This may be an odd question as I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about but here goes:

I'm currently recording a solo album that I'm planning to self-release/distribute. The producer has suggested we hire a specialist promoter/publicist for a month to try and get radio play/press attention and so forth.

I know nothing about this and had no idea such services were available (he's worked with successful acts before so I'm sure he knows what he's talking about).

As so many people here are in bands I wondered whether anyone has ever tried hiring someone to help with radio plugging/publicity so forth and, if so how much it costs and whether it's worth doing?