You might never know it from the lack of recent blog postings, but I still work in public relations.
I have to deal with ungrateful clients and cheap employers daily.
I have even completed the second volume of my “Life in Public Relations Hell” novel series, but I can’t publish it at this time.
This is partly due to my ongoing financial struggles and also to not wanting to embarrass those I currently work with in the PR industry.
I am proud of the first volume of my indie novel series, “Life in Public Relations Hell,” which I published in the summer of 2022. In early 2019, I had started this blog to document my ongoing frustration with my PR career.
Unfortunately, I can’t say that has changed.
In my novel, I was finally able to express what I always wanted to about the dark side of the PR industry and to explore the strange, heartbreaking tales of my PR career journey.
I haven’t received much acknowledgement or support from the PR industry for my novel, but I didn’t expect it.
It remains my goal to eventually bring out a planned six volumes of my PR hell series.
I just wanted to let you know, dear reader, that I am still here and I have a lot more to say about my life in PR hell.
You’ll just have to be patient, unlike many of my clients through the years.
I am ten drafts into my PR hell sequel and happy with how it is coming out. I can say the same for my novel versions of “Car Dodging” and “The Gardener.” I have stuck to the core story of the original short stories while expanding upon them where appropriate.
I have also started two new books but am not ready to reveal the details yet.
I am unhappy with my current version of “Jake’s War: July 4, 2076.” I also despise the cover. It failed to capture my novel, which is based on the first novel I had hand-written at the young age of 15 while so enthralled with the film, “Star Wars.” I wanted a cover that resembled the science fiction paperback covers of the novels I read in the 1970s. I recently created some interesting AI images based on my book to consider for a new cover. See below. The story also needs a more compelling beginning and updated rewrite. I also want to bring the book out in hardcover.
As for my poetry collection, “The Hollywood Homeless,” I have plans to use these poems as lyrics in some interesting AI and music experiments in the next year or two. These poems were created as lyrics so I am intrigued by the possibilities. The poetry collection also needs an updated edit and I will bring it out in paperback and hardcover with a new cover at some point.
I will eventually bring out new versions of my indie books in all three formats including paperback and hardcover except for my novels, “Life in Public Relations Hell,” and “Robot Troubles, which are already available in these formats.
Although I support AI technology and embrace its possibilities, let me stress again that I will never use AI to write my indie books. The writing in my indie books should always come from me, my experiences, and my imagination.
I recently left Twitter or X for the platform, Bluesky, and I am impressed with the supportive community I have found there. It reminds me of a friendlier version of Twitter circa 2010-13.
The last time I received such an enthusiastic response toward my novels and poetry as I have found on Bluesky was in 2015-16 on Twitter.
It’s refreshing after watching Twitter die as a welcoming community for writers and free thinkers and being disappointed with my short time on Tiktok (Booktok). Booktok was nothing more than media hype for this indie author.
So begins my latest controversial indie novel, LIFE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS HELL, a frank and satirical look into the dark side of the public relations industry available on Amazon as a digital book and in paperback and hardcover editions.
My novel’s protagonist, Jake Wilson, reflects on his foibles, frustrations, and heartbreaks as a long-time publicist in a searing diary where he holds nothing back.
Along the way, readers will meet a strange cast of characters, including Lulu Yilmaz, the CEO of the Yilmaz Agency, and a perfectionist and micromanager from hell, Lulu’s micromanaging accomplice, Miriam Letti, the agency’s vice president of panic, Lulu’s overbearing husband, Lorne Whitney, aka “Cage Boy,” and clueless manager, Bob Hampton, aka the “Tommy Boy of PR,” among many others.
Troubled by a late-career crisis, Jake struggles to navigate a modern work landscape fraught with whiny, lazy millennials, big agency fools, paper pushers, TV hacks, media liars, client and manager tantrums, media relations beatdowns, brainstorms to nowhere, trade show debacles, unsupportive employers and bosses, ungrateful clients, and backstabbing and undermining co-workers.
My novel also explores other intriguing topics such as the lack of diversity in the public relations industry, why the Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas sucks for publicists, the agony of work birthdays, early morning video calls, and PowerPoint design hell.
Yet through all of his trials and tribulations, Jake still holds out fading hope he’ll find his dream job someday.
My novel is everything I’ve ever wanted to say about the public relations industry as a publicist with a career spanning more than 25 years, a former journalist, and a Los Angeles-based author. Finally sharing my frank views on the dark side of public relations and just how nightmarish and heartbreaking it can be to work as a publicist or public relations executive has been a liberating experience for me. I wanted to give readers an honest, inside look at how difficult life as a publicist can be dealing with unappreciative bosses, ungrateful clients, and unsupportive and backstabbing colleagues.
In early 2019, I started my blog, “Life in Public Relations Hell,” to cope with my growing dissatisfaction with my public relations career. My blog inspired me to expand my work tales into a novel.
My blog and novel had been a lifeline for me, helping me cope with my ongoing job frustration. I was having a late-career career crisis at the time. You can say it was a cry for help in a way. Exploring my experiences in the PR industry has given me a new perspective on my career, public relations, and my life overall. The response to my blog has been positive as well.
Although my novel is fiction, I have strived to stay true to my real-life experiences working in public relations.
My novel has the same sardonic humor as my earlier novels, MONOGAMY SUCKS and RELATIONSHIPS SUCK. I didn’t want to hold anything back.
The first draft of my novel was an epic 700 pages, which I later split into two books. I was hoping to have my novel out sooner, but a combination of financial difficulties and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic delayed my novel’s launch.
With recent developments and trends in the job market, including the Great Resignation, this year is the perfect time to share my novel. I feel it’s a book everyone, who toils at jobs with little appreciation or pay, and yet still manages overcome challenges and hostile working environments, could relate to.
No amount of spin will prepare you for my hilarious, scathing novel from the hellish workplace trenches.
This is the first volume in a series of novels I plan to write about my public relations career. I have also completed most of the first draft of volume two in my Life in Public Relations Hell series, which I look to bring out in a year or two.
You can also find out more about my provocative novels, short story, and poetry collections on my Amazon authors page and on my Goodreads profile, which features past book reviews.
Please visit my blog for more posts about my PR hell books, media coverage, etc.
And as always, look for many more of my indie books to come.
Life in Public Relations Hell 