On tour with Andy Griffiths
Anyez Lindop, September 2004
The roles of a publicist within the publishing industry are many and varied; media coach, press officer, diplomat, confidante, nutritionist, stylist, entertainment director, porter, chauffer, event coordinator, booking agency, and a non-stop around the clock personal assistant for the authors on tour. From writing press releases, pitching books for review and authors for interview, scheduling media appointments, finalising functions, confirming travel arrangements; to liaising with authors, booksellers, media, publishers, sales reps and the public; and always, no matter how prepared, dealing with the X factor. Above all it is a balancing act, and the constant variety of working with so many people on different levels in a myriad of situations is all part of the thrill of being on the job.
The challenge for a publicist working with children’s and young adult titles is to find ways of having these books and their authors taken seriously by the mainstream media. It may simply be a matter of pointing out a home-grown success story, or highlighting a sound educational angle, or finding an issues based feature that will be of interest. More often than not though, it’s the big C for Controversy that seems to pull the most weight.
For Andy Griffiths, one of Australia’s most popular writers for children, an international best-selling author, and a man whose name is synonymous with the word “Bum”, controversy is never far away. For the last three weeks we’ve been on the road and in the skies as part of a national six-week tour to promote his latest release The Bad Book. Wherever we go, we are mobbed by kids, thanked by parents and guardians, occasionally accosted by teachers and librarians, and welcomed with fanfare into local bookshops.
Andy travels with a worn case covered in stickers reading Just Disgusting! and The Day My Bum Went Psycho – a testament to earlier touring days. Inside are his props for this tour; a rubber duck with flames tearing along its bottom and a pyjama-clad banana wearing a balaclava. As the publicist I’m armed with mobile phone, the ever-changing itinerary, post-it notes, signing pens, book-plates, press releases, review copies, and several kilos of stickers featuring the infamous vomiting monkeys.
A typical day on The Bad Book tour begins early with a breakfast radio interview usually presented by unnervingly bouncy presenters and full of light-hearted banter. From there we depart for the first speaking event of the day; a morning school session which usually provides an interview and photo opportunity for the local press. We then do the rounds of the bookshops; meeting managers, greeting staff, speaking with customers, and signing posters. In the afternoon it’s off to another schools session, followed by a couple of phone interviews with regional radio and an after school signing in-store at a local bookshop.
One of the highlights of any publicity campaign is the tour itself. It is a visibly tangible reward and an opportunity for the author, often after months of being locked away writing, to actually go out and interact directly with their readership. In this regard it is a refreshing and invigorating experience for both the audience and the author. At each talk, Andy workshops new ideas and refines material for his next books pending audience reaction. Soon our conversations are interspersed with references to exploding butterflies and the quandaries faced by characters trapped inside a giant brown blob. Journalists query Andy on the appeal of his writing, marvel at the overwhelming audience response, and booksellers pile up copies to be signed at the end of each event. Before the first leg of this tour is over, Andy will have confessed to dreaming about never-ending signing queues and I will have become obsessed with the eternal quest for a decent coffee!
Along the way we’ve met fans dressed up in full bum-catching regalia, resplendent with toilet roll, dunny-plunger and air freshener, we’ve heard all the verses from “Learn to Read with Andy” recited to us by a year nine student, and met a dozen or so competition winners who were given the opportunity to share a little of themselves with Andy and reveal just how inspirational his books have been for them. And this is what it’s all about after all. Taking the books out to the school halls, local libraries, suburban shopping malls, inner city bookshops, and regional community centres... and in to the hands of children and young adults.
To see the faces light up as children recognise Andy, to watch them became animated as they engage with their favourite author, to witness the laughter and stories being shared enthusiastically between child and peer, or child and parent, and hearing again and again the testimonial refrain of parents and teachers who approach Andy at the end of every signing queue to say “thank you, my child now reads because of you...” or “thank you, our reluctant reader is now an avid reader because of your books...”
And this is a point that Andy constantly reiterates throughout his interviews – that his primary duty as a children’s author is to fire the reader’s imagination and generate an interest in reading. Above all, he wants to encourage children to experience the joy and exhilaration of this process for themselves. As Andy asks his audience at the ACYL State Library Book Week program; “You can own the whole universe, but if you can’t wiggle your ears, what’s the point?”