On A Mission With My Authors

 

I have been practicing the art of book marketing and public relations for over three decades. I have enjoyed working with thousands of authors who get to share all kinds of interesting stories and ideas. I could utilize my skillset to promote anything, from luxury brands and travel services to pharmaceuticals and food companies, but I am drawn to marketing books and authors.  

It is a less lucrative profession, but I love it, and one of those reasons is because I get to share powerful messages and empowering stories. Exposure of their books and messages could actually change, improve, and even save lives. This is an honor and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. 

Many publicists, by common practice, take on clients of all kinds, parking their moral judgments or real opinions about their clients in favor of putting cash in their pocket. Some promoters will even promote weapons of destruction, addictive and harmful products, abhorrent values, baseless allegations, dangerous theories, or despicable people.  

But when it comes to promoting books, it is refreshing to know that I can support not only the literary arts, free speech, and literacy, but also amazing individuals who help others and give back to their community.  

Sure, it is wonderful to promote books with fascinating stories, amazing images, or interesting views, but I want to acknowledge the joy that I feel when feeling a part of changing, fixing, even saving lives. 

A few clients immediately come to mind. 

Take Ron Hunter. 

“I had thousands of sexual encounters while working as a child prostitute in Times Square in the 1970s,” says Hunter, matter-of-factly. “My pimp was an Assistant Boy Scouts Master from my Brooklyn neighborhood. He was the model predator, coming into my broken home life as a savior, even convincing my mentally ill mother to be named my Godfather. By age 12 he was sexually abusing me. A year later he had me doing sexual favors for men more than 50 years my age.”

His shocking, but gripping story is shared with heart-breaking candor and raw emotion in a courageous new book, a memoir entitled Angel Finally Found His Wings: A True Story Of Finding Trust, Hope, faith, And The Power Of Love. 

Quite honestly, it is because of books like his — and people like him — that I have devoted my entire working life to helping authors and promoting their books. This is a story that he needed to write, and it is one many of us must hear but don’t want to. 

Hunter was raped by a pedophile and then turned out to turn thousands of tricks to other pedophiles while walking the streets of Times Square for five years as a teen-age boy in the 1970s. He could have been killed, left homeless, accidentally overdosed, or taken his own life, but he had the resilience to break free, sober up, find love, and live a happy life.  

His healing process turned him from seeing himself as a victim to a survivor, and now to an advocate for helping others. He is a living demonstration that your past does not have to define you, that you can overcome the roughest of starts, and that one’s will can be stronger than the circumstances thrust upon them. 

Then there was this coffee-table book of impactful images and forceful words to match, Guns in the Hands of Artists. It attacks the gun violence epidemic that has swept across our nation. Hundreds of millions of guns  dangerously lie across the country, ready to be used to commit crimes, accidentally go off, assist a suicide, or threaten the innocent. This book advocates, through words and images, for a safer society.

“I am an artist and a gallery owner-not a lawman or politician,” writes author Jonathan Ferrara. “I am not naive. I do not think that just because we turned guns into thought-provoking artwork that gun violence will cease or even incrementally abate. The issues that drive gun violence are copious, and their roots run deep-from disenfranchisement and lack of opportunities to the hard realities of mental illness and ostracization. But art has always been a vehicle for dialogue, and never more importantly than now, as an ever-present crisis grips our nation. The aim of the exhibition and the book is to stimulate discussion by using art as a catalyst for change, so that we may encourage new thoughts and actions. What I have witnessed thus far gives me hope-the artwork has an effect on people, connecting with them directly, inspiring and impacting fresh emotions in the way that only art can initiate.” 

Perhaps not as dramatic as Hunter’s story or as creative as Ferrara’s artistic approach to social activism, is Ed Gordon, a humble small businessman who has tried for decades to close the job-skills gap that has led to millions of jobs going unfulfilled while millions more people remain unemployed due to not being trained and qualified for the jobs of today. He has been on a relentless mission to bring together schools, businesses, non-profits, and government agencies to tackle a growing problem in America.  

I have worked on and off with Ed for over two decades. I would hope his prescription gets embraced by those in a position to enact it. His book, Future Jobs: Solving The Employment and Skills Crisis, is a powerful read.  

Even of the many children’s books, novels, poetry, and short-story collections that I have promoted, often there were valuable messages conveyed as well as entertaining stories or stimulating ideas. Many books have redeemable passages or inspiring thoughts worthy of being shared. I am so proud to be a part of getting the word out about their words.  

Books can shape our society, improve lives, save souls, and salvage broken pieces, reincarnating readers into something more than they were before. Books can transform us, take us to where we need to go, and help us dream of lives never lived, model for us a better life, and comfort us as we face our struggles, losses, and deficits.  

Books have no power unless they are read. Then those readers spread the word to others. They bring the words to life when they start to live them and use them as a roadmap to become more than they ever thought they could be. The Hunters, Ferraras, and Gordons are out there, giving us signposts pointed to the light.  The darker the world, the brighter their light shines.  

I have been on a mission with my authors and it has been a rewarding one in so many ways. Books can change the world. All that is needed is for people to read them. Please join me, today, tomorrow, and always.

Need PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with 3.6 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.8 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.