Why email signatures are important
One of the reasons why I haven’t posted in a while is because it’s been really crazy — as fall often is for book publicists — and I’ve been madly booking interviews (and rescheduling them, as so often is the case). Lots of late nights and heading to the office on weekends. Now more than ever I’ve come to appreciate that some people are easy to reach and others … not so much.
For example, some producers routinely list three phone numbers in their electronic signatures — direct number, show / studio line, cell phone — while others don’t even have an esignature. Although I do prefer email to the phone, I still use the latter (particularly when I’m not getting a response by email). Guess who gets the hot, last-minute booking?
Many other people request review copies of books and when mailing addresses are included in email signatures, I can easily pop books in the mail. But some fail to include mailing addresses in esignatures. So on a busy day, when I barely have time to go to the bathroom, guess who doesn’t get the book?
Of course — the knife cuts both ways. Reporters and producers who can’t reach a publicist are liable to move on to the next book or author. At the end of the day, most of what this boils down to is an email signature. So make it a good one.
