“The Wayfarers was optioned a few years back,” Lighthouse Press Publisher, Ron Richard said of the author’s previous novel in which Branko’s protagonist debuted. “Everything was set for overseas production and then financing failed.”
The renewed interest, Richard said, is owed in large part to a demand for Tower’s appearances, a 2014 literary award and a prominent televised author interview.
According to a Lighthouse Press Public Relations Liaison, Tower was interviewed at Santa Monica City Hall for a half-hour episode of Connie Martinson’s Talks Books. The long-running program has featured luminaries such as Gore Vidal, Irving Wallace, Jackie Collins, John Sandford, James Clavel, Larry Brown and even Barack Obama. Until the recent broadcast on Los Angeles cable station 35, The Lighthouse Press had been silent about last year’s taping.
“Talks Books posted it online in December,” the Liaison said, “but until the actual broadcast, we thought it imprudent to direct media attention away from the anticipated airing. Now that the show has aired we are promoting re-runs and the online version. Between this and the literary award, we’re extremely pleased.”
The literary recognition is the 2014 Beverly Hills International Book Award for Historical Fiction.
“I submitted Branko for the competition,” said author Stuart Tower. “The BHIB deadline didn’t leave time for Lighthouse’s review and submittal on my behalf. Their public relations model is stringently geared to mainstream industry perceptions and that can make their promotional decisions monolithically slow. Sometimes you just have to take the bull by the horns, so to speak.”
According to the Beverly Hills International Book Award web site the awards are issued once a year. Winners are selected by publishing industry professionals, publishers, editors, writers and book cover designers. Submissions are judged for overall excellence in book presentation and take into consideration cover design, interior layout and aesthetic components as key to an overall outstanding printed book.
“Validating,” is how Publisher Ron Richard described the award. “Years of work went into Branko—by Stuart and us—and Stuart was right to submit it. This is industry recognition of quality and excellence. It has also contributed to reinvigorating interest in the Wayfarers documentary production. Thanks to Branko we’re pursuing not only traditional funding, but also options such as the 45-day Kickstarter program.”
Since 2009 Kickstarter has offered a means to fund creative projects via soliciting the public’s interest through the portal Kickstarter.com. Kickstarter claims a 44% success rate for projects posted.
For more information, visit the Publisher’s web site at www.TheLighthousePress.com, the novel’s web page at www.TheLighthousePress.com/Branko.htm or the following web sites referenced in this release: