When writer's have an "agent" to help promote their books, how do they promote it?
Do they spent thousands and thousands on huge adverts and billboards?
Or do they work more subtley… gaining interest online via positive reviews and holding small book fares and creating publicity by perhaps giving people a taster of one chapter etc.
What is they do exactly? And how do you become an agent? What qualifications do you need?
thanks 
A literary agent doesn't actually work that much on promoting an author's work. They sell it to publishers and handle the more financial side of things: rights, royalties, etc. To do this, they use their connections within the publishing industry to target the book to the appropriate editors, i.e., those they know or suspect would be interested in that particular book. Then when they find someone interested in publishing the book, they negotiate the contract, advance, royalties, which rights the author will retain, etc.
You're thinking about a publicist. Many publishing companies have publicists, who work to get their assigned books out into the public eye. Sometimes they arrange interviews on TV or radio, set up book signings or tours, and that kind of thing. They also talk up the book in the book world, work on getting reviews from prestigious book review sources, etc.
The publisher's sales & marketing team will arrange advertisements, direct mail marketing, and the like.
Of course, the author is intimately involved in all of this, often doing much of his or her own publicity (unless they're a big name) or hiring a publicist themselves.
How you become an agent/publicist/marketing manager depends on which one you're really asking about.
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This entry was posted
on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 4:44 am in 
Publicity online.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:10 am
In my country, Argentina, by bribing the pseudo critics, most of them underpaid by magazines or newspapers.
References :
December 15th, 2008 at 10:57 am
They make lots of phone calls…to other authors, editors, etc to have them read excerpts from the book for a review. Also call book stores to have their books sold, set up dates for book signing and even perhaps reading…there are lots the agent does. I'm guessing you'll need some experience in PR and perhaps literature.
References :
December 15th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Get a blog, and a web site. Make up a printed package about your book and go visit some book stores. Connect with local groups of writers and exchange promotion tips with them. Send a copy to the books editor at your local paper. Request that your library acquire a copy of it. Use a spell checker.
References :
December 15th, 2008 at 11:46 am
To answer your first question you are right, only high- powered agents have the ear of the big or niche pub. houses and can negotiate for this kind of expensive adverts.
Lesser known agents (and I'm not sure they work more subtly) must have their finger on the pulse of book fairs at least nationally and should be able to connive book signings at major retail chains.
As for the internet, that is an interesting subject. Because positive reviews are so rare I should think agents would be able to piggy-back onto appropriate sites, or at least get the authors preferred rates on advertising. I should think agents would work hard to find "grass roots" or "cottage industry" sites on the internet.
I would not hire an agent (publishing or otherwise) who had not passed the bar w/ a specialty in contract law. Hope this helps.
References :
December 15th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
A literary agent doesn't actually work that much on promoting an author's work. They sell it to publishers and handle the more financial side of things: rights, royalties, etc. To do this, they use their connections within the publishing industry to target the book to the appropriate editors, i.e., those they know or suspect would be interested in that particular book. Then when they find someone interested in publishing the book, they negotiate the contract, advance, royalties, which rights the author will retain, etc.
You're thinking about a publicist. Many publishing companies have publicists, who work to get their assigned books out into the public eye. Sometimes they arrange interviews on TV or radio, set up book signings or tours, and that kind of thing. They also talk up the book in the book world, work on getting reviews from prestigious book review sources, etc.
The publisher's sales & marketing team will arrange advertisements, direct mail marketing, and the like.
Of course, the author is intimately involved in all of this, often doing much of his or her own publicity (unless they're a big name) or hiring a publicist themselves.
How you become an agent/publicist/marketing manager depends on which one you're really asking about.
References :
Published author; Book publishing professional