This week I did a strategic consultation for Gayle Brandeis. That's when I talk to someone for thirty minutes and solve all their problems, or at least assist them in dramatically reorienting their existing resources for maximal impact. Gayle has a new novel coming out, Delta Girls, and wanted some help with effective publicity.
We discussed some of the salient themes underlying the story and how she might use them to create a sense of urgency around the novel. As I always say, there are two questions to answer in the reader's mind: Why should I read this book in my lifetime? and Why should I read it now?
Delta Girls is a mother/daughter and also a love story that is set against the stage of an Olympic figure skating hopeful and it also takes place in the world of the organic farming. Some audiences that are likely to harbor DG fans, and the issues that they are passionate about: foodies, women, mothers, Californians, progressives with conscience/those interested in farmworkers/immigration.
Gayle's novel Self Storage, which fused a post-9/11 perspective with the timelessness of Walt Whitman, was a pleasure to publicize. Gayle's command of her craft, as well as her commitment to activism and teaching, recalls the heyday of public intellectuals and revives that promise for a new era.
Previously: Guest Essay: Red is the New Red.
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