Michael Yates
During the discussion, Linda asked me about getting my book out to the general public. Weren’t most of us preaching to the choir; not many people were interested in grappling with ideas different from their own. I said that there was truth to this, but that one reason books like mine find it hard to reach a mass audience is because it is difficult to get such books publicized. Promotion is critical, especially on television, but this usually too expensive to obtain. Mainstream media are interested in least common denominator material, and connections are of utmost importance. When that insufferable windbag Tim Russert “writes” a book (his books are ghostwritten, as are most celebrity books, such as those by Hillary Clinton and most other celebrities. One reason I admire Ulysses S. Grant is because he wrote his memoirs himself, while he was dying of cancer and broke. He wanted to be sure his wife would have enough money after he died, which he did right after finishing the book. Mark Twain was his agent.), he has automatic access to all the mainstream media. This sells books no matter how bad. Russert made nice with notorious bigot Don Imus, and then Imus plugged his books too. And not to mention that the big publishing houses, the ones that pay hacks like Russert big advances, also pay the big bookstore chains to place their clients’ books right up front. Through dint of hundreds of hours of phone calls, emails, mass mailings, etc., I managed to put together an extensive book tour, and this has put my book in stores it would never have otherwise been. However, one appearance on the Tavis Smiley television show probably had the biggest single impact on my books’ sales.
Consider the fate of Jack Valenti’s recent memoir. Valenti was a political mover and shaker, with deep ties in Hollywood. He had planned most of the PR for his book, with appearances by him and his friends on major TV shows. Then he died, and none of this happened. His book, as of last week, had sold about 1,000 copies, much to the chagrin of his publisher (what does this say about the book’s quality?. You’d think his pals would have bought at least that many copies.) What more needs to be said about the power of the media and the money that makes it tick.