New York Post

Yesterday I was featured in the the New York Post. I know what you're thinking: "Page Six" caught me clubbing with Leonardo DiCaprio and two stunning mystery females, or getting tattooed with Zooey Deschanel. It's true, I often engage in such activities--that Leo, what a character!--but that's not what this is about. You have to flip several pages past "Page Six" (actually located on page 10, so you have a head start) until you get to the @Work section, where I am quoted in an article about "unemployment blogging." Written by Sheila McClear, formerly of Gawker, the piece features a number of people who responded to a layoff by starting a blog.

I'm not sure I fit comfortably into the narrative of the piece, to be honest, since I resisted starting a blog and only did it to supplement my primary strategy of publicizing myself. However, I like Sheila's turn of phrase when she says I decided that my "personal recession-victim story needed a publicity campaign--and his best p.r. agent was himself." That is certainly true. I was also by far my cheapest p.r. agent.

Since the piece ran, a number of people have congratulated me for landing a new job. I'd like to clarify that: The article says, "He credits the blog with helping him to land the new job he started last month, working on book publicity for a p.r. firm." This is true, but as stated previously, it is a freelance position, not full time.

The other blogs featured in the piece range from the personal to the useful to the hilarious--you might want to check them out. In particular, take a look at Odd Todd's cartoon section, and the Jeff's Notes section of ASSME, which offers capsule summaries of classic books you've never read so you can sound smarter.

Finally, a word about the photo. Looks like I'm hard at work in my home office, right? Or maybe a coffee shop? This was actually shot in the News Corp building, in a common area on the third floor. There was an employee coffee station there, and a couple of big tables filled with people who appeared to be having a meeting while the photo shoot was in progress. The laptop was borrowed (I don't even own one) and was not actually plugged in. As far as I know, it may not even have been functional. Most of the books on the shelf to my left were published by HarperCollins, my former employer and, like the Post, a News Corp property. At the last minute the photographer, Zandy Mangold, dressed the set with a copy of that day's Wall Street Journal, another News Corp property. He also added the coffee cup--yeah, that's News Corp property too. It was borrowed from the coffee station and was filled with actual hot coffee. Which, by the way, was maybe the best coffee I ever had. I was drinking it black and I never do that.

Post

Yesterday I had a chat with a writer for the New York Post who's working on a story about unemployment blogs. I did my best to present myself as a raging self-centered narcissistic egomaniac--'cause, you know, people like that. The piece should run in a couple of weeks in the Post's @Work section. For better or worse, I'll share it with you here.

Book Review

One of the more interesting opportunities that has come my way since I was laid off (besides getting to visit the offices of the New York State Department of Labor) was an invitation to write a book review, something I'd never done before. This is exactly the kind of break I'm hoping to attract--the chance to do something outside of the publicity box I've been in all these years.

An editor at the New York Post asked me to provide 500 words on a novel called Banquo's Ghosts. Whoa, I thought--better brush up my Shakespeare. But no, this is a political thriller written by Rich Lowry of the National Review and literary agent/writer Keith Korman. I read every word of the book, which shows you how new I am at this, and submitted what I felt was a pretty tight critique that kept precisely to the required length. I was asked to do one round of revisions, mostly dropping some of my descriptive prose (ouch!) in favor of quotes from the book that made the same points--something I should have thought of myself.

When the final version ran in the paper, it was clear that quite a bit of additional editing had been done after it left my hands. That's fine--as a freelancer, I wouldn't expect to be kept in the loop throughout the editing process. I suspect these cuts were based on space considerations, since the final review came in at about 275 words--slightly more than half of what I'd submitted. There may have been other internal considerations at the paper that I'm not aware of. In the end, the editor has to determine what's going to work for the page.

I was concerned that the review didn't accurately reflect the premise of the novel (the assassination plot described in the final version turns out to be elaborate misdirection; the real story revolves around a terrorist attack on New York). The truth is, such details are more significant to someone who's already read the book (i.e., me) than to the casual reader of the Sunday Post. As published, the review announces that the book has arrived and gives readers a taste of what they can expect from it. That's kind of a lot for 275 words.

The authors probably think I based my review on the flap copy, which, for me, is a painful prospect. However, the check from the Post arrived today, so that eases my pain considerably.