Q&A With Carisa Hays 

I appreciate it when publicists and agents connect me with some great authors and their books and get even more excited when I get to interview the publicist and agent themselves! It was a delight to know Carisa Hays agreed to be interviewed! Carisa Hays established Carisa Hays Public Relations in 2023. Carisa has been a publishing executive for several years and has held publicity director positions at the Crown Publishing Group, Free Press/Simon & Schuster, Inc., Dell/Delacorte, The Dial Press & Putnam! Carisa has worked on every book genre from fiction, nonfiction, current affairs, politics on both sides of the aisle, celebrity and literary memoirs, business, health & wellness, food & lifestyle, music and sports to faith-based nonfiction! Carisa has also worked on publicity campaigns for famous people, one of which is Alice Hoffman! Carisa promoted two of Hoffman’s earlier titles: Turtle Moon and Second Nature.

Q: Welcome to Book Notions Carisa! It’s an honor interviewing you! What drew you into reading and having a career in publishing? 

A: Thank you, Bianca. It is a pleasure to meet your readers.  

I come from a family of book lovers.  Both of my parents were voracious readers.  My dad loved non-fiction in all genres, and my mother was an avid fiction reader.  When I was just a little one, my mom and dad read to me every night. By the time I entered kindergarten, I was already beginning to read on my own.  Although I loved books, I didn’t imagine myself having a career in book publishing.  I thought I might be a screenwriter, a journalist, or an art critic.  I have a degree in Art History & Criticism and Journalism.

But like many of us who graduate from college, we sometimes fall into unexpected careers, and mine is book publishing.  A career that I have loved for decades.

Q: How long have you been a publicist for? 

A: I have been a publicist for many decades.  More than I would like to admit to!  I started in the days before cell phones and email.

Q: Did you go to college to become a publicist, or did you apply for an internship after graduating high school? I love knowing about a person’s personal journey when it comes to publishing, journalism etc….

A: As I mentioned previously, I studied Art History & Journalism in college.  I thought I might go into screenwriting, journalism or work in an art gallery or a museum, but those are tough fields to break into, especially if you don’t have contacts in any of those.  At the time I graduated from college, those of us with liberal arts degrees seemed to have found jobs in book publishing, magazine publishing or advertising.  I began interviewing for entry-level positions at ad agencies (and quickly decided that world wasn’t for me), as well as most of the major book publishers and magazines.  When I interviewed for a job at Abrams, I learned that there is a publicity department at most book publishers.  Although I didn’t get a job at Abrams, learning about a publisher’s publicity department helped me focus on what area in publishing I would like to pursue as my career.  I finally got my first job at a small family-owned company called Dodd, Mead.  At Dodd, Mead I worked in the School & Library Marketing Department.  I hoped to transfer into its Publicity Department, but at the time I was there that wasn’t possible.  Wanting to pursue a career in book publicity, I moved to another publisher called Pinnacle Books, a mass market paperback publisher and worked there as an ad/promo/publicity assistant.

I stayed at Pinnacle Books until it went out of business, and I moved onto working with a terrific freelance book publicist named Donna Gould.  I learned so much from Donna: how to book multiple author tours, client relations, how to run a business, etc. Then one day I got the call to come work in the Penguin Books Publicity Department as a Senior Publicist.  The Penguin job changed the trajectory of my career, and I will always be grateful to Marcia Burch and the late Maureen Donnelly for hiring me at Penguin and giving me the opportunity to work with incredibly talented authors and wonderful colleagues. The Penguin job led me to my first Director position at Putnam, and other Publicity Director positions at BDD, Free Press, and my most favorite job of my career as the Executive Director of Publicity at the Crown Publishing Group.  

Q: In your opinion, what are important skills someone needs when they become a publicist? Several publicists say that being a people person is an important trait. What wisdom have you learned in your years as a publicist have you learned that you hope future publicists or people curious about the industry in general know? 

A: There are several necessary skills to being a publicist:  being well-organized and good with details, being able to juggle multiple projects and tasks at once and being able to articulate in print and orally who your author is, what their book is about, and how their book might fit into a news cycle.  Most importantly, staying on top of an ever-changing media landscape is crucial to a publicist’s success; finding new media outlets in a world where traditional media is fleeting.  Yes, being a people person is important.  Making authors and agents feel that you are committed to their project is key. Communicating, if not overcommunicating with an author on a regular basis makes them feel well cared for, and that you are invested in the success of their book.  

I see so many terrific and committed young publicists make the mistake of only communicating with an author when they have confirmed bookings.  I have seen so many dedicated publicists working incredibly hard on a project, feeling awkward in telling an author when things aren’t going as well as they hoped.  Not hearing from a publicist for long periods of time gives the author no indication on how hard the publicist has been working on their book.  Working collaboratively with an author, making them a part of the process, reassures an author that the publicist is trying as hard as they can to secure coverage for their book.

Q: What was it like being a publicity director at the Crown Publishing Group, Free Press/Simon & Schuster, Inc., Dell/Delacorte, The Dial Press & Putnam? It all sounds so exciting! 

A: Those jobs were all terrific and I am proud of all that I accomplished at each of those houses.  I had the opportunity to work with terrific authors, and I had the great fortune to work with incredible colleagues in a variety of departments who taught me so much about the business, and how publicity fits into the selling of a book, the marketing of a book, when a book should be published, etc.

But I would say the real joy for me was building and leading those publicity departments.  I have been blessed for having a talent for hiring great publicists over the years.  Mentoring publicists has always been one of the best parts of the job, and seeing those publicists grow their careers whether becoming publicity directors, publishers/associate publishers or heading up their own businesses, that was truly the great part of those jobs.

Q: Carisa, you have worked on publicity campaigns for famous people whether its novelists like Alice Hoffman, Kurt Vonnegut, & Judy Blume to journalists Peter Bergen, James Risen, and Charles Krauthammer, to politicians such as Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and former First Lady Michelle Obama! What was it like working on publicity campaigns for books by these famous people?

A: It was very exciting to work on books by each of the authors you mention.  I would say what they all have in common is great character and the desire to publish the best book possible.  Each of those authors created books with words that will live on forever. 

I am very proud to have helped strategize and execute those publicity campaigns, but with all successful book campaigns, it isn’t just one person creating the magic.  All those authors had incredible editors, publicists, marketers, book designers, art directors, and sales teams to help bring their books to the attention of the widest number of readers. 

Q: I had the pleasure of reading the memoir The Other Side Of Perfect by Venus Morris Griffin and interviewing her because of you! I also look forward to reading Moss In The Oaks and interviewing Merrimac Dillon. Who else are you representing that I have not mentioned and what are new books you are excited about that we should keep an eye out for? 

A: As a freelance publicist, I am always looking for new authors to represent.  These days, I am very selective as to the number of authors and which authors I take on.  If it is a fiction title I really need to fall in love with the story, the writing, and the author’s back story, such as with Merrimac Dillon’s stunning first novel MOSS IN THE OAKS that publishes in February 2027.  With non-fiction, I look to work with authors who are experts in their field and have a following. I have some exciting projects on the schedule, but it is too soon to mention what they are.  Stay tuned!!!

Q: If you were to become an author yourself, would your book be fiction or nonfiction? Why or why not?

A: You know I never really thought about becoming an author.  I enjoy working with authors and promoting their books so much that I haven’t really had the desire to write a book, but if I did, I think it would be a fictionalized account of my own life.  I have led a very interesting life with a lot of experiences that I have never shared, even with the closest of friends.

Q: Carisa, would you please provide links to your social media accounts so the readers of the blog and I may follow you and your work?

A: On FB: carisahayspublicrelations

On IG: hayscarisa

Website: www.carisahayspublicrelations.com