Jane Lassar of Gray & Company, Publishers

She’s been called an “incomparable diva of publicity” and is well regarded in the Cleveland writing community. She's Jane Lassar of Gray & Company, Publishers. And in many ways, she's both an author's best friend and Gray & Co. founder David Gray's right arm. Like her boss, Lassar's life wasn't always centered around Cleveland or in publishing, but the founder/owner of the boutique book publisher quickly saw her as a key to the success of Gray's many "Cle-centric" titles.

A transplant from Milwaukee, Lassar's been a part of the company for over a decade; truly, there's no one in Cleveland who does quite what she does. Smart, measured and a thoughtful conversationalist, she took time out of her busy schedule promoting books and advising authors to chat with Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian. Her experiences with Gray & Company, quick pivoting in her job, avoiding gossip, those indelible promotions moments and what makes working in publishing in Cleveland great were just part of their chat.

Cool Cleveland: Thanks for taking the time. I’ve done a great deal of poking around in the regional publishing world and it seems that there’s no one in town doing quite what you do. How cool is that?

Jane Lassar: Well, thanks for the opportunity. Where else do you get to talk about yourself like this? I guess at the psychiatrist, right? Both are fun! (laughs). You know, it is cool, though I guess I never really thought about it that way. Thanks! Yes, I think I have the best job in Cleveland. Every project I’ve worked on has been different, and with each one you almost have to start at square one without any preconceived notions.

I have learned so much in this job, about so many topics – golfing, fishing, polka, ethnic food, you name it – and the authors and people I have gotten to know over the years are amazing. I have lived in a lot of other cities before I came here to Cleveland from Baltimore. And my knowledge of Cleveland has increased tenfold simply because of the topics of these books alone. It has made me an active explorer of this city.

I would imagine. How long have you been in this line of work and how did you get started in publishing?

I’ve been working for David Gray for almost 12 years now. I think that some people might have the idea that I am a writer and editor, which I am not. I am a publicist, in public relations. I was doing a book project for the Cleveland Arts Consortium – the cultural coalition umbrella for all of the city’s arts organizations. I was responsible for raising money for publishing it and edited one of sections. But beyond that, it was my job to publicize it.

Around that time, I met David Gray. He had moved back to town and was starting his own publishing company. I called him to pick his brain about things and we got to know each other. By following my work, he was seeing things about the book in the news and liked what I was doing and, when I went to him with a book idea of my own… well, halfway through the conversation, this light bulb went off. "I don’t want to write a book. I want to promote them." I remember that moment vividly. Later on, when my job at arts consortium ended, he asked me if I would like to come over and work with him. He had published a few books before I came on. Now, we’re up over 75 books. Pretty amazing.

Gray’s recent release list includes a non-fictional account of the investigation into Amy Mihaljevic’s murder, a biography of polka king Frankie Yankovic, a memoir of Cleveland’s rock and roll heyday and the personalities found on 40+ years of mediocre Tribe rosters. Sounds like a lot of pivoting.

On a number of levels, yes. One day, you’re working on John Stark Bellamy’s They Died Crawling, and the day after that Laura Taxel’s Cleveland Ethnic Eats. I read Donald Rosenberg’s The Cleveland Orchestra Story three times. You have to know what’s in those books before promoting them, and occasionally I’ve learned some about subjects I probably would not have actively sought out. But I’ve learned that it is very embarrassing if someone from media asks me question I cannot answer.

You were telling me about “avoiding gossip” before we started this interview, so I don’t think that you’ll answer this. But I’ll try anyway: Who was, or is, your most challenging author to work with and why?

You know I can’t answer that! (laughs) Ummm... It’s like what parents tell their children when they ask “Who do you love the best?” The parents come up with clever answers. Each of our authors is so different, and the ways they work are different. Sometimes, I can be as much a coach [as a] promoter. Some of them don’t like to be coached. They aren’t used to that. They are prominent figures in and of themselves. They don’t want friendship; they want good stories and follow through.

Very diplomatic—

(Nods with a grin) As us pesky publicists are known to be! (laughs)

Seriously, good job dodging that one (laughs).

Hey, I’m practicing what I preach here! (laughs). Each one is challenging in their own way. I prepare authors for interviews and right now I am seeing what they go though!! These authors are passionate about their projects and I have to respect that. But I also have to educate them about the process, to let them know the media isn’t necessarily going to be doing a front page story about [their book] and why. I don’t want to temper their enthusiasm, just redirect it. We also like to keep the spouses happy. (smiles) We’ve been known to send flowers to spouses, thanking them for sharing their partners with us. And then there’s the bad review! (laughs)

I can only imagine! (laughs) What do you see as of benefit to working in a smaller “big city” like Cleveland?

Access. With the media, for example, I cannot imagine working in a city like New York. So much competition, so many outlets. I moved here from Milwaukee, and the minute I got here, there was a huge labor rally in Public Square. I thought, “I love this city! It is so gritty. It’s a working person’s city!”

How much interaction do you have with peer groups in New York, Boston, Chicago…? And how would you compare the experiences here to what you’ve heard about elsewhere?

None. (laughs) I’m sorry to say none. Well, wait. No, that is not true… Some of our authors who have been published nationally, their publicists sometimes will call me for ideas about local media here. They will ask for the inside track on the book editors here. I cannot tell you the hours it takes to promote a book, even in a smaller city. The process is still arduous. This past holiday season, we had 6 books to promote, and each one deserved as much attention as the other. If I had to do it in a larger market, knowing all of the access factors we were just talking about… (laughs)

In your experience, are there certain topics for local interest books that tend to do better and sell more successfully than others?

Local history. Oddities. Definitely sports, eats, nostalgia does well. We like to publish books that people want to read. It was gratifying when Gail Bellamy did WCPN and callers flooded their phone lines with memories! Same with Carlo Wolff’s book, Cleveland Rock and Roll Memories.

I’m guessing you have many funny stories in promoting Gray & Company. books?
I think one of the most memorable observations I made was when Omar Vizquel’s book Omar! came out. When we announced his [author] signings, people were showing up in bookstore parking lots at 6 AM for a late afternoon autograph session. There were mostly women standing in line, a lot of them doing their makeup in mirrors and asking each other if they looked all right! (laughs) More than a few seemed to be thinking that when they met him, maybe they had a chance. He was gracious, of course, but it was extraordinarily funny. Then, of course, there was the whole Albert Belle scandal associated to that book, where Belle went on Jim Rome’s show and trashed Omar without having read the book. That sent the book into the New York Times best seller’s list! (laughs)

We do media events for each book a little differently. When we premiered Laura Taxel’s Cleveland Ethnic Eats book, we took the media on trolley tour of ethnic eateries and asked each of the restaurateurs to prepare tasting samples size. We had six ethnic eateries lined up for the media tour. We tried to communicate to restaurant owners to serve small “tasting” portions but that part was hard to communicate. Each of the owners had feasts available. By the end, some of the writers were green and miserable.

That’s hysterical.

All of them were stuffed, but they knew they had to taste. That was interesting. Free food is a big deal in the media, but I think anyone on that tour would say this was overkill.

There are surprises. I think a lot of people are surprised to know just how knowledgeable Neil Zurcher is about Ohio history, which always made things fun. As a TV reporter, his time was always limited to short reports. As an author, he has the chance to expound upon everything he learned while researching his “One Tank Trips.” There were sad things, like losing [columnist] Hal Lebovitz. We published his book, The Best of Hal Lebovitz, he was 89 and set up a book signing that we knew would draw enormous crowds. He spent so much time talking to each person. “This is first chance to meet the people that I write to,” that was his motto. I had so much pleasure doing the book when he passed away, it was sad for me, but I was glad we helped him get that opportunity to share himself with the public and get his columns immortalized in a book.

In many ways, Gray & Co. is a “boutique publisher,” to use that New York term. The goal seems to lie in a more New Monastic approach – to quote Morris Berman – that is to say, in institutionalizing people like Lebovitz, preserving their historical importance and the overall integrity of what has happened and continues to happen in Northeast Ohio.

Very true, and I don’t know for sure how many cities – particularly Cleveland-sized cities – have boutique publishers like Gray & Company. I think the character in the subject matter of what we publish is interesting. What city can claim itself the home of Frankie Yankovic and all the other claims to fame Cleveland can?

There are smaller companies that do it elsewhere, but I think David’s got a commitment to quality. He worked for a publisher in Boston and his standards are consistent with larger publishing houses in larger markets: the subject matter is well researched, edited and striving for accuracy is important. The packaging is attractive and professional, which represents Cleveland well outside the market. The standards are high. When someone from another city that takes a Gray & Company book home, it says something about the city and the level of professionalism here – all while on a level that can still be considered extremely personal.

It sounds weird to say, but I sometimes marvel at just how different the media is as whole, when compared to when I started writing over 16 years ago. How have you had to alter your approach to promotional techniques to accommodate new media?

That’s a great question. In fact, today I was working on updating databases, new internet promotion ideas, exploring podcasts and book trailers. We recognize that a lot of people are getting their information on the Internet and accommodate to that. We are posting web book excerpts and sample chapters, offering free content through our website. Since I started at gray & Company, we stopped printing 5X7 glossies [photos] of authors and launched a photo page, where people in media could download one. Funny how things have progressed, when you remember what the days of the electric typewriter were like.

So true. Have you seen a change in the amount of author queries because of Internet- and self-publishing and a change in editorial process in the office?

I don’t handle the author queries, so I’m not sure I can answer that. That’s sort of a conflict of interest for me, for all of the media people I deal with. I do know that I still get a lot of calls from would-be authors who come up with my name from somewhere, if that means anything. They call and say “I’ve heard about you and I want to write a book.”

OK, so if you were going to take your writing skills and begin writing a book today, what might you focus on?

I would write about book publicity. Seriously! I thought about writing that book. I don’t know if I know enough… but that’s probably what I would write about. Doesn’t the old saying go, "Good writers write about what they know?" (laughs)

An esteemed marquee of Gray and Company writers including Les Roberts, Gail Ghetia Bellamy Carlo Wolff and Laura Taxel will participate in “Cleveland Writes!” at Lake Erie Artists Sat 3/24 from 1-7 PM at their Tower City Center Gallery. The Cleveland artist/writers co-op meet-and-greet features these and other authors, who will answer your questions and sign their works. Beverages and hors d'oeuvres are available, with partial proceeds benefiting the local literacy program Cleveland Reads. http://www.lakeerieartists.com.

To learn more about Gray & Company, visit http://www.grayco.com.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

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