Books for a Better Life
Scott Manning & Associates
c/o Grove Atlantic
841 Broadway, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10003
p. 212.614.7892
f. 212.614.7886
20 Main Street, Box 417
Hancock, NH 03449
p. 603.525.4767
f. 603.525.3023

scott@scottmanningpr.com

by Mark Bowden
Black Hawk Down bookcover
There were three keys to the
success of this campaign:
  • Partnership with the publisher
  • Addressing of the book’s core market
  • Currency of the author’s message
Before Scott Manning & Associates began work on this project, publisher Morgan Entrekin was already hard at work formulating a marketing plan and spreading the word within the bookselling community. When we came on board, our efforts dovetailed with this important groundswell started by Grove/Atlantic.

In addition, this was one of the first examples of a book owing part of its success to the internet. Mark Bowden’s Philadelphia Inquirer multi-part serialization of the story was widely circulated among men and women in uniform, the core market for the book. We capitalized on this by sending the author to military installations around the country for bookstore & PX appearances, lectures and local media interviews.

...this was one of the first examples of a book owing part of its success to the internet.
The initial pitch to the media was built upon the fact that on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. pullout from Somalia, the longest sustained firefight since the Viet Nam War, had long-since been forgotten. This pitch was met with moderate success. Even so, current events allowed us to shift the pitch in the middle of the campaign. As then President Clinton ordered air strikes in the former Yugoslavia, we were able to make the point that this action had roots in Mogadishu. As a result of that earlier debacle, Clinton would use all efforts to avoid sending in ground troops.

The book received wide coverage in the media, including the front page of The New York Times Book Review, a lengthy author interview/feature in The Washington Post, NBC TV’s Today Show, CBS TV’s Meet the Press, Charlie Rose on PBS TV and NPR’s Fresh Air and All Things Considered. As a result of this coverage, Mark Bowden is often called upon by the media as an expert on military special operations.

Guests of the Ayatollah
Scott Manning & Associates again worked with Grove/Atlantic and Bowden on his books Killing Pablo and Guests of the Ayatollah.