Hilsinger Mendelson, Inc.

Photo Credit: Ben Asen

Sandi Mendelson has established Hilsinger-Mendelson as the nation’s preeminent literary public relations firm, as well as leading the successful expansion of its services to include image- and brand-building campaigns for diverse individuals and industries. From Hilsinger-Mendelson’s office in New York, which she launched in 1983, she recently guided campaigns for the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles, Suzanne Somers’ Ageless, and Phil Town’s Rule #1, as well as campaigns for Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Express, Suzanne Somers’ most recent bestseller Breakthrough, Donald Trump's Think Like a Champion, Larry King's My Remarkable Journey, Marie Brenner’s Apples and Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and Found, Steven Cojocaru’s Glamour, Interrupted, and SPY: The Funny Years by Kurt Andersen, Graydon Carter, and George Kalogerakis, among others.

Responsible for a number of national and New York Times bestsellers, Ms. Mendelson orchestrated national publicity campaigns for or contributed to the book campaigns of Larry King, Lesley Stahl, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Delinsky, Lynn Sherr, Jerry Seinfeld, Denzel Washington, Prince, Stan Lee, Caroline Kennedy, Holly Peterson, Steven Pratt, Kathy Freston, James Cameron, Bob Morris, Jane Pauley, Joseph Heller, Ray Bradbury, Quincy Jones, Rita Rudner, Robert Ballard, Tom Clancy, Rocco DiSpirito, Plum Sykes, Lee Eisenberg, Mark Frost, Alex Kuczynski, Gail Sheehy, Maureen Orth, Jane Stanton Hitchcock, Amy Fine Collins, Poppy King, Sloan Barnett, Kristin Gore, Michael Bloomberg, Vincent Bugliosi, Cheryl Ladd, Amy Silverstein, Rabbi Sherre Hirsch, Robin Givens, and NBC-TV mental health contributor Dr. Gail Saltz, among many others. In addition, Ms. Mendelson worked with Writer’s House to assist with publicity support for Nora Roberts and Ken Follett. She orchestrated publicity for Gavin de Becker’s The Gift of Fear, on the New York Times bestseller list for four months, as well as his Fear Less and Protecting the Gift.

Building brands
Taking authors well beyond the bestseller lists, Ms. Mendelson has created brand awareness campaigns for such bestselling authors as women’s health advocate and entrepreneur Suzanne Somers, orchestrating publicity for her #1 New York Times bestsellers and for Suzanne’s food, clothing, fitness, and beauty products, her web site SuzanneSomers.com, and her direct selling company, Suzanne.com; award-winning food writer Nigella Lawson, for whom she established a U.S. presence, continuing to direct ongoing publicity for her books, television shows, and Nigella Lawson’s Living Kitchen Collection, a range of kitchen items and accessories, which Ms. Mendelson introduced in the U.S.; and for world-renowned baby photographer Anne Geddes, whose books have sold more than 18 million copies worldwide and whose first coffee-table book, Down in the Garden, she guided to become the #1 gift book of the year, on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 12 weeks, followed by domestic and European tours for Geddes’ series of internationally acclaimed bestsellers, coordinating her worldwide media and overseeing publicity for launches within the Anne Geddes Baby clothing collection and other product lines. Ms. Mendelson coordinates national campaigns for Erica Jong and her works including national bestseller Seducing the Demo, Sappho’s Leap and the 30th anniversary edition of Fear of Flying; Stephen Cannell and his bestsellers; and America’s leading practitioner of Functional Medicine Dr. Mark Hyman and his New York Times bestsellers UltraMetabolism and The UltraSimple Diet. She was instrumental in establishing Suze Orman as a personal finance expert, orchestrating publicity and branding for Suze Orman’s #1 New York Times bestsellers The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and The Courage to Be Rich, as well as The Road to Wealth. Ms. Mendelson directs PR, marketing, and branding, and was influential in building the prominence of artist, clothing designer, and author Sandra Magsamen; registered nutritionist, bestselling author of The Food You Crave and healthy lifestyle expert, Ellie Krieger; Dr. Ken Dychtwald, foremost visionary and original thinker regarding the lifestyle, marketing, healthcare and workforce implications of the age wave; and style expert Charla Krupp.

Successful starts
Ms. Mendelson played a pivotal role in the successful launch of The Quill Awards, the award-winning PBS children’s television series “Between the Lions,” the International eBook Award Foundation, the Frankfurt eBook Award, and the National Geographic Books Literary Travel imprint Directions. She assisted on the U.S. launch of Charles Saatchi’s Your Gallery web site and Susan Magsamen’s FamilyStories book and family activity series. She also designed the campaign for the national launch of Binney & Smith’s Crayola Kids Magazine, and generated substantial worldwide coverage for the opening of The American Poets’ Corner. In addition, she orchestrated the re-launch of the National Geographic Society children's magazine, World, and raised the profile of Parade, Town & Country and Worth magazines. She has created brand awareness campaigns for such prominent entities as National Geographic Books and Binney & Smith's Crayola.

Community building
A member of the Executive Committee of the UJA-Federation’s Publishing Division, as well as the Executive Committee of Books for a Better Life, she served on the board of the Publishers Publicity Association. She is an active member of the Women's Media Group, and was a former Communications Advisory Board member of the New York City Partnership and New York Chamber of Commerce, has served as vice president of the Northern California Book Publicists' Association, and was a distinguished guest lecturer at U.C. Berkeley and San Francisco State. She chairs the Byron Preiss Children’s Fund, a charitable initiative of the UJA-Federation of New York.

Distinctive, influential, winning
Ms. Mendelson continues to be an insatiable advocate for her clients, applying her 30 years of expertise in the fields of publicity, promotion and publishing to provide clients with the invaluable strategies necessary for them to find and capture a distinctive share of their marketplace.