PIGTAIL PUBLIC RELATIONS

Kim Bouchard Founder of Pigtail Public Relations Kim Bouchard has over fifteen years experience in publishing, specializing in publicity for children’s, parenting and special needs books. She started Pigtail Public Relations in 2000. Her clients include: Bookends, HarperCollins, Harcourt, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Penguin Putnam, Routledge and others. Most recently, she handled the 5-city tour for Zizou Corder author of Lionboy: The Chase which became a New York Times Bestseller. Previous to starting Pigtail, she worked as Publicity Manager at HarperCollins Children’s Books which afforded her the opportunity to work on some of the classics in children’s literature.  To launch a new series based on The Little House on the Prairie books, Ms. Bouchard planned a parade and festival featuring an original play, covered wagon, and craftsman demonstrating skills and games from the 1800s.  Her favorite project was the launch of A Series of Unfortunate Events by the mysterious and elusive Lemony Snicket.  She worked on the first five books in the series that proved to be a staple on The New York Times Bestseller List.  Another highlight included the execution and launch of bestselling author and radio host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s children’s book series which hit The Publishers Weekly Bestseller List.  Her other major authors included: Jules Feiffer, Jean Craighead George, Fred Marcellino, Walter Dean Myers and R.L. Stine. Her enthusiasm for children’s publishing began with her job as Senior Publicist at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. She developed and implemented publicity campaigns for the following series: Rugrats, Blues Clues, Gullah Gullah Island and Raggedy Ann. In addition to this menagerie, she had the privilege of working with such prominent human authors and illustrators as: Brian Boitano, David Carter, Dom DeLouise, Laura Numeroff, and Carly Simon. Ms. Bouchard’s first job in publishing was a publicity assistant position in the mass market department of Penguin Books which introduced her to the passionate world of mystery, romance, horror and science fiction. She graduated from Kenyon College where she majored in English and spent her junior year studying English and Drama at the University of Exeter in England. Following graduation, she earned a certificate at the New York University Summer Publishing Institute and interned as a photo researcher at the fun, funny and fearless Spy Magazine. When not planning events for Pigtail, she can be found somewhere in suburban New Jersey driving her two children to birthday parties, coaching soccer or walking her dog.  She knows more than she ever wanted to about Vietnam, thanks to her history teacher husband. Kathleen Purcell Senior Publicist With over twelve years in book publishing and financial services public relations, Kathleen Purcell’s career encompasses everything from arranging author tours to IPO media relations. Ms. Purcell started her publishing career in the Penguin Book’s marketing department. While there, she learned how the marketing, sales, promotion, publicity and editorial departments work together to successfully launch books. During her career she made the leap to publicity. She has worked on a variety of books ranging from young adult, trade paperback, mass market, mystery, science fiction and true crime. Author tours that she arranged include national TV, print, radio and internet media outlets. Her authors have appeared on such venues as Comedy Central, Inside Edition, Scope and The Trentonian. Switching publicity hats, Ms. Purcell also specialized in financial services public relations. She has managed and implemented pr programs for mutual fund companies, telecom, banking technology and consulting firms. She has helped companies build media exposure for IPO’s. Her results include media coverage in CNBC, CNN, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Smart Money, Information Week, Euromoney, Dow Jones and Bloomberg. In addition to media placements, she ghost wrote magazine articles for her clients. Ms. Purcell received her B.A. in English from The Ohio State University. When she isn’t rooting for the Buckeyes, you’ll find her enjoying the great outdoors in New York with her husband and two daughters.