The Accidental Publicist

By David J. Litvak

It was never my intention to become a publicist. It happened by accident. Really, it's true.                 

While I was waiting to meet Jo in her office, I noticed an intriguing book on the shelf. The cover featured a pair of European refugees standing in front of what looked like the Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest (a city that I had visited once before). I leafed through it for a moment and then put it back on the shelf but made a mental note to ask about it after our meeting. A few minutes later, Jo appeared and we talked about my book and the possibilities of publishing it. She then asked me if I had any advice about publicizing Escape From Pannonia, the book that I had been glancing at earlier. It was a Holocaust love story written by Steve Floris, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor. I started writing suggestions for her about how to publicize it in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver. Three pages later, she suggested that I do publicity for Escape From Pannonia. I replied that I would have to read it first whereupon she handed me the book. After I read Steve's incredible account of how he and his wife serendipitously survived the Holocaust I was excited about sharing his story with readers everywhere--and voila, an accidental publicist was born.

Being a publicist has benefited me as a writer in numerous ways. I have learned invaluable lessons about the publishing industry, especially in regards to the important roles marketing and publicity play in the success of a new book. In some ways, it's the perfect day job for an aspiring writer, especially since writing is an integral part of publicity. As part of my job, I regularly have to write proposals, press releases, biographies, testimonials and letters. I have also learned that for a book to be successful, not only does it need to be well written and publicized 'but it also needs to be properly distributed and displayed in bookstores, libraries and non-traditional markets. In addition, the book tours, media appearances, interviews and book launches I organize for other writers have prepared me for the realities of today's book publishing industry. Thanks to being a publicist, I have made some great contacts with radio and TV producers and newspaper editors, reporters and reviewers in the United States and Canada. These contacts will come in handy once I have my own book to promote. And to top it all, my life as a publicist has led me to meet some inspiring authors and has also led me to some amazing places that I would never have discovered or visited on my own.

For example, Eric Wickham, the author of Dead Fish and Fat Cats (and the Executive Director of the Canadian Sablefish Association) invited me to attend a Fish Expo in Seattle and a World Fisheries Congress in Vancouver. At Fish Expo, where all the movers and shakers in the fishing and aquaculture industries assemble, I flogged Eric's book and fished for publicity. I hooked up with two editors of promi­nent American fishing publications; Linc Bedrosian of National Fisherman and John van Amerongen of The Alaska Fisherman's Journal and they both ended up writing great reviews of Eric's book in their respective publications. And as it turned out, both John and Linc were musicians. I was beginning to wonder if all editors of fishing publications were fishing musicians. However, at the World Fisheries Congress, I didn't meet any more fishing musicians. Instead, I met a fascinating array of fisher folk from around the world including fisheries officials and academics, marine biologists, scientists and environmentalists and representa­tives of aquaculture companies and organizations. And to top it all, at the Dead Fish and Fat Cats book launch I got to meet and introduce renowned scientist and environmentalist Dr. David Suzuki, who wrote the introduction for Eric's book. So I am grateful to Eric and his book for having exposed me to the life aquatic; to a world filled with salmon, sable fish and fishing musicians.

My next major trip with Sally was to the Bay area where I was a chauffeur, publicist and guide all rolled up into one. From our home base of Berkeley, we got to explore some amazing places like Los Altos Hilts, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Atherton and El Cerrito. Highlights of the trip included listening in on the inspiring readings Sally gave to teenagers at the Tehiya Day School in El Cerrito, St. Joseph's Sacred Heart Catholic School in Atherton and Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills.  We browsed great bookstores including Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, Bob and Bob's in Palo Alto (which has one of the largest selection of Jewish books and Judaica on the West Coast) and Afikomen Books in Berkeley There were some great fringe benefits to publicizing Sally's book and travel was certainly at the top of that list!

In working on the publicity for  Tom Johnston, a Canadian Motor Sport Hall of Fame inductee and the author of Sports Car Road Racing in 'Western Canada, I got to attend the Portland and Seattle Vintage car races and was given a test drive in a Porsche at 120 miles an hour. What a rush! All for the sake of publicity, of course.

On Robbie Burns Day earlier this year I marched through the lobby of the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library with two men in kilts. I was escorting Celtic author Bill Galloway and his bagpipe-playing son, Alex, to a reading downstairs while holding up a placard of the cover of Bill's book, They Called Me Otherwise: Stories of Growing Up in Africa, Scotland and Canada. I, unlike Bill and his son, was not wearing a kilt but I became exposed to a different culture-one I wouldn't have known had I not been in­volved in the publicity for Bill's memoir.

More recently, I have worked on the promotion of Lance Berelowitz’s award-winning book, Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination (Douglas & McIntyre, 2006). I organized readings and coordinated publicity for Lance in the United States and attended his reading at Powell's City 0 Books, the premier bookstore in the Pacific Northwest. This Portland bookstore is a writer's and book lover's paradise and, being in attendance was just another of the many perks of being a publicist.