Advertisements for Myself

Yes, I'm stealing Norman Mailer's book title, for the purpose of discussing the role of paid advertising in the promotion of a book. That is to say, are book ads worth it?

I ask now because of an ad for 'Nightmare in the Pacific' that appears in the new issue of the Yale Alumni Magazine. It's part of the magazine's 'Summer Reading Guide," a collection of ads for books written by Yale alumni. The 'Nightmare' ad, for instance, shares a page with ads for four other books; two novels, a memoir about a beloved dog and an inquiry into the shoot-down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.

I paid for the ad out of my own pocket. It wasn't cheap; Let's just say it will have to prompt the purchase of more than 100 copies to break even. And, who knows, maybe it will! One can always hope.

And it's hope, not a strict cost-benefit analysis, that drove my decision. It's the hope that this particular ad, with its small print and its compelling image of the book cover, will somehow catch the eye of -- not a lot of people -- but just the right person. This might be a social influencer, or a big-time book reviewer, or a professor who sees the syllabus potential. Heck, while I'm dreaming, how about a Hollywood producer?

It was chance that planted the seed for this book years ago, as I was listening to an NPR story about Artie Shaw while driving through the San Francisco Bay Area California foothills. Picture, now, a similar chance encounter as someone yet unknown to me is flipping through the pages of the alumni magazine and then is tickled by a modest ad tucked into the corner of the page...