I think this is a great example of how you can leverage your own history, along with the topic of your book, to get great press for your book.  Mr. Mungin’s history as a subway worker, his membership in the union and the topic of his book all seem to have made him a perfect candidate for attention from the union.  What makes this exposure even more exciting is that his book, about transit work, is going out to untold numbers of… transit workers!  You can’t beat demographic targetting like that.

The cool think is, the article goes into some detail about Mr. Mungin’s other great books, which are not transit related.   So his backgrown in the TWU could bring the attention of new readers to all of his books, not just the one that got him the attention in the first place.

You may not be a subway worker (ok, your probably not,) but you should always look at your own personal hsitory, as well as the topic of your book, to help you find unusual marketing opportunities.

Here’s a chunk of the article, which you can read in full here (pdf):

Mungin says the book took only eight months of writing, but 20 years of taking notes as he searched for the right format to tell the story of his years on the subway. Although the book deals with what he views as an historical transition from a largely Irish American work force to an African American one, it also captures the daily lives of transit workers on and off the job.

I only wish the article included AuthorsBookshop.com as a place to buy the book.  Oh well, I will do it for them here: