How to hire a publicist

How to hire a publicist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step publicist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a publicist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new publicist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a publicist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a publicist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A publicist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, publicists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents publicist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Publicist	Description	Hourly rate
   Publicist	Public relations specialists create and maintain a favorable public image for the organization they represent. They design media releases to shape public perception of their organization and to increase awareness of its work and goals.	$14-39
   Social Media Internship	In a social media internship, the primary role is to take part in managing a brand's social media platforms for public relations. One of their primary duties is to craft informative and captivating content while under the supervision and guidelines of a manager or supervisor... Show more	$11-18
   Media Coordinator	A media coordinator acts as a communications professional in charge of developing and implementing target communications and advertising for various media platforms. Media coordinators plan, implement, and monitor the social media strategy of an organization... Show more	$16-30

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Press Releases
   • Press Materials
   • Public Relations Campaigns
   • Instagram
   • Twitter
   • Writing Press Releases
   • Photo Shoots
   • Publicity Materials
   • Press Coverage
   • Pr Campaigns
   • Pitch Letters
   • Fiction
   • Biographies
   • Promotional Materials

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage publicity plans for fiction and non-fiction trade paperback titles.
   • Manage and write copy for client social media platforms and ECPR's social media deliverable, which involve SEO streamlining.
   • Book non-fiction author media tours.
   • Photograph events for the instagram account.
   • Maintain appropriate media lists, clips and coverage reports.
   • Post on Facebook and other websites to promote events & products

   More publicist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your publicist job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A publicist salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, publicists' average salary in maine is 57% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level publicists earn 64% less than senior-level publicists.
   • Certifications. A publicist with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a publicist's salary.

   Average publicist salary

   $50,679yearly

   $24.36 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level publicist salary

   $30,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

   Average publicist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$61,606	$30
   2	New York	$54,701	$26
   3	Virginia	$51,451	$25
   4	Missouri	$37,201	$18

   Average publicist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	J. The Jewish News of Northern California	$97,352	$46.80	4
   2	Amazon	$89,077	$42.83	11
   3	Shutterstock	$73,332	$35.26
   4	Oxford University Press	$72,807	$35.00
   5	HarperCollins	$69,032	$33.19
   6	AMV BBDO	$64,443	$30.98
   7	Dow Jones	$59,806	$28.75
   8	Ellucian	$59,774	$28.74
   9	University of Virginia	$59,090	$28.41	2
   10	AMC Networks	$53,390	$25.67
   11	Pia	$51,511	$24.76
   12	The Walt Disney Company	$47,766	$22.96	6
   13	PMK•BNC	$46,671	$22.44
   14	Hadassah	$46,430	$22.32
   15	VTM Group	$44,749	$21.51
   16	AMW Group	$43,872	$21.09	1
   17	Scholastic	$43,605	$20.96
   18	Missouri State University	$42,088	$20.23
   19	Paramount	$41,741	$20.07
   20	Sundance Institute	$39,381	$18.93

4. Writing a publicist job description

   A publicist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a publicist job description:

   Publicist job description example

   Make up to $2,500/week as a publicist for AMV.

   WHO WE ARE:

   AMV is experiencing breakout success with our inbound marketing solution Publicity.ai.

   Publicity.ai enables companies of all sizes to experience the power of marketing enhanced by artificial intelligence and the on-demand economy. Now you can benefit from our success by being a publicist for AMV. The more you write, the more you earn. You will be provided with free training to make 3x on average of what you would make regularly as a web content copywriter.

   WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

   • Earn Great Money: The more you write, the more you earn.
   • Flexible Schedule: Make your own schedule as a contractor any time day or night.
   • Getting Started is Easy: Signing up is quick & easy we will develop you from a great copywriter to a great publicist!
   • Get Paid Weekly: Get earnings deposited into your bank account weekly.

   Before you read on, its important to understand that we are looking for the hungriest individuals with the deepest desire to level up their copywriting career. If this is you, then proceed.

   AMV has created a unique training program for developing motivated copywriters into highly-paid publicists. Through our (free and private) training, you will learn how to represent our business clients who are hungry for great press and willing to pay for it. It is that simple.

   Requirements

   • Experience in content publishing, PR, SEO, or blogging a huge plus
   • Phenomenal grasp of the English language
   • Ability and desire to create engaging content for a variety of different niches
   • Persistence and motivation to be influential and "get to yes" with media leads
   • Self-management and organizational skills to manage your own editorial calendar and media relationships

   WHAT YOUR DAY TO DAY WORK LOOKS LIKE:

   You send emails to media leads we give you. You have conversations with a variety of different publications via email. You use the tools and training we provide to get different media outlets to publish your content in a variety of different ways.

   Benefits

   • Excellent control of how much you make with the potential to earn six-figures
   • Work remotely and on your own schedule
   • Be an insider on one of the most disruptive and revolutionary marketing platforms to have ever been created

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right publicist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with publicists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit publicists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your publicist job on Zippia to find and attract quality publicist candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as pr news job board, pr council, prsa job center, hoojobs.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting publicists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new publicist

   Once you've found the publicist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new publicist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a publicist?