Did you ever stop to think about the difference between books and CDs? The two are alike, but completely different. They both contain work from people who spent a lot of time making sure it was right. They both are considered entertainment avenues. They cost about the same, easily fit into a backpack, and also stack nicely on the shelves in the living room. Still, one goes into your ear, while the other goes into your eye.
So are you a book person or a music person? I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially since I'm promoting a new book as well as a new album. This month I get a chance to try being both a book person and a music person. It's not the same.
Promoting records in Taiwan is a strange thing. I've been doing it now for nine years, and have never really gotten used to it. It is a whole subculture of weirdness that lingers beneath the surface of everyday life. There are funny rules and ways of talking to each other that don't exist anywhere else on this planet. There is a lot of make-up and fluff and gloss and veneer, and it's best not to poke your finger through any of it. Record promoters don't like party poopers. Promoting a book on the other hand parallels record promotion, but on a lesser scale. Sort of like the little sister who wants to be like the big sister.
So how does promoting records and promoting books differ? Well, the first thing is no make-up! I think most men would cringe at the thought of having their face converted into a blank canvas for a make-up artist named Ramone. Just a little dab there, and a little dab there, and voila! Darling, you look marvelous! Now imagine having to do this two or three hours a day for the next few months. Nothing to do but stare into the mirror at Ramone, and watch yourself turn into Michael Jackson. With book promotion, you are spared this horrible agony. Book people want to see you as you really are: wrinkles, pimples, and beautiful dark eye circles. They don't need a pretty face. Just a genuine one. I'm too lazy to shave, so this works out great for me. Book promotors actually prefer to see stubble!
The questions they ask you in interviews are completely different. In record promotion, you have to prepare yourself for the typical not-too-deep-keep-it-simple-under-thirty-seconds kind of questions. This is natural since TV time is expensive, and TV people are very impatient. Questions range from the banal: "How do you like Taiwan?" To the boring: "What is your favorite Chinese food?" To the unbearable: "So how do you like Chinese girls?" The trick is of course to in less than thirty seconds turn the question around so that you talk about your album, how great your music is, and mention the name of the CD at least twice before the announcer grabs the mike away. Book interviews though are completely different. The pace is more relaxed. You have more time to be yourself, more time to stutter and say "Uh." People feel that a book is more real, so they ask you more personal questions. Sometimes much too personal. For example: "Growing up in a single family must have been difficult. Can you tell us about your relationship with your father after he left you and your mother?" Yikes.
The places you promote, and the way people react to you are also different. Record promotion tends to stick to crowded places, auditoriums, outdoor concerts, hyped-up events. You arrive in a limousine and are wisked away to a waiting room. You never really get a chance to stop and talk to anyone. You are an idol. Your persona exists only on the stage. You are surrounded by promotion people who keep you at a distance, and create an aura of exclusivity. People feel you are untouchable, and carry around autograph books and scream during performances, hoping you'll you will look there way. Book promotion centers around schools, bookstores, and the occasional coffeeshop reading. It's more informal. More touchy feely. Sometimes even a little bohemian. You arrive on foot or in a taxi. There is a table set up with your book display. There is the obligatory flower presentation ceremony. A bottle of water sits next to a pad of paper and a few pens. Your tools. Students with thick glasses crowd around closer while someone announces over a screechy PA system that you have arrived. The show begins. You can be yourself and actually talk to people like a normal person. You are not an idol.
It's interesting having the chance to venture into both worlds. One is like the other, but not quite. One is packaged, the other is natural. One is all glitter and glamour, the other is more down to earth. Sort of like the little sister and the big sister. Gee, now that I've met the little sister, I think I like her better. She's more approachable, and a whole lot easier to talk to.
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