The calls and emails from the media that have been pouring in since Labor Day have been a terrific reminder of the lasting value of a well executed book campaign. As I say often, the best book campaigns live well beyond the book’s launch into the marketplace.

Though rolodexes are no longer large clunky eyesores that sit on desks, they are still a central focus of our work with clients. One of our primary goals in promoting an author is to help him build his reputation as the “go-to” expert in his field, inserting him into the conversation of daily news and establishing him as a trustworthy source for our media contacts to call on time and time again – in many cases, long past the on-sale date of the book.

For example, this month alone we heard from:

CBS This Morning, requesting Charlotte Beers for comment on the commercials being released in Pakistan after the U.S. Embassy came under attack.  Once the CEO of Ogilvy & Mather and the Chairman of J. Walter Thompson, Beers’ book, I’d Rather Be in Charge, published in January.

Harvard Business Review, requesting an extended interview with Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt on navigating office politics for a new HBR Press book.  Flynn, Heath, and Holt’s book, Break Your Own Rules, covered women advancement in the workplace and published last September.

Your World with Neil Cavuto (Fox News), requesting former Campbell Soup Company CEO Douglas Conant to appear with Cavuto in the coming weeks to discuss the economy and the current political situation.

These opportunities to discuss relevant and breaking news are invaluable opportunities for authors, as they can stimulate their businesses, speaking opportunities, and continued sales for their books.

We celebrate when unprompted calls come to us as they did this month, but when they don’t come unprompted, here’s how we work to establish an author as an expert on a specific subject:

• When a book is launched, concentrate some of the effort on “off the book page” coverage, going to reporters in the author’s particular area of expertise and making the reporter familiar with the author’s credentials and willingness to comment on breaking news.  This is best done when that expertise might be needed or welcomed – such as offering an economist on a day when the Congress is debating the Fiscal Cliff. Connecting reporters with experts when news is breaking is a vital part of our job.

• Learn how to showcase your author’s credentials in a way that’s useful to the media. Along with a very brief bio, consider embedding a link to video if you’re working with television or radio producers to illustrate that the author is both credible and well-spoken in on-air situations.

• Never overpromise.  Check FIRST with your author on what his or her comfort level is in breaking news situations, and be aware of any restrictions they have in commenting about specific companies or political situations.  Reporters rely on good PR people to accurately represent their clients.  Never suggest you have ready access to someone you do not. Even as the media world changes before our eyes, moving online, expanding into formats like blogs and podcasts, basic rules of journalism remain firmly intact.

When publicizing a book, do not underestimate the power of publicizing the author as the expert in their field. As the pressure on reporters for quantity, quality, and turnaround increases, the value of establishing your author as a reliable, trustworthy, and helpful source cannot be emphasized enough.