Good Timing, Bad Press
I'm struggling with something.
Except for my wife and daughters, I usually don't care what people think of me. And I've been asked by the Ojai Art Center's Literary Branch to give a talk in February about my book, Worlds Apart. I'll be reading some of it, selling books and talking to people.
I wrote and sent the publicity to the head of the branch today, and I suddenly realized that on February 8 when I give this talk the death and destruction will still be in the minds of all those in attendance. And I will be reading from and talking about my book, which is set in Petionville, outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
There are those who would say, "Hey, it's good timing. Your book comes out and 19 days later something catastrophic happens and turns the world's attention on this place that dominates your book." But I'm worried I'm going to look like I'm taking advantage of a historically tragic event. I'll be my own bad press.
My book is not without some tragedy. My teenage protagonist, Matt Banning, witnesses two murders--Haitian justice--on the streets, a matter of historical fact, particularly during the reign of dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Told from a 14-year-old's perspective, I layered the story with plenty of humor. Humor.
But what's funny about Haiti in January, 2010? Nothing. And I'm doing this talk to publicize my book--to sell copies of my book. I need to find something about this journey of writing and publishing this book that will make those in the room listening to me want to buy the book.
And I'm feeling like...well, a ghoul. An opportunistic ghoul.
So I'm thinking about this wholly from my own perspective; how is it going to affect me. And then I turned around in my own head, you might say, and looked at the situation from the perspective of someone listening to me fret. I began to look at the facts:
I wrote the book ten years ago;
I decided to publish the book four months before the earthquake; and
The book was ready for release on Christmas Eve--almost three weeks before the event.
An opportunistic ghoul is someone who would on Christmas morning begin writing a book about Haiti to take advantage of the timing. That's not what happened in my case. So I began feeling better. Until questions revitalized my self-loathing:
Why don't you wait until Haiti begins to recover before publicizing the book?
Wouldn't that be compassionate?
Wouldn't my sacrifice be the right thing to do?
The instant these questions slipped across my mind, I exorcised that self-loathing demon. I don't know if it was common sense or opportunism or some survival mechanism. But my "compassion" and self-sacrifice wouldn't change anything. I donated money to the Red Cross on Sunday--that was compassion.
And you know what? My book doesn't just tell the story of an American boy in Haiti. It's about religious hypocrisy, faith, finding love when you least expect it. It tells the stories of ordinary Haitians and their unique struggles. It's about a boy finding out that paradise can crumble.
Whatever the timing, the story needs to be told. Now.
I strongly suspect your intimate knowledge and your compassion will be obvious to those in attendance. It will, no doubt, have a positive affect on sales.
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Tom, I'm glad you came to the decision you did; it's the right decision, I think. It's obvious there is no opportunistic motive involved on your part. The fact that the story involves the struggles of the Haitian people, as well as the idea that paradise is not always what it seems, can focus the lens of compassion on the current tragedy in a unique way: Haitians have struggled for a long time, and from myriad tragedies; paradise has crumbled before. This most recent tragedy is certainly more extreme, but it has had the positive impact of focusing the world's attention on Haiti. Perhaps this time they will have the world behind them in their struggle to rebuild.
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The fact that you're questioning your own motivations is a thoughtful response. It might provide you with a platform you wouldn't have had before the tragedy. Make the most of it.
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