For many small publishers, committing a $75,000 promotional budget to a 900-page Cold War thriller with a retail price of $28.95 would be a spooky venture indeed, even if they did consider it a commercial breakout for a mid-list novelist whose previous books have received high critical praise. But having already printed 70,000 hardcovers and spent more than $50,000 to support the April 29 publication of The Company, Robert Littell's novel spanning 50 years of the CIA, Overlook is well past the point of no return.

If this sounds like a wildly risky position for a small house with annual revenues of approximately $5 million and a president who recently confessed at an AAP annual meeting that "we had a really terrible time last year; we drained cash," bear in mind that Overlook is not just any small press. Its famously self-dramatizing founder and president, Peter Mayer, has cut a flamboyant figure in the industry for more than 40 years, including his nearly two decades at Penguin, from which he retired as group CEO in 1997, shortly after Penguin's merger with Putnam.

Since taking the helm at Overlook, the press he founded in 1971 with his father, Mayer has maintained a reservoir of respect in the industry—a tribute to his indefatigable passion and undeniable accomplishments over the years, despite an accounting scandal that occurred on his watch at Penguin. The imbroglio resulted in a $163 million charge against 1996 earnings for parent company Pearson PLC and a $25 million settlement by Penguin of a lawsuit filed by the American Booksellers Association.

For Mayer, now 66, the publication of The Company has all the makings of the climax of his third act, in which the publishing master stakes his reputation on resurrecting an overlooked, but consummately skilled novelist, late in both men's careers. With characteristic flair, Mayer has underscored this redemption narrative by vowing to his staff that he will give up his lifelong smoking habit if the book becomes a bestseller.

While Mayer claims credit for pitching the idea of a multigenerational saga of the CIA to distinguished spy novelist Robert Littell, Overlook paid a relatively large advance by small press standards, reportedly in the realm of $50,000—$100,000. In a separate deal, the house bought the rights to Littell's 12 title backlist, which it will reissue in hardcover, beginning with his 1973 Cold War classic, The Defection of A.J. Lewinter (Sept.), followed by the other novels at the rate of one a season.

Mayer refers to his total investment of $500,000 in acquiring, marketing and printing The Company with a flourish of white knuckles, but by all accounts, he is safely on the way to making good on it. Within months of acquiring the book in 1997, Overlook sold translation rights in six countries for more than $600,000; paperback rights to Penguin for $225,000 last fall; and book club rights as a main selection to BOMC.

If Mayer's outsize ambition isn't surprising to industry watchers, the risks involved in his plan to publish the novel on the scale of a larger house are still impressive. Though the advance readers copies cost $14 apiece to produce, Overlook went back to press three times, sending 1200 copies—in addition to more than 6,000 four-color blads—to the Penguin reps who distribute its list, as well as to independent bookstores and Mayer's industry contacts. "The smartest thing we did was to get bound galleys out," said sales and marketing director Bill Wolfsthal. "The book makes the best case for itself."

Overlook is also offering co-op support that averages around $1 per book, according to Wolfsthal. At Barnes & Noble, which made an aggressive initial order of 11,000 copies, the co-op will ensure that the book receives front-of-store placement near a stanchion featuring the book jacket for about two weeks. To fire up store managers at the chain, the house sent 300 finished copies in response to blowback cards. At Borders, the book will be featured in a mystery book display, while at Waldenbooks it will appear on the front tables, Wolfsthal said. Meanwhile, most independents are using the co-op dollars to feature the book in their newsletters.

Armed with starred reviews from Library Journal, Kirkus and Booklist, a glowing PW review and quotes from Nelson DeMille and Clive Cussler, Overlook has gone to press for 70,000 copies, convinced they have a national bestseller on their hands. But according to Mayer, the press now finds itself with $20,000 left in its marketing budget and a dilemma: how best to spend the remaining funds, on a tour or ads?

So far, the house has allocated $5000 to fly Littell from his home in France to New York and Washington, D.C. Though publicity director Bruce Mason is still crossing his fingers for several national TV bookings, he reported that he has secured features in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, in addition to a large radio satellite tour. The book will also be reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune, among other newspapers. A PW interview is also slated.

Booksellers are cautiously optimistic. "Recent high-profile cases, such as the Robert Hansen affair, have really helped keep the genre not only alive, but strong," said Ingram senior product manager Nancy Stewart. At Borders, mystery/suspense buyer Dan Mayer doesn't see "any major spy novel competition, although the subject may attract a nonfiction audience, where there's a little more competition."

To Karen Pennington, buyer at Kepler's in Menlo Park, Calif., the heart of Overlook's promotional conundrum hinges on the difficulty and expense of reaching the book's primary audience of men in their 50s. One of the most effective ways to do that, said Richard Goldman of Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Pittsburgh, is "to hit major markets with print interviews. It would be worth touring him to Boston and Los Angeles for that." Kate Mattes at Kate's Mystery in Cambridge, Mass., agreed: In addition to what [Littell] knows about the CIA, he has a vast knowledge of Afghanistan, which should help him get on the air," she said, adding, "The book couldn't be more timely."

If Mayer takes heed, it may not be long before he smokes his last cigarette.