Q&A With Olivia W. McCoy

My favorite part about blogging is the Q&As I do with authors and the people who help authors make their stories both true and make believe out into the world as though they were ships in the ocean. Today’s Q&A is with book marketing specialist Olivia W. McCoy! Olivia’s clients have been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Built In, Newsweek, HuffPost, and HOLA!.

Q: Olivia, welcome to Book Notions! For those who don’t know, would you please explain what book marketing specialists do? What drew you into being a book marketer as a career?

A: Thank you for having me! Book marketing specialists, such as I, help authors with several promotional initiatives including authors branding, publicity, and book marketing. That often entails website and newsletter development, social media strategy and support, custom outreach to earned media, and advertising.

I always knew I wanted to work with books growing up, whether it be as an author or part of a publishing house, but I fell into marketing by accident. I was working on an editorial internship with an independent publisher just out of college and on the first day, they gave me an editorial exam to test my knowledge. (Un)Fortunately, my test anxiety got the best of me that day and my results were rather underwhelming. Rather than letting me go, they sent me to their publicity department where they needed support writing press releases, and I flourished under their guidance. I’ve been madly in love with book marketing and promotion ever since I realized the joy of introducing readers to their next favorite read.

Q: How long have you been a book marketing specialist? What wisdom have you learned that you would want others to know whether they enter the book marketing sphere or not?

A: I’ve been working in book marketing and promotion for just about eight years now and the most helpful thing I’ve learned is to customize each author’s experience. Every person you work with will have their own expectations and limitations, whether it be time, resources, or energy. A one-size-fits-all approach will NOT work in this field.

Q: What is your favorite & least part of being a book marketing specialist & why? 

A: My favorite part is being able to teach my authors a new approach to book marketing that will work for them. I don’t expect my authors to be on every social media platform and I work to find marketing strategies that work for them as an individual with their own life. It leads to amazingly collaborative experiences working together and I’ve met some incredible people with unbelievable stories.

My least favorite part would have to be when timing is not working in a book’s favor. It’s so important to make sure your book is timely and relevant, but what is timely and relevant changes day-to-day, hour-to-hour as the news cycle develops their next story. Rarely, but sometimes, do I begin work with an author that has an important message or story to share, but by the time we reach their publication date, the world has moved on which makes both of our jobs more difficult. It does push me to be more creative in my strategies and outreach, which has led to some wildly out-of-left field successes that we may never have gotten with our original plans.

Q: What’s it like knowing that your clients have been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Built In, Newsweek, HuffPost, and HOLA!. ? It sounds so exciting, and a Congratulations are in order! 

A: It is so exciting! Those successes came to be while I was working with a book publicity company, and they were so well-deserved by the authors themselves. While I love big-name media success, I find more joy in placing authors in their niches. Sometimes I’ll find a publication or podcast that is just PERFECT for a specific author or book, and that is matchmaking at its best, as that audience is more likely to engage and connect with the author’s brand. That doesn’t mean I’m still not getting bites from those household name brands, but it’s not my focus most of the time.

Q: Would you please give a list of authors whom you’ve worked with in marketing their books?

A: I have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of authors in every genre imaginable, and I couldn’t possibly name them all here. I’ll name a few recent authors and their books that have stuck with me:

• Holy Wrath by Victoria Mier (April 8, 2025)
• Quick Confidence by Selena Rezvani (May 9, 2023)
• A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger (May 16, 2023)
• The Inclusive Language Field Guide by Suzanne Wertheim, PhD (October 3, 2023)
• And No One Saw It Coming by Marci Glidden Savage (October 8, 2021)

Q: If you were to become an author, what genre would you write your books in? Would you market your own books or get someone else to do them for you? 

A: I’ve thought about writing my own nonfiction book about book marketing and how to guide for indie authors. The focus would be on marketing a book outside of Amazon. What do you think?

But my younger self screams at me to publish a book of poetry, so perhaps one day it tickles my fancy.

I would absolutely market my own books, but I would partner with trusted professionals on the editing, production, and design. Everyone needs a publishing team!