relationships; Guardian extends the campaign into broadcast, podcast and niche media the in-house team may not reach.
Our team's book work spans most major Christian publishers and nearly 70 titles, including:
Book publicity is the work of earning media attention for a book and its author: interviews on radio, podcasts and television, reviews, features and articles. Unlike advertising, coverage is not bought—it is earned by putting the right book in front of the right journalists, hosts and producers with a story worth telling. Earned coverage carries the credibility of an independent voice, which is why it moves readers in ways ads rarely do.
Ideally five to six months before the release date. Advance reader copies need to reach long-lead media and podcast hosts early, press materials take time to sharpen, and the weeks around release are when coverage compounds. A strong campaign builds toward release week and then keeps working the long tail—anniversaries, cultural moments and news cycles that make the book newly relevant.
Positioning and message development for the book and author; press materials including a news release, talking points and interview questions; curated media lists built for the book's actual audience; advance reader copy and finished-book mailings; sustained pitching to radio, television, podcasts, print and online outlets; interview scheduling and preparation; and a clear report of the coverage earned.
Yes, and often. When a publisher's team is already at work, we agree on a clear division of labor at the outset so efforts expand reach rather than duplicate it—they may handle trade and retail media while Guardian builds targeted lists and pursues broadcast, podcast and niche outlets the in-house team cannot reach.
Books by and for people of faith, and books from mission-first voices: trade nonfiction, leadership and family titles, devotionals, children's titles, Bibles and Bible resources. Our team has promoted books from most major Christian publishers—including Moody, Thomas Nelson, Tyndale, Zondervan, Crossway, Baker and FaithWords—and knows the media landscape those books live in.
Have a book on the way? The best campaigns start months before release.
Start a conversation →