What I Really Wanted To Promote

 

I love baseball and wanted to be a sports journalist coming out of college 35 years ago. But after applying to every newspaper and magazine in New York City and not even getting a job interview, I moved on.

I landed a job with a book publisher, fell in love with books, and remained in the book publicity industry for over the past three decades. I will likely die clutching a book in one hand, a pen in the other.

But what I really would have loved to do is market x-rated movies and promote porn stars. My life would have been very different if I had pursued that industry, and not for the better.

I likely would not have gotten married or had kids. I likely would worked long hours, including nights and weekends. With the hard partying that I assume to be associated with it, I could have developed an addiction or lived a reckless life.

Still, the allure of being around some of the best bodies and most gorgeous people, while I watch them from just a few feet away do things that most of us fantasize about, was always a huge allure.

The variety of people, positions, settings, and locations in the world of adult film is tantalizing. I imagine it would be like being at an amusement park with a pass to unlimited rides.

Humans are animals, especially men. We eat, crap, and screw. Repeat and rinse. That’s who we are. Admit it. I have.

Sure, many men live great lives, are successful or do interesting things, from helping others and serving society, to pursuing intellectual curiosities and making lots of money, and sure, many guys are great husbands, dads, and humanitarians. Still, as a baseline, most heterosexual men just obsess over sex and beautiful women. It must be in our DNA.

So, why didn’t I combine my skills and passions, and promote people who have sex for a living?

I chose books — or they chose me — because they speak deeply to my interests, morals, and needs. Usually one dislikes or is disillusioned by the industry they work in, but I have not fallen from my obsession with books. If I worked in the industry of mechanical sex between strangers, who took what could be an act of love and romance and turned it into just another job, perhaps I would have denied myself so much more that women and life can offer.

I don’t regret the career choices that I have made, but I do wonder what it would have been like to be a part of an industry that seems so mysterious and otherworldly to me on one hand, and so obviously dehumanizing and unhealthy on the other.

Perhaps, like most scenes filmed by the adult industry, it is best to fantasize about than to participate in. I will remain a happy and proud book promoter, a faithful husband who is content only contemplating the what-if. 

The possibility of working in the world of xxx films still teases me in a way that fuels a fire that may never be extinguished, but I don’t regret the choices I have made.

 

Need PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 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 3.9 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.