I have worked as a publicist for almost 10 years and I have worked with authors for the majority of time.  Based on my experience, here are the ways authors must use their publicist to gain success.
First, here are some ways a publicist cannot help.  They are not there to sell your book.  I know this sounds counter to the purpose of PR and marketing but we really just craft the message we don’t advertise a product, we raise awareness.   A publicist can’t guarantee an author specific reviews.  Every author wants to be in national newspapers and magazines but one must step back and consider how relevant and realistic that is.
Here are ways a publicist can help:
1.    Please tell us what you are doing.  Send us a quick email telling us where you are speaking and who you are speaking with.  This gives us a chance to promote the event.
2.    Tell us what you are willing to do and not willing to do before we make a contact. Our contacts are valuable and we want to maintain them.
3.    Take a writing class. This is not saying you are not a good writer but be open to learning.
4.    Let the publicist do their job. You hired a publicist to use their expertise and experience.  Let them use it.
5.    Think about PR way before you publish.  Bring a publicist on 6 months before publication.  This a slow process.  Develop a workable plan and launch.
Sara