|
November 2, 2001/Cheshvan 16, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 8
Woman of the BookJewish Book Council director Carolyn Hessel labeled the 'real deal'
KATY MCLAUGHLIN
|
"Powerful? Me?" She says, pressing her leopard print pinafore to her chest in a gesture of abashed surprise. "I have never in my life thought of myself that way."
Industry insiders, however, have Hessel, the head of the Jewish Book Council, pegged as "one of the most powerful undiscovered figures in the business," according to author Ari Goldman. His book "Being Jewish: The Cultural and Spiritual Practice of Being Jewish Today" was promoted by the Jewish Book Council last year to such an extent that Goldman says even his Goliath of a publisher, Simon and Schuster, "was awed by what this lady can do for a book."
Victoria Meyer, publicity director for Simon & Schuster, says Hessel's "ability to coordinate a campaign and rally her constituents around a book is unparalleled." That's important, she says, because "Jewish readership is enormous" for both general interest and Jewish-themed books.
Sam Freedman, the author of "Jew vs. Jew," who made appearances in 28 cities with Goldman on a tour of Jewish book fairs orchestrated by Hessel, says he has learned "there's a growing disconnect between good reviews and book sales. Advertising is becoming prohibitively expensive.
"Books sales are now about word of mouth," he says, and when that word is coming from Hessel, the impact can be striking. The fact that "Jew vs. Jew" is in its fourth printing "is something I credit directly to her."
How Hessel got the call
The Jewish Book Council began in Europe in 1925 as a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting Jewish literature. But World War II and the Holocaust virtually wiped out Jewish publishing there, and its epicenter moved to America, where English replaced Yiddish as the general text language.
The nonprofit Council helped establish Jewish book fairs
| 'Sammy Spider' author reads to Valley children |
That when Carolyn Starman Hessel got the call.
Hessel, who was raised in an Orthodox family in Brooklyn, was a wife, a mother and an active volunteer for many years in various Jewish educational organizations. She was on the brink of entering a Ph.D. program in Judaic studies at Yeshiva University when former council head Marcia Posner called.
"I wanted to give of myself to the Jewish community," Hessel says of her motivation to set her academic goals aside in favor of the Council. "Here we live in Planet New York, where there's lots of Jewish community life. But out there in the rest of the country, how do people connect to their heritage? Through books."
According to Posner, her volunteer soon showed herself to be "a dynamo." While Hessel's Judaic education and networking skills are superb, says Posner, the real key to her success is her innate business sense. She created an income source through donations and book fair fees that allowed her to draw a salary, and took on the title of Executive Director of the organization.
Hessel began to broaden the scope of the Book Council, adding authors' book tours, coordinating the National Jewish Book Award and running a home library advisory service.
These targeted programs are especially important at a time when so many books are bought over the Internet. On Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com, the only way to identify Jewish books is by typing in Judaica, which is the positioning of few of the books under Hessel's umbrella.
"My latest baby is Tradition, the Jewish Book-of-the-Month Club. Ever since Oprah, book clubs are all the rage."
In addition, the Book Council publishes Jewish Book World Magazine, the Jewish Book Annual, and distributes Jewish Book Month posters to the nearly one thousand Jewish book fairs in North America. The Council staff consists of Hessel and her assistant Shawna Eisenberg.
How she determines 'the next big book'
Of all her abilities, it is Hessel's skill in identifying important authors and books that makes her so influential, according to her colleagues in the industry. She reads about three books a month cover-to-cover, but she skims many others, recognizing under-par books by her unwillingness to continue reading.
"She's the real thing," says Freedman, "because she's not picking authors after the reviews come out. She's reading manuscripts and deciding, 'this is the next big book.' "
Hessel's criteria for selecting a book is based on a combination of factors. "I ask, does this book have Jewish values? Does it somehow reflect the Ten Commandments? Does it address distinctly Jewish themes?"
Before cracking into her Rolodex to set up speaking engagements at book fairs and synagogues around the country, Hessel also requests a sit down with the author.
In a coffee meeting, author Bruce Feiler, whose book "Walking the Bible" is being promoted by the Council this year, impressed Hessel as a lock on the book fair circuit.
"He's so charming, he'll knock their socks off. And we'll find plenty of Jewish girls for him to marry," says Hessel in a nod to her second career as a yenta.
Hessel received a grant last year from the Bronfman Foundation to take 10 book fair coordinators to Israel to meet with Israeli authors. One result: David Horowitz, the editor of the Jerusalem Report, Israel-based author of "A Little Too Close to God," found himself on a 23-city tour "directly in front of the target audience for the book," says the author.
Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi's book "At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden," an exploration of spiritual common ground between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, also stood out for Hessel.
"Spirituality is the biggest thing going right now," says Hessel. "Feminism in Judaism is also important, and thank God for that. Other themes we're seeing today are Christian/Jewish relations, politics, and always a lot of Holocaust stories, which are very important."
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, books about world events have taken on top priority.
"Books that exploit the situation are negative, and we have to be careful of being emotionally charged," she says. "What we need to do is educate and inform."
When she learned about Allan Gerson's book "The Price of Terror: Lessons from Pan Am 103 for a World on the Brink," which discusses terrorism and the quest for justice, she leapt at the opportunity to rush the book to the public's attention.
Hessel made a rash of calls to her constituents and organized a tour which includes a speaking engagement at the General Assembly of United Jewish Community Leaders in Washington D.C.
The book was scheduled for mid-February release, says Gerson, "but we moved up the release to Oct. 15. Carolyn is helping coordinate this push."
Belief in the power of books
Sitting in the office she rents from the Manhattan JCC, Hessel is surrounded by stacks of books, galleys and correspondence from authors, editors, agents and others who have sought to "get to her." The phone rings constantly. In spite of the clamor, she preserves a buoyantly unstressed demeanor along with a strict leave-work-at-the-office policy, in spite of which, some household activities have been reduced.
"My husband has recently been threatening to carpet the oven. Jewish women don't want to cook anymore." Ever the book maven, she quickly adds, "but we still buy those wonderful Jewish cookbooks."
As for her rank as a power broker, Hessel finds herself more comfortable with descriptions such as "dedicated, loyal, mission oriented and focused."
Nonetheless, Hessel is not unfamiliar with the concept of power, a fact illustrated by a story she tells after the World Trade Center attack.
"Walking to the office, I saw that smoke and thought, 'why bother with Jewish books at a time like this?' Then I realized, if we threw up our hands every time a calamity befell us, where would we be?"
She straightened her shoulders and went into work, her purpose reaffirmed.
"You see," she says, "I do what I do because I truly believe in the power of books."
Featured books are available locally at Borders Books Music & Café and other retail bookstores.