FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA — Beginning at the National Press Club in Washington at the start of June — a day after the official release of Behind the White House Curtain — and now winding down close to home, we’ve journeyed a few miles promoting our book.
Not quite a ‘nationwide tour,’ but we held readings and signed books in California, Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The venues included bookstores, colleges, institutions, libraries and a couple of 55+ retirement communities.
We made new friends and met a few old ones. Some groups were kind enough to pay travel expenses. For most events, I was on my own dime. I took flights, rode trains and drove more highway miles than I’ve done in decades. About the only mode of transportation missing was a boat.
There were virtual visits on radio shows and podcasts. There was a World Affair Council online event where people from across the country logged on. Our online American Foreign Service Association program, moderated by the previous AFSA president, Ambassador Eric Rubin, attracted U.S. diplomats from around the world.
Overall, the reception exceeded my modest expectations. I received positive reviews in newspapers and journals, even making the cover of one local magazine! And our Press Club launch became a C-SPAN’s BookTV program. What author wouldn’t be pleased with that?
The book’s title was mentioned on TV news programs, when I appeared as an analyst about current events, in Australia, Britain, Canada and India. Alas, no international rights sold yet but I know, via the long reach of Amazon, there were some overseas book buyers. Promotions included an advertisement in Harper’s — the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States.
Can I call it a best-seller? For a hot moment, according to Amazon’s rankings, the book was the #1 new title, #1 hardback and #3 overall in the Journalism/Reference/Writing category. I never could overcome the Associated Press Stylebook at #2. I never will.
I had no expectations the book would mainstream in a major brick & mortar chain, but it is in the U.S. History section of some Barnes & Noble outlets, at least here on the East Coast.
One more in-person book event is scheduled. This one will be the closest to home — at a public library branch in Fredericksburg this Saturday.
As I told audiences this summer, I never intended to write a book about covering Donald Trump and Joe Biden. But whenever I lectured at schools and community centers, while I was on the White House beat, there were always questions about what it was like behind the scenes — in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. I realized no writer, in recent decades at least, had gone in depth on that particular aspect of the presidency and the press. I also decided to put it into a historical context as best I could. And there is a bit of autobiography, to demonstrate my journey from student journalist to White House correspondent. It is a book about journalism and yes, the presidency. The Library of Congress has coded it in the political science section, which makes sense.
In the old-fashioned Dewey Decimal system, which I learned flipping through those wooden card catalogues as a child at the Roselawn branch of the Cincinnati Public Library, Behind the White House Curtain is 327.73001/4 — international relations. That is puzzling. The book is domestic-oriented, but there is mention of overseas presidential trips and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. I don’t think there’s an appeals process for Dewey. I need to ask a librarian.
I ignored some well-intentioned advice about the publishing process. I did not get an agent, which eliminated pitches to the Big Five. I received two offers after querying several reputable publishers and went with The Kent State University Press as both the book’s content and I have Ohio connections.
I was concerned when I turned in the manuscript in July of last year it would have a short shelf life in case Donald Trump or Joe Biden was no longer in the running by time of publication. The editors and some friends assured me that would not make a difference as the book covers not just two presidencies but many, going back to George Washington.
I also learned that once the manuscript is done, the author’s work is not. More than 500 subsequent e-mails with the KSU Press team attest to that. There’s the indexing, correcting the proofs, selecting photographs, agreeing on a title and sub-title, finding someone to write the foreword (thank you former White House press secretary Scott McClellan!), soliciting blurbs (thank Jim Acosta at CNN and Ambassador Eric Rubin!), finalizing the jacket design, strategizing publicity (thank you Derek Krissoff!) and organizing a book tour.
Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, I am tired. Yes, I did it while holding down a day job.
Recently, friends and colleagues queried about my next book. I was taken aback. Next book? I am still dealing with this book! Go annoy Robert Caro about when he’s going to finish his fifth volume on LBJ.
The questions reminded me of one of my favorite Japanese proverbs: 富士山に一度も登らぬばかに、二度登るばか. (Translation: Those who climb Mount Fuji once are wise; those who climb twice are fools.)
Yes, I am contemplating climbing the mountain again. Call me a fool.