An Interview With Eric Kampmann About Trail Thoughts
Posted on July 24th, 2008
by Simon Barrett
I recently had the opportunity to review Eric Kampmann’s latest book Trail Thoughts. It is a very reflective piece with biblically inspired thoughts for each day of the year. This is a book designed for the reader to sip and enjoy, rather than guzzle down like us reviewers are apt to do!
Changing the subject completely for a moment. When you are not writing, and I understand that you currently have 3 books to your credit, you are involved in the publishing industry. In fact if my memory serves me correctly it was your house that published the O.J. Simpson If I Did It book. Can you tell us a little about that project?
Talk about a question that requires a long answer! Yes, my publishing company did publish If I Did It last September. Perhaps I am naïve, but I did not expect the intensity of interest that the book generated during the moments after it was announced that Beaufort would indeed publish the book. A point of clarification: The Goldman’s owned the book Beaufort published, not OJ Simpson. The Goldman’s won the book in a bankruptcy court as part of the judgment they had won against Mr. Simpson years before. Ironically, they hated the book, but the court awarded it on the condition that they publish it. The Goldman’s knew nothing about publishing. I did, therefore, I decided to do what I could to help them succeed in this endeavor.
As for the decision to become involved, I had few qualms because I was working for the Goldman’s and not OJ Simpson. Many people were enraged that the book would be published but they missed the real point. OJ Simpson’s own words would finally show the world who this man really was and people could then decide whether justice had been rendered in LA back in 1994.
Apparently, the public wanted to know more about this case and they wanted to read Mr. Simpson’s own words. The book became a national bestseller topping out at number 2 on the NY Times bestseller list.
In retrospect was it a good business decision?
In retrospect it was a riskier project than I first thought. It is only from the vantage point of today that the book looks like an inevitable bestseller.
Posted on July 24th, 2008
by Simon Barrett
I recently had the opportunity to review Eric Kampmann’s latest book Trail Thoughts. It is a very reflective piece with biblically inspired thoughts for each day of the year. This is a book designed for the reader to sip and enjoy, rather than guzzle down like us reviewers are apt to do!
Changing the subject completely for a moment. When you are not writing, and I understand that you currently have 3 books to your credit, you are involved in the publishing industry. In fact if my memory serves me correctly it was your house that published the O.J. Simpson If I Did It book. Can you tell us a little about that project?
Talk about a question that requires a long answer! Yes, my publishing company did publish If I Did It last September. Perhaps I am naïve, but I did not expect the intensity of interest that the book generated during the moments after it was announced that Beaufort would indeed publish the book. A point of clarification: The Goldman’s owned the book Beaufort published, not OJ Simpson. The Goldman’s won the book in a bankruptcy court as part of the judgment they had won against Mr. Simpson years before. Ironically, they hated the book, but the court awarded it on the condition that they publish it. The Goldman’s knew nothing about publishing. I did, therefore, I decided to do what I could to help them succeed in this endeavor.
As for the decision to become involved, I had few qualms because I was working for the Goldman’s and not OJ Simpson. Many people were enraged that the book would be published but they missed the real point. OJ Simpson’s own words would finally show the world who this man really was and people could then decide whether justice had been rendered in LA back in 1994.
Apparently, the public wanted to know more about this case and they wanted to read Mr. Simpson’s own words. The book became a national bestseller topping out at number 2 on the NY Times bestseller list.
In retrospect was it a good business decision?
In retrospect it was a riskier project than I first thought. It is only from the vantage point of today that the book looks like an inevitable bestseller.
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