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Meet the Teaching Artist: Better Book Publicity through Better Goal Setting with Terena Bell
by Writing Workshops Staff
3 weeks ago
When it comes to book publicity, Terena Bell cuts through the noise with a simple question: "Why do you want to market your book?" This inquiry forces writers to confront their goals in black and white.
Bell, a publicist who has gotten her authors featured on The Today Show and NPR, knows intimately the peculiar desperation that afflicts writers in the digital age. They chase TikTok trends and craft newsletters for audiences that may not exist. Her own debut collection, Tell Me What You See, earned recognition as one of the "best books of the century (so far)" by the New York Society Library, a distinction that came not from viral marketing but from strategic thinking about what success means.
"The story that won't go away," she says when asked how she chooses her projects. Yet Bell's approach to publicity is refreshingly pragmatic, rooted in the Kentucky common sense of her Sinking Fork origins. She has watched too many talented writers exhaust themselves in pursuit of coverage that serves no purpose, chasing the dopamine hit of media mentions while their books languish unread.
This tension between ambition and strategy forms the heart of Bell's upcoming seminar, Unlock Your Writing Success: Better Book Publicity through Better Goal Setting, where she promises to reveal why that coveted national television appearance might be less valuable than a feature in a local publication. It's a counterintuitive premise that challenges the very foundations of how writers think about success, and one that Bell delivers with the confidence of someone who has seen the machinery of literary success from both sides.
In our conversation, Bell emerges as both a pragmatist and an evangelist, someone who believes deeply in the power of intentional action over frantic activity. Her teaching style—"fun and interactive," she insists, encouraging questions—masks a rigorous methodology that has transformed scattered marketing efforts into strategic advantages for countless authors. For writers drowning in the noise of self-promotion, Bell offers something rarer than publicity tips: clarity about what they're actually trying to achieve.
Writing Workshops: Hi, Terena. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Terena Bell: Hi! I'm a writer and publicist. I've secured coverage for clients and their books on The Today Show, NPR, Good Housekeeping, Book Riot, New Books Network, and others. Originally from Sinking Fork, Kentucky, I live in New York.
Writing Workshops: What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
Terena Bell: Marketing is something that frustrates a lot of writers and I understand why. Much of the guidance out there seems to approach every book and author as though they're the same when they're not. Checklist marketing (go on TikTok, have a newsletter, etc) takes time and can be exhausting with little result. Determining WHY you want to market should be every writer's first step. Only then can you do so successfully.
Writing Workshops: Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
Terena Bell: Students will dig deep to pinpoint their marketing goals and how this connects to their career goals as writers. After we've determined these goals together, we'll next discuss how they translate into which public relations and publicity actions. And we'll have a little fun while we're at it too, with participants playing a writers' version of "Family Feud"!
Writing Workshops: What was your first literary crush?
Terena Bell: Thornton Wilder
Writing Workshops: What are you currently reading?
Terena Bell: everything
Writing Workshops: How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
Terena Bell: That's easy: the story that won't go away.
Writing Workshops: Where do you find inspiration?
Terena Bell: personal life
Writing Workshops: What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
Terena Bell: Know what you want out of life — career-wise and artistically. Once you do, you're far more likely to get it.
Writing Workshops: What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
Terena Bell: Ursula K Le Guin's STEERING THE CRAFT. It's chock full of actual exercises and she really knows her stuff.
Writing Workshops: What's your teaching vibe?
Terena Bell: fun and interactive - ask me lots of questions!
Learn more about Terena's upcoming seminar, Unlock Your Writing Success: Better Book Publicity through Better Goal Setting Zoom Seminar, and sign up today to secure your spot.
Terena Bell brings unparalleled expertise as a successful publicist and celebrated author. She has secured high-profile media coverage for clients on The Today Show, NPR, Good Housekeeping, Book Riot, New Books Network, and dozens of other prestigious outlets. As an author, her debut collection Tell Me What You See earned recognition as one of the "best books of the century (so far)" by New York Society Library and became a Ms Magazine must-read. Her award-winning work has appeared in over 100 international publications, including The Atlantic, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and The Washington Post. Terena regularly speaks nationwide at Georgetown University, the University of Louisville, and major writing conferences.
