Wednesday, August 31, 2005
A Little Thing Called Perspective
I feel a little bit like Rip Van Winkle today, as I re-enter the blogosphere, a tad wobbly on unsure footing. And yet,
WE'RE BA-ACK!!
It's been an interesting summer - during a traditionally slow period in book publishing, we've managed to score lots of publicity for our newest books, including WHAT GOES UP: Surviving the Manic Episode of a Loved One, a memoir by Judy Eron (June 2005), SHARKS IN THE DESERT: The Founding Fathers and Current Kings of Las Vegas by Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith, and our forthcoming YOUR PLUS-SIZE PREGNANCY: The Ultimate Guide for the Full-Figured Expectant Mom (September 2005) by Brette McWhorter Sember with Dr. Bruce Rodgers.
Also, this entry from indie publicist Susan Schwartzman, on her new blog, Book Publicity News, prompted the first ever blog post from our Publisher, Carole Stuart [in the interest of full disclosure, Susan was hired by one of our authors to help publicize her book several years ago]. Susan's post (August 29) is below, Carole's reply follows:
Susan:
The hurricane preempted all the news media today, and monopolized producers' time all over the country, but fortunately, I did get responses to my pitches from some producers, so the day wasn't a complete exercise in futility. I was grateful I didn't have any authors scheduled for a morning show today who would end up sitting in the green room as the hurricane coverage preempted their interviews. That happened to an author of mine many years ago when a blizzard was deemed more important than his book, and the morning show never did reschedule his interview.
Carole:
I read publicist Susan Schwartzman's comment about the blizzard that bumped
her author from a show once. Was that whining I heard or merely self-centeredness?
Years ago, I was in St. Louis, waiting to be interviewed for a book I'd
written. While I was waiting in the green room, the local news was broadcasting
and announced that the Pope had just been shot. It didn't take an
Einstein to figure out I wasn't going to be on that show that day. And they
didn't rebook me.
Years passed, and Barricade Books, our company, was publishing a book about
Justice Clarence Thomas. Publicity was all set and then September 11th
wiped everything off the media. We weren't alone, many books flopped
because of lost media opportunities.
I'm an author and a publisher but I'm a human being too. And sometimes you
have to see the bigger picture: To paraphrase what Humphrey Bogart said to
Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, "In this crazy world, the problems of two
little people don't count much."
It's not always about you, Susan. There are bigger things in the world.
I've got no beef with Susan, and I am a publicist myself, but I do agree with Carole that a little perspective is in order.
- Jen Itskevich
Publicity Director
WE'RE BA-ACK!!
It's been an interesting summer - during a traditionally slow period in book publishing, we've managed to score lots of publicity for our newest books, including WHAT GOES UP: Surviving the Manic Episode of a Loved One, a memoir by Judy Eron (June 2005), SHARKS IN THE DESERT: The Founding Fathers and Current Kings of Las Vegas by Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith, and our forthcoming YOUR PLUS-SIZE PREGNANCY: The Ultimate Guide for the Full-Figured Expectant Mom (September 2005) by Brette McWhorter Sember with Dr. Bruce Rodgers.
Also, this entry from indie publicist Susan Schwartzman, on her new blog, Book Publicity News, prompted the first ever blog post from our Publisher, Carole Stuart [in the interest of full disclosure, Susan was hired by one of our authors to help publicize her book several years ago]. Susan's post (August 29) is below, Carole's reply follows:
Susan:
The hurricane preempted all the news media today, and monopolized producers' time all over the country, but fortunately, I did get responses to my pitches from some producers, so the day wasn't a complete exercise in futility. I was grateful I didn't have any authors scheduled for a morning show today who would end up sitting in the green room as the hurricane coverage preempted their interviews. That happened to an author of mine many years ago when a blizzard was deemed more important than his book, and the morning show never did reschedule his interview.
Carole:
I read publicist Susan Schwartzman's comment about the blizzard that bumped
her author from a show once. Was that whining I heard or merely self-centeredness?
Years ago, I was in St. Louis, waiting to be interviewed for a book I'd
written. While I was waiting in the green room, the local news was broadcasting
and announced that the Pope had just been shot. It didn't take an
Einstein to figure out I wasn't going to be on that show that day. And they
didn't rebook me.
Years passed, and Barricade Books, our company, was publishing a book about
Justice Clarence Thomas. Publicity was all set and then September 11th
wiped everything off the media. We weren't alone, many books flopped
because of lost media opportunities.
I'm an author and a publisher but I'm a human being too. And sometimes you
have to see the bigger picture: To paraphrase what Humphrey Bogart said to
Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, "In this crazy world, the problems of two
little people don't count much."
It's not always about you, Susan. There are bigger things in the world.
I've got no beef with Susan, and I am a publicist myself, but I do agree with Carole that a little perspective is in order.
- Jen Itskevich
Publicity Director
