What’s this? I’m in a gossip column?!
The scandal: My publicist actually tried to get — gasp! — publicity for my book. Here’s the scoop from Hamilton Nolan at Gawker.com:
PR Dummies: What If Your PR Man Does Something Crazy?
If at first the public relations industry doesn’t succeed, it tries and tries again. You just can’t kill the motherfuckers. This is PR Dummies. Here to inflict damage, at least.
The reporter who received the following pitch tells us: “I’ve lost track of how many times this guy has e-mailed me about Marshall Ulrich — It could be more than 10 times at this point — but each time, he tries a different pitch. This … well, aside from the fact that I am a sportswriter (and so, presumably, am not writing advice columns for women dating crazy men), is just too much …”
Then, after complaining about the publicist trying too hard, he proceeds to post almost the entire release.
First, thanks for the exposure on your blog, Mr. Nolan; I hear Gawker gets lots of traffic!
Second, I’m certain the reporter *subscribed* to multiple lists my publicity agency maintains for distributing releases — that’s the only reasonable explanation for why he would have gotten it so many times. And he could have easily unsubscribed.
Third, let me say that every publicist who’s worked with me on “Running on Empty” has been entirely professional. They all have pretty good senses of humor, too, so I hope the name calling gives them some belly laughs. I know I’m cracking up right now.
