# 54 Behind Publishing Confidential with Kathleen Schmidt

Listen:

I reached out to Kathleen Schmidt after she presented a webinar on book publishing for Women’s Media Group, an organization we both belong to. I was impressed with the depth of her knowledge and delighted with her honesty about the industry, which she shares in her popular substack, Publishing Confidential.

In this episode:
• Kathleen’s experience writing about publishing and public relations for her substack Publishing Confidential and why those newsletter issues have gone viral. [3:08]
• Why is the publishing industry broken? [3:45]
• Kathleen’s view on book tours, and why they might not be the best options for selling books. [15:26]
• How to create a strategy for your book launch. [17:11]
• The 411 on signing books at bookstores. [13:16]
• Best practices for leveraging substack. [17:21]

Watch on YouTube

To watch the extended version of this interview, with Kathleen’s recommendations on what to read, watch, buy and more to gain insight and information, become a paid subscriber to Estelle’s substack
Don’t forget to register for Estelle’s Editor-0n-Call event on November 15 with Derrik Lang from Shondaland. Details and registration link here.

About Kathleen Schmidt

As the Founder and CEO of Kathleen Schmidt Public Relations, she is a well-respected voice in book publishing with in-depth experience in all aspects of the industry, including as a publicist, literary agent, acquisitions editor, and ghostwriter. Her career encompasses 30 years of creating and directing impactful and strategic global media, marketing, and branding campaigns for politicians, A-List celebrities, athletes, and high-profile personalities. To date, she has worked on 50 New York Times bestsellers, and her clients have continuously appeared in top-tier national print, broadcast, and radio outlets such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, Vogue, Elle, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, and Sirius XM.
Her fast-growing Substack newsletter, Publishing Confidential, shares her wealth of inside knowledge that she hopes will help demystify the book industry. Married with two children, she resides in New Jersey.