history

EARLY YEARS

In its early years, Hilsinger-Mendelson raised the profiles of trend analyst Alvin Toffler, industrialist Dr. Armand Hammer, authors Douglas Adams, Jean Auel, Ray Bradbury, Rita Mae Brown, Jim Carroll, Richard Condon, Dominick Dunne, Robert Fulghum, Arthur and Sheila Hailey, Joseph Heller, Kitty Kelley, Jerzy Kosinski, Judith Krantz, Charles Kuralt, Louis L’Amour, Shirley MacLaine, Alexandra Penney, Tom Robbins, Amy Wallace and David Wallechinsky.

In addition, HMI brought national attention to children’s book authors/illustrators Stan and Jan Berenstain to significantly increase recognition across their licensed product line; Sports Illustrated’s “Official Olympic Souvenir Program” of the 1984 Olympics; The Olympic Experience (an inner city program created by 1968 Decathlon winner Bill Toomey); the launch of Microsoft Press, publishing arm of the major computer software manufacturer; several Guinness Book of World Records Museums across the country, and the inception of The American Poets’ Corner in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, for which it generated substantial worldwide coverage.

THE NEXT DECADES

During its next two decades, Hilsinger-Mendelson increased the visibility of bestselling authors such as Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Margaret Atwood, Jean Auel, Ray Bradbury, Rita Mae Brown, Tom Clancy, Patti Davis, Dominick Dunne, Nicholas Evans, Linda Fairstein, Jeffrey Garten, Robert Fulghum, Richard Hack, Arthur Hailey, Joseph Heller, Caroline Kennedy, Tom Robbins, and Sidney Sheldon.

HMI also focused attention on the books of such important American voices as television news commentator Charles Kuralt, Senator Barry Goldwater, CNN talk show host Larry King, trend analysts John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene, USA Today founder Al Neuharth, television writer/producer Garry Marshall, aviator Chuck Yeager, and actress Betty White as well as Wayne Barrett, Roger Kahn, Jesse Kornbluth, Ken Kragen, Jill Krementz, Evelyn Lauder, Stan Lee, Robert Lenzner, Sir James Goldsmith, Gale Hayman, Richard Harris, Jane Stanton Hitchcock, Arianna Huffington, Shirley Lord, Irving Mansfield, Julia Phillips, Stanley Pottinger, Richard Price, Deborah Raffin, Carol Saline and Sharon Wohlmuth, Edwin Schlossberg, Siegfried and Roy, Annette Tapert, Mel Torme, Marvin Traub, Nicholas von Hoffman, Randall Wallace, and Jann Wenner. In addition, HMI brought national attention to Swid Powell, a firm producing a full range of architect-designed objects for use in the home; the Chic Simple book series; The Skin Cancer Foundation’s first children’s book, Play it Safe in the Sun, and The Trans-Antarctica 1990 Expedition.

CREATING BESTSELLERS

Among Hilsinger-Mendelson’s publishing clients are Andrews McMeel, Broadway Books, Crown, Doubleday, Dutton, Free Press, HarperCollins, Henry Holt, Hyperion, Little Brown, McGraw Hill, New Millennium Publishing, National Geographic Books, Overlook Press, Penguin Putnam Group, Pocket Books, Riverhead, Rizzoli, Scholastic Inc., Simon & Schuster, St. Martin’s Press, Talk Miramax Books, Three Rivers Press, Universe Publishing, and William Morrow. In recent years, HMI has brought its expertise to publicity campaigns for many of America’s bestselling authors including Suze Orman, Anne Geddes, Suzanne Somers, Stephen J. Cannell, Lorenzo Carcaterra, Nicholas Evans, Gavin de Becker, Dominick Dunne, Marianne Williamson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Caroline Kennedy, Douglas Adams, Larry King, Joan Lunden and Richard Price.

CHAMPIONING NEW TRENDS

On the cutting edge of emerging publishing genres, Hilsinger-Mendelson is recognized as a champion of new trends in areas such as health, business, spirituality, motivational, food, as well as first-time authors.

It has introduced authoritative voices to mainstream audiences, creating bestsellers for the nation’s leading expert on predicting violent behaviors, Gavin de Becker, award-winning food writer and international “domestic goddess” Nigella Lawson, personal finance expert Suze Orman, Everest IMAX cinematographer/author David Breashears, internationally acclaimed author and lecturer Marianne Williamson, financial/market trend analyst Harry Dent, and Dean of Yale School of Management Jeffrey Garten.

The firm has also brought additional recognition to the work of explorer and bestselling author Robert D. Ballard, journalists Marie Brenner, Maureen Orth, and Lesley Stahl, environmental crusader Erin Brokovich, dancer/choreographer Tommy Tune, fashion designer/lifestyle expert Carolyne Roehm, Architectural Digest Editor in Chief Paige Rense, writer/producer Linda Bruckheimer, leading women’s health experts Dr.’s Laura and Jennifer Berman and Dr. Judith Reichman, historian Barbara Goldsmith, child psychiatrist Dr. Harold Koplewicz, and photographers William Allard, Annie Griffiths Belt, Jodi Cobb, Elliott Erwitt, Dave Harvey, Jay Maisel, Roger Ressmeyer, and Sharon Wohlmuth.

BRAND AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS

HMI has created brand awareness campaigns for authors including photographer Anne Geddes, Nigella Lawson, Suze Orman, and Suzanne Somers; Parade; National Geographic Books; M.I.L.K. Ltd., and its worldwide photographic exhibition and books, and for companies including Crayola and Sirius Thinking Ltd. (“Between the Lions”). Taking authors beyond their bestsellers, and a range of clients into new and diverse market sectors, the firm brings greater recognition to their brands’ product lines, websites, charitable foundations, and other activities.

HIGH PROFILE EVENTS

Publicists and coordinators for a range of high-profile events each year, HMI has secured media coverage of the Authors Guild Foundation Annual Benefits Gala for several years, gained recognition for Simon & Schuster’s 75th, Doubleday’s 90th and The Literary Guild’s 65th anniversary celebrations, and the world premiere of the international M.I.L.K. photography exhibition at Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

Over the years, HMI has served as Event Planner and/or secured press coverage for publishing parties for numerous high-profile authors and personalities, including Marie Brenner, Linda Bruckheimer, Alexandra Villard de Borchgrave, Dominick Dunne, Gale Hayman, Joseph Heller, Jane Stanton Hitchcock, Quincy Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Maureen Orth, Alexandra Penney, Stanley Pottinger, Sumner Redstone, Carolyne Roehm, Lynn Sherr, Lesley Stahl, Suzanne Somers, Tom Robbins, and many others. At BookExpo America, HMI has organized events including the launch of Nicholas Evans’ The Horse Whisperer and National Geographic’s book party for Sylvia E. Earle’s Wild Ocean.

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCHES

In addition, Hilsinger-Mendelson contributed to the successful launch of the Anne Geddes Baby Clothing Collection at annegeddes.com, as well as the International eBook Award Foundation and its inaugural Frankfurt eBook Award (2000/2001), presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair; completed special projects for Redbook, Glamour, and Fortune, for which it secured print coverage of its 60th anniversary celebration; raised the profile of Town & Country and Worth magazines; re-launched the National Geographic Society children’s magazine, World; orchestrated the launch of Binney & Smith’s Crayola Kids Magazine and the “Power of Creativity” and “Family Time Activities” campaigns, and the launch of Microsoft Press, publishing arm of the major computer software manufacturer.

AWARDS

In recognition of its expertise and accomplishments, HMI has been awarded the LMP Award for Advertising, Promotion & Publicity for its hand in creating a bestseller with Anne Geddes’ Down in the Garden; the PRSA-LA Chapter Prism Award for its contributions to Stephen J. Cannell’s first bestseller, The Plan, and the PRSA-LA Prism Award for its Down in the Garden author tour and press kit.