James Frey's Quiet Press Approach for Bright Shiny

By Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 5/9/2008 2:16:00 PM

How does the (formerly?) most-castigated author in publishing promote his new novel? That's a question that the PR team at Harper, which releases James Frey's Bright Shiny Morning tomorrow, had to confront. Although it seemed as though Frey might only be talking to Vanity Fair for its largely flattering profile—author Evgenia Peretz said in the piece that Frey "fears and loathes" the press and would not be doing any other interviews—the former bad boy memoirist will appear on the Today show tomorrow and also did an interview for USA Today (also running tomorrow). But that, according to Tina Andreadis at Harper, is all the national media currently lined up for Frey.

Andreadis said that at the time of the VF piece, Harper had not scheduled any other interviews. When asked about whether Frey is avoiding the proverbial hot seat, Andreadis said the author is not afraid of the press. She noted that Frey is, as Peretz said in her story, prohibited from discussing the details of what happened with Random House and the publication of A Million Little Pieces for legal reasons. Nonetheless, Andreadis acknowledged that Frey knows the scandal will come up interviews and is prepared to deal with those questions.

So what's Frey doing outside of those two aforementioned national press appearances? Hitting the road. Andreadis talked up the book tour Frey has planned—he'll be stopping all over the country, sometimes with author/friend Josh Kilmer-Purcell—and noted that he will also be doing some local radio. In addition to traditional signings at stores like Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., and Book Court in Brooklyn, Frey will appear with some bands May 13 at New York's Blender Theater and May 15 at West Hollywood's Whisky A Go Go.