My Interview with Tom Hallock of Beacon Press

How fortunate I was to speak with Tom Hallock who is the Sales & Marketing Director as well as Publisher at Beacon Press. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about our phone interview before it occurred. I'm usually on the other end of interview process -- although it's been a few years for that too because I've been at my current job for almost 10 years now.  the Publishing world seems to ominous and scary, but I immediately felt at east talking to Tom Hallock. 

On June 27, 2011, “Self Awareness” posted this image of the day.
Beacon Press associate publisher Tom Hallock about to deliver via bicycle a few more copies Nancy Gertner's memoir, In Defense of Women, to Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Mass. The moral of this revolutionary ride, as the press put it: "Beacon Press will go the extra mile for indie bookstores... on a bike!"

Since Beacon Press was founded in 1854, it has continued up uphold its reputation for publishing books that accentuate people from various ethnic and economic backgrounds. In today’s world, an acceptance and understanding of various cultures and fundamental issues is needed more than ever. I find myself concerned about the lack of empathy and understanding that currently exists and respect the staff and authors of Beacon Press for continuing to uphold the urgency for books that evoke peace, love and understanding and empathy for others no matter who they are or where they come from. As someone who has always been concerned with social issues of the world, Beacon Press is a “beacon of positive and light” in my eyes.  Beacon Press has been involved in the publication of all of Martin Luther King’s work, among many others. It does not get any better than that.

Tom Hallock of Beacon Press is a prime example of this. Although we had never spoken before, I immediately felt comfortable and at ease speaking with him over the phone.  When I initially asked Tom Hallock how he became a publisher who does the sales and marketing, he proclaimed, “I have no idea!” We both chuckled, and I felt even more at ease talking to him. He shared his experiences in publishing and his diversion to travel through China for a couple of years before returning and ultimately ending up at Beacon Press where he's been for the past 19 years.

Since Beacon Press is small, they're able to give their authors a bit more attention than the larger ones, but you still must have a platform. 

Tom Hallock's advice to an emerging writer? 

Have awareness of what's being published -- who's published it?  Go into bookstores and look at how they organize books, what they're displaying, what they look like.

Try to find your place in social media -- as in "Platform" yeah, it's true. We gotta have some semblance of a platform.  Try to find allies, people who like your book, other writers or book sellers or people who would be interested in what you're writing about. 

In intellectual terms, we as writers have a sense of all this, but it's all easier said than done. Writers know they will get lots of rejections, yet there is still that small part inside that feels a little sensitive about rejection.

My takeaway on all this? It's really good to know that publishers and editors and people who work in the publishing industry are human beings just like us. They aren't scary people at all. 

This gives us all as writers hope for the future.