Kids Paying It Forward

Park West High School, New York, New York
December 13 1999

In the last few weeks, things have been moving forward for Simon & Schuster's upcoming mid-January release Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Oscar buzz actors Haley Joel Osment (the young boy from The Sixth Sense) and Kevin Spacey have just committed to star in the planned Bel Air/Warner Bros. film adaptation of the novel, about how a cynical teacher's challenge to student Trevor leads to a project that encourages recipients of a good turn to do unto three others, ultimately transforming the world. The film, to be directed by Mimi Leder, is now on a fast-track production schedule, with principal photography to begin in February.

And while movie hype doesn't always translate into book sales, S&S already has met its ambitious goal of a 100,000 first printing for the novel, a significant and therefore somewhat risky six-figure acquisition.

Propelling Pay It Forward has been the typical factor of good review attention--while the book's concept could be seen as treacly, there's been a lot of positive response from booksellers since an August ARC mailing and a November 1 starred PW review praised its Capra-esque qualities. But an added bonus in this case is that this fiction's concept lends itself to the kinds of real-life outreach bookstores seek to establish relationships within their communities and with their customers--and all just in time to take advantage of those New Year's resolutions.

Thus, to shape the direction of Hyde's bookstore tour, S&S asked booksellers how they would implement a Pay It Forward idea in their community, and the proposals are just now hitting the house. The California-based Hyde, a novelist/short-story writer previously published by tiny Russian Hill Press who was inspired to write this change-of-pace book after her own encounter with some Good Samaritans, will make stops for such cause-related bookstore events at San Francisco's Stacey's Books, which is tying in a homeless advocacy project to the event; Corte Madera's Book Passage, which is holding an author discussion with local high school and middle school students to encourage community service; a Barnes & Noble in Atlanta, which is coordinating a charity "friend-raiser" in which attendees bring friends to a volunteer effort; and, in New York City, Barnes & Noble's Rockefeller Center store, which is running an event in conjunction with the charity New York Cares. Books- A-Million has signed on in a big way: Pay It Forward is a companywide "Clyde's Pick," and a number of its stores will be holding events, which has already ballooned a planned seven-city tour to 12 so far.

S&S v-p of marketing Michael Selleck and his staff also devised a Pay It Forward authorless event marketing kit for booksellers, which includes an easel-backed poster encouraging all to "Believe in Your Power to Change the World" as well as Pay it Forward buttons and postcards. The kit is on press now and should be sent to stores in the next few weeks. After the holiday selling crunch and in the new year, S&S will launch an advertising campaign for the book, which focuses on a numerical demonstration of Pay It Forward's multiply-by-three concept.

Indeed, S&S publicist Aileen Boyle likes to point out that the mushrooming effect of the Pay It Forward philosophy is already reflected in the book's progress. Not only is the bookstore tour continuing to expand with growing good word, but the book, as does Trevor's initiative, has expanded beyond U.S. borders, with five foreign publishing deals already secured.

And for those cynics who think S&S is only milking an idea to sell one of its books, parent company Viacom has for many years had its own community service program. That relationship has led to one of Pay It Forward's more colorful promos: two New York City high schools, with a long history of gang rivalry, are now working on a Pay It Forward mural, which is on the exterior of one of the schools. "If we had come to them without our volunteers program in place, it would have been cynical, but we already have the relationships," said Boyle. And the Pay It Forward mural has already prompted more good works: the once-contentious high schools are now conducting a holiday charity drive.

What Pay It Forward hasn't secured so far, however, is a major national media, although that could change once this currently grassroots-marketing-focused book gets closer to pub date.

Photos by Suzanne Goldberg. Click for larger image