Lulu.com Creator Has Seaworthy Life as "Permanent Passenger"

by Micha Berman
(San Francisco, CA)

This title above is from a national press release of May 2008 by Lulu. My book Permanent Passenger: My Life on a Cruise Ship had been rising in ranks on the Lulu charts for three months. I was closing in on selling over 350 copies, and had just appeared on several radio talk shows including San Franciso's KGO 810, an ABC affiliate and one of the most popular talk radio stations in the Bay Area. My book had been featured in many newspaper articles, websites and I had been booked for a popular tv talkshow. Each day I was answering emails from people around the country who heard about my book.

My little book was off to a great start. First how did I ever think of writing this book. When I stepped off Carnival Cruise Line’s M.S. Ecstasy after serving as Assistant Cruise Director for a year, I had no idea what awaited me on land. I feared, as many former crewmembers do that I would not be able to adjust to the everyday responsibilities of land life and soon find myself back on the ships. God forbid I would have to cook my own meal, pay rent, or even do my own laundry.

I had experienced a world few would ever see and my months of hard work networking with college alumni, chasing cruise line executives into bathrooms, sending thousands of letters, and reading every cruise magazine published had paid off as I landed my dream job hosting fun activities such as beer drinking competitions and hairy chest contests aboard one of the largest cruise ships in the world.

As I went about my daily life interviewing for jobs, attending family functions, shopping in the local grocery story, going to the doctor, I often found myself answering the same question over and over – “What is it like to work on a cruise ship?” Everybody I met was fascinated, and couldn’t stop themselves from delving into my experience, probing me with interviews. “Where did you eat?” “Did you have relationships with passengers?” “How do you get a job on a cruise ship?” was the most popular question and when I stared deeply into the questioner’s eyes I saw their forbidden dream of leaving on a jet plane and heading to the world of fantasy and fun aboard the Love Boat.

Before I began my cruise job search I had no luck finding any decent books telling me what to do and who to contact. It was the Wild West. This has changed today with websites devoted to helping potential crewmembers and even chat forums where you can talk to actual crewmembers sailing around the world. After leaving Carnival Cruise Lines I could not find any memoirs or detailed accounts of life behind the scenes on a cruise ship. The curious and amused looks of friends and family set off a light bulb in my head, why not write that book. So began my journey to chronicle not only my crazy job search but a book that would take readers behind the scenes on a cruise ship and honestly portray the world most people only know through the television series – the Love Boat.

It didn’t take long to write the story. My mind was popping from all the different crazy moments I experienced on the ship. I often hear comments about how so many people thought about writing this kind of book but never did. As I contemplate my cruise memoir I understand that I have married many of my passions through this work: love of travel, crazy fun, women, and the search for something meaningful in this strange box we call life.

I had heard that self-published authors were lucky if they could sell more than a couple copies of their book and that included grandma, so how did Permanent Passenger get beyond my brothers and cousins into the world at large?

The answer actually lies in the first chapter of my cruise book, you see I had to do the most insane job search to get the cruise job and many of the techniques I used there I repeated in my quest to get my story out.

First, networking. I used a concentric circle theory and began with myself. My religion, college, family, neighborhood, anything that related to me and went after every contact I could find. I wanted to contact every person who I had ever known in my life - that began with an email list of over 500 people. I went after magazines, and websites of my home town and my first hit came with an article in the Baltimore Jewish Times. One day I emailed every radio station in the Bay Area and found myself on a midnight talk show discussing my book. I also sent emails to all cruise publications, alumni publications, airline magazines, the list goes on and required a lot of work.

Another strategy I used which is really a modern tool is social networking. Even though my wife belived I may be cheating on her, I signed up for facebook, myspace, friendster, shelfari, cruise websites - anywhere I could be on forums discussing my books.

I also got my book into bookstores with my press kit and a lot of persuasion. Once in the store I set up book talks which led to increased visibility.

I should note that my strong belief during this whole process was that I would need to invest so I hired a person to help me format the book, I was offered services by a talented friend who was a designer to do my cover. I put together a professional press kit. I bought some promotional bookmarks from Lulu. My goal was to make my book look better than any book in the bookstore and I was successful.

Today I continue to promote every day. It is sweat and tears. Insanity and persistence but my book is alive and spreading. I could tell more but have to get back to promoting.

Cheers
Micha Berman

Visit the Permanent Passenger page at Lulu.