Tavis Smiley is on the move. One year after launching an author-friendly daily talk show on NPR that now draws a million listeners, he's set to host an additional weeknight talk show on PBS that will premiere in the nation's top 10 markets on January 5. And with three books in the works for 2004—including a new hardcover from Doubleday next fall—his presence will be evident in bookstores as well.
But there's more to Smiley than your average media mogul-in-the-making. After earning a bachelor's degree in law and public policy at Indiana University, he began his career in broadcasting as a way to keep in touch with his constituency after losing a bid for the Los Angeles City council in 1991—and he's never abandoned that spirit of advocacy. In fact, his desire to usher new voices into the mainstream has prompted him to assume the role of a publisher, overseeing an annual list of three books by first-time authors under the new Smiley Books imprint at inspirational publisher Hay House.
With so many media projects underway, Smiley could be forgiven for sequestering himself in the Los Angeles radio and TV studios where he conducts the first regular public broadcasts from the West Coast. But instead, he's taking a page from Oprah, and airing his NPR show live from six cities in December, as he travels with authors Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West on their Pass the Mic! tour. The tour, coordinated by concert promoter A.L.W. Entertainment, is a bold attempt to make hip-hop intellectuals into popular entertainers, in which the three men will riff and pontificate on various topics, before passing the mic to audiences in Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit.
By simultaneously promoting the half-hour Tavis Smiley Show on PBS—which will feature a mix of news and pop culture similar to that on his NPR show—the tour will help fulfill Smiley's mandate to bring a younger, more ethnically diverse viewership to public broadcasting. Already, his radio show (also called The Tavis Smiley Show) has become the fastest-growing program in NPR history, soon to be carried by 80 stations. As the radio network's first signature show to be hosted by an African-American, it has also captured an audience that's 30% black, compared to 5% for most NPR programs. At the same time, the average age of his listeners—47—is substantially younger than for other NPR shows.
Nor has Smiley missed an opportunity to promote his venture at Hay House. On his tour, each ticket-holder will receive a set of his Empowerment Cards, along with Dyson's Open Mike: Reflections on Philosophy, Race, Sex, Culture and Religion (Basic/Civitas) and a compilation of outtakes from West's spoken-word CD, Street Knowledge—all included in the $50 or $60 admission fee.
Smiley Books Ramps Up
When Hay House publisher Reid Tracy approached Smiley a year ago about creating an imprint, he saw it as "our entrance into the African-American market. Tavis has a lot of connections, and we can help bring these prominent African-American voices to America." To Smiley, Hay House was a good fit, because they "they like to do empowerment work, too: their claim to fame is that they help people live better lives."
Smiley has been developing proposals for the imprint with Denise Pines, who is business development director for the Smiley Group, which has a 50% stake in the profits from the Hay House venture as well as Smiley's radio and TV shows. While Hay House approves the author advances and handles editorial, design, production and sales, both partners will shoulder the marketing and publicity for Smiley Books.
"Our goal was to start with some books that have Tavis's name on them, to get the imprint known," said Pines. In February, Smiley Books will issue the paperback original On Air Volume Two: The Best of Tavis Smiley on the Tom Joyner Morning Show 2002—2003 (Feb.) and a second set of empowerment cards is scheduled for later in 2004.
Unlike TV psychic Jonathan Edward and talk show host Montel Williams, who publish their own books through their imprints at Hay House, Smiley is also developing projects with authors who already have a considerable following but haven't yet written a book. For example, he's working with well-known Los Angeles minister Noel Jones on a motivational card deck related to spiritual growth, as well as 30-year-old MSNBC Internet analyst Omar Wasow on a basic computer user's guide. Both books should be ready late in 2004, according to Reid.
But Smiley's own publishing career is not about to be eclipsed. In addition to contributing a foreword and introductory chapter to The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education, edited by James Anderson and Dara N. Byrne (Wiley, Apr.), he's working on a book about upholding America's core values in the face of present challenges, What I Know for Sure, to be published by Doubleday next September. "I turn 40 that month," said the indefatigable Smiley, "so I'm looking forward to sounding off on what I've learned about a variety of issues."
