As the divorce rate hovers at about 50% and serial marriages become more common, it makes sense that two mediagenic authors would strike a chord with an etiquette manual for blended families. But what's made Jann Blackstone-Ford and Sharyl Jupe and their book, Ex-Etiquette for Parents: Good Behavior After a Divorce or Separation, into media catnip is the unusual relationship between the two authors: Blackstone-Ford is a professional divorce and stepfamily mediator, while Jupe is Blackstone-Ford's current husband's ex-wife.
After just one cold call from Chicago Review Press publicity manager Catherine Bosin, Good Morning America featured the authors on the show. Their story has been told in magazines and newspapers across the country. In addition to a December 6 Newsweek article about dealing with blended families during the holidays and features in Child and Parenting magazines, the authors have appeared in the Contra Costa Times, the Fresno Bee, the Seattle Times, the Baltimore Sun and the Boston Herald. Within two weeks of its October release, Ex-Etiquette for Parents sold out of its initial print run of 5,000 copies and was out of stock for several weeks; a second 5,000-copy run is now arriving in stores, with a third under consideration.
But what may keep the book going strong is an even more unusual media break: Blackstone-Ford and Jupe were tapped to write a nationally syndicated weekly advice column for the Knight-Ridder newspapers. So far, the column, "Ex-Etiquette," runs in five newspapers: the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times, the San Diego Union Tribune, the Fort Wayne News Sentinel and the Duluth News-Tribune. The authors expect more Knight-Ridder newspapers to follow suit.
"People want the dirt, they want gossip, so they're focusing on the authors," said IPG publicist Sara Hoerdeman. "But they're also getting some useful tips."
