Mary Gielow boasts quite an impressive resume. In the interest of space, I’ll pair her incredible feats down to a few, starting with her founding Luminaries—the author escort company in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Since 1989 Luminaries has proudly offered what is widely considered one of the most experienced, reliable, and professional authors escorting companies for all the top New York publishing houses.

As a lifelong active civic and non-profit sector volunteer, Mary was honored with an appointment to the Wisconsin Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment of the Humanities, by Governor Tommy G. Thompson in 1994.  There, she served for seven years, including two years as chair of the WHC and had the privilege of being invited to the White House for the National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities Medal Awards Ceremony several times. She holds several board posts, received notable achievements, and is currently serving as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.

A St. Louis native, she attended Southeast Missouri University as an English/ Journalism major and has lived with her husband and two sons in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and now Milwaukee. Meet Mary:

Have you always wanted to work in the publishing promotion field? I had always been an executive volunteer – many times with author events, but never thought of it as a profession.  I was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years but as my children were older and after moving to a new city from Phoenix – Milwaukee – began thinking about starting a business that was public relations related in 1989.  A friend and successful author told me about his many national book tours and how grueling they were and how helpful it was when he encountered a literary escort (a brand new field of business) in a few cities that he had toured in.  He suggested that I might provide the same kind of service if no one else in Wisconsin was.

What is “literary escorting” and what do you like best about your work? A literary escort is someone who works as a freelance publicist for major publishing houses in New York (Boston, Canada, etc.) when they need a capable person to take care of their VIP authors on tour.  Since I have been an avid reader since childhood, working with so many talented authors is a dream come true.  I describe what I do as a “Mom” – picking people up from the airport and/or hotel, making sure their travel arrangements go smoothly, giving them tips about media outlets and interviewers and bookstore personnel in the area, feeding them, bringing snacks, driving them to as many bookstores in a day as possible so they can meet the booksellers who hand sell their books. And getting everywhere on time is crucial, especially for live television and radio interviews.  Being a supportive and confident friend – and a safe driver!  Everyone needs a mom on the road while in a strange new city.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to succeed in your professional industry? Well, that is almost a moot point.  Ever since the financial crash of 2008, publishers began cutting back, and then when the pandemic hit there was a two-year pause with no book tours.  And now with the absolute dearth of interview opportunities and the loss of so many bookstores, it is rare that an adult even gets a literary escort.  They are now asked to drive to their regional tour appointments on their own, or take an Uber to the bookstore, airport, and hotel in each tour city.  That’s pretty much it.  The only bright spot for escorting now is working with children’s authors who need help getting to 2-3 schools, libraries, or a bookstore for their presentation.  Since I started Luminaries in 1989, escorting authors was just becoming a big thing and now winding down.  So, I was very lucky to have a thriving business for so many years, but it has pretty much run its course.

What is one (or more) fascinating insight you’ve gleaned from working in the industry Well, all the people at publishing houses were publicists of varying experience, young, and most under 25.  They absolutely depended on people like me to make sure their authors were well-cared for since their jobs depended on it. I always had an updated list of bookstore personnel and called each bookstore beforehand to make sure to expect us and to find out how many books they had for stock signing.  I always sent the publicists an updated media list for all of Wisconsin, helped research, and even booked appropriate media for interviews.

Most importantly, I always said yes to their requests and figured out how to make things work.  That included researching and working in other unfamiliar Wisconsin cities, and even taking on demanding and time-consuming shopping, cooking, and food styling roles for cookbook authors.  At one time I had ten on-call associates that I hired to work with authors.  All of them had either a publicity or media background and I tried to match my associate with the author since compatibility and the ability to be flexible in unusual or a last minute request by the author or publicist was often the norm.  There are countless times, for various reasons, that I have taken authors on tour to my house for a nap, a snack, to do laundry, or to catch up on work when they have checked out of their hotel.  Many times, I’ve gone shopping for an author, and taken them to museums or places of interest that they request while in town.

As an expert in your field, what advice would you give to published authors? Listen to your literary escort!  They have your well-being in hand.  They will feed you when hungry, introduce you to important people, give you an elevator speech talking point for various situations to help sell your book, make sure you have time for a nap or exercise during the day, will always give you time frames so you know what to expect and will always be your chief cheerleader and advocate.

What is one (or more) cautionary “pearl” you’d like to share? Don’t hit on your literary escort (it has happened)!  Always be empathetic – authors are often solitary introverts and they are often nervous, exhausted and homesick on book tours and they never want to talk about their current book – conversations are almost always about their family, their interests, their travel, etc.  Also, never intrude on interviews unless invited by the author – stay somewhere else nearby.  Always have a spare car key and umbrella and snacks/water in the car!  I wrote a comprehensive list of guidelines for the escorts who worked for me.

What do you think is the biggest reason someone doesn’t get their book published? They say everyone has at least one book in them.  Just because someone wants to write a book does not mean their topic is interesting or relevant or will sell, they did not do necessary research, they are not good writers, there are just too many new books out there and they don’t know how to find a publisher, an agent or a friend who is a successful author to help them.

What do you like to see on an author’s platform? A lot of relevant content.  Background on the author, photos, personal stories of how they got started, the various books they have written, what they are working on now, upcoming book tours, personal travels, and why they write certain types of books.  Just personality coming through.  Readers always want to know more about the authors they read and admire – and how they got started.

How do you suggest authors (published and non-published) build their platform, including social media and website? A website is key – hire a professional!  It is the first place an interested person will look – although Wikipedia helps if they have a wiki page (although wiki is not always accurate).  Update frequently with news, book release info, touring info, contact info, willingness to travel for book talks, and personal background.  Instagram is great for what is happening now – what the author is working on, why that topic, lots of pictures of places, pets, other authors, and school visits.  Facebook is also key for people to learn about the author and older people will more likely use Facebook.  Getting booked on podcasts are starting one of their own is another great idea.

Are you an author?  If so, what is your author’s website where readers can find your books? No, I am not an author but I have compiled many stories that I have written about my work as a literary escort starring many authors I worked with, including  Mickey Mantle, Jane Fonda, Jane Goodall, Hank Aaaron, Robert Parker, Alan Alda, Garrison Keillor, Sally Jessy Raphael, etc.  A memoir may be in the works!  One important thing I have done over the years is to keep a high-quality diary-type book in my car that I call “Your Philosophy in a Nutshell”.  If I am with an author I respect and enjoy and we have a rapport, I ask the author to write their own “philosophy… in it.  They always say yes, and remark that no one ever asked them that.  I have four of those books now. Some of those philosophies are actually on my website.  I sometimes do independent publicist work with local authors who write non-fiction books if I think they are good writers and have a good story that I can publicize.  I’m pretty discriminating about who I work with since it is very time-consuming.

What conferences, book tours, or other related events do you recommend authors and writers attend? Back in the day, Book Expo was key.  Usually in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Miami, it was the place to be each year to meet publishers, publicists, authors, and other media people.  Most states/cities have their own literary festivals, so those are important and usually run for a few days with various authors and topics.  Writer workshops are all over the US and overseas.  The annually published Writer’s Market is the best place to find publishing houses, agents, magazines, media outlets, book festivals, and writing workshops. Also, a magazine called The Writer’s Digest is full of great articles about writing and writers.

Do you speak at conferences or conduct trainings? I am occasionally invited to speak to interested local groups, like women’s clubs, book clubs, libraries, etc. and I have a PowerPoint with slides of authors I have worked with.

What book uplifts you? So many –  but books I particularly liked include Horse by Geraldine Brooks, All The Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig.  I also worked with all three of these authors on various tours.

Anything else you’d like to share? Well, in addition to working as a literary escort for 35 years, I have also been the executive director of the Cedar Creek Settlement in Historic Cedarburg, WI for 32 years.  I do all their marketing, publicity, and advertising and plan numerous special events and festivals.  www.cedarcreeksettlement.com.  Cedar Creek Settlement is a collection of boutiques, restaurants, and a winery, nestled in a circa 1864 former woolen mill in a beautiful historic town called Cedarburg, WI.  My husband and I have also been partners in a thoroughbred racing stable for 40 years – Great Lake Stable.

Learn more about Mary and Literary Escorting via the Luminaries website.