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Cary Goldstein, book publicist extraordinaire
By Jennifer 8. Lee | November 9, 2007
Cary Goldstein (very patiently) trekked across five cities with me to attend dinners that he and his assistant Carolyn had carefully arranged. As my friend Nicole (who attended two dinners, in Boston and San Francisco) put it, you couldn’t even tell he was a publicist at the dinner. It’s amazing what a good book publicist can do. We had not just booksellers and media at the dinners, but librarians, bloggers and people from institutes like the Nixon Library and the Asia Society. And the thing is, with 12 books a year, he works all the time. Anyway, Cary and I were talking about what it takes to be a publicist — of any sort. And a large part of that these days is authenticity (this is a word I’ve been hearing a lot these days) because a reporter, producer, editor, whatever can sense if you really believe in what you are pitching. I know I can sense it in the age of hired guns. I will often take the time to help an earnest pitcher, even if I am not the person who can write about it.
When Jon Karp went looking for a publicist, instead of asking people @ publicity houses, he asked book review editors who they liked working with (smart). Cary’s name came up again and again. Interestingly, Carly is not just a publicist for the imprint, he also is an editor. He acquires one work of literary fiction a year. Anyway here is the original press release, when Cary joined Twelve in May 2006, from Jon Karp, which has been true.
I am delighted to announce that Cary Goldstein has been named Director of Publicity and Acquiring Editor for Warner Twelve.
Cary comes to Warner Twelve from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, where he is Assistant Director of Publicity and Director of Web Publicity. He has worked on numerous acclaimed books, including The Assassin’s Gate by George Packer, Sweet and Low by Rich Cohen, and Mirror to America by John Hope Franklin.
He has also been instrumental in breaking out new voices in fiction and nonfiction, including David Bezmozgis, author of Natasha; Emily Barton, author of Brookland; Paul Elie, author of The Life You Save Might Be Your Own; Christopher Sorrentino, author of Trance, which was nominated for the National Book Award; Jonathan Mahler, author of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning; and Noah Feldman, author of After Jihad.
Prior to his work at FSG, Cary was a senior publicist for Basic Books, Director of National Poetry Month for The Academy of American Poets, and buyer and features editor for Barnes & Noble.com. He is a 1996 graduate of New York University, where he was editor of The Gallatin Review and The Minetta Review and recipient of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Poetry Prize.
When I began the search for a Director of Publicity, I asked book review editors to name the most inventive and dynamic publicist they’d encountered. The first person mentioned was Cary Goldstein, and I quickly discovered why. As Cary and I have gotten to know each other over the past six months and I’ve learned of his accomplishments at FSG, I’ve seen again and again just how talented, committed, effective, and well-regarded he is.
In addition to being the architect of our publicity strategy, Cary will also be acquiring and editing at least one major work of literary fiction a year, and contributing his ideas to the publishing campaigns for each of our twelve books. He will be an essential partner in the launch of this imprint, and I am thrilled to be working with him.
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