to hire or not to hire

professional promotional groups. I've been wondering how well they do. I find that much of my limited writing time is eaten by promotion and group chats. I like reaching out to the readers and chatting with fellow authors, but what's the point if I never have time to put work out. I want my writing to be the best work possible, not just good enough because I ran out of polishing time.

I've seen formal groups mass post to yahoo groups in which I participate. Do you know what I do? Mass delete. Yes, I see the name of the sender and don't even read the subject line. Like most writers, I get about 500 emails a day. The alternative is the individual promotional assistant. They use their real name. They cost about the same too.

Does blogging help? Do chats help? Do group emails help? I can't tell you they do. But having never hired a promotional publicist, I don't know the numbers on that either. Anyone out there able to fill in the blanks?