Shanta Newlin has been promoted to vice president at Penguin Young Readers. She will also continue to serve as the executive director of publicity.
Newlin first joined the company back in 2008. In the past, she has held positions at ABRAMS, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, and Random House Children’s Books.
Since Newlin came on board, she has worked on campaigns for several high profile authors including Sabaa Tahir, B.J. Novak, Eric Carle, John Grisham, and the Roald Dahl backlist. She reports to the president of the division, Jen Loja.
Shanta Newlin is Executive Director of Publicity at Penguin Young Readers Group., a division of Penguin Random House.
Her goal is to demystify publicity for us.
She starts with explaining that every author at Penguin gets a publicist.
What does the publicist do?
They are an advocate
They help you craft your message
They pitch you for media
They connect you with your audience at book festivals and schools
"You must see, hear or read about a book at least five times before you make a purchase."
How do you accomplish that in such a crowded marketplace?
They know the media - consumer, trade, parenting, genre and more…
and they reach out to festivals and schools to create events "so you can meet your fans."
It's great information!
The clincher that made her know being a publicist was the job for her?
Shanta was with Tamora Pierce at an event when a woman walked up with her young daughter and said to Tamora, "I'd like to introduce you to my daughter, Alanna." She had named her child after the main character in Tamora's "Song of the Lioness" books!
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