Burt Levy’s "The Last Open Road" Enters Fifth Printing
By: RACER staff
Oak Park, Ill., December 13

When author/motorsports journalist/amateur racer Burt "BS" Levy finished the manuscript of his 1950s racing novel The Last Open Road in 1993, nobody wanted it. In fact, it was turned down by, in his own words, "damn near every publisher in Manhattan." Several liked it, but felt there was "no market for 'car' fiction." Or, as one particularly arrogant New York publishing executive told him: "Those people don't read!" But Burt thought otherwise. And so, with wife Carol's trembling approval, they took out a second mortgage and published it themselves in July of 1994.

It was hard work, taking a van full of books from one race event to another and mounting a shoestring ad campaign that amounted to little more than putting up Xeroxed "potty posters" over urinals and inside porta johns at racetracks. Especially when Burt was also racing those weekends in cars that ranged from MGs to Maseratis and GT40s to NASCAR stock cars. But the word spread, great reviews followed in the motorsports press both here and overseas, Dan Gurney wrote to say how much he enjoyed the book and World Champ and three-time Le Mans winner Phil Hill gave copies as Christmas presents.

Burt and Carol sold out two printings (just over 12,000 copies) and the book was picked up by a major New York publisher, St. Martins Press, and re-released in May of 1998.

But this novelist's "dream come true" failed to live up to expectations. There was never any promotional budget or mainstream marketing effort from St. Martins. But the book continued to attract attention and sell well in the niche market Levy had developed (through racetrack and car museum souvenir shops, co-op magazine promotions, motorsports catalogs and enthusiast Web sites) and so, when the sequel, Montezuma's Ferrari, was finished in 1999, Levy decided to go it alone again. But he had an idea. Why not fund the project the same way modern motorsports is funded...with sponsorships and advertising!

It had never been done before, but The Last Open Road had a lot of fans and supporters. Many vintage and professional racing teams both here and overseas display The Last Open Road decals on their race cars. The response was
tremendous, and Burt was able to raise $55,000 in less than eight weeks, pay for the printing of the new book, and buy back the rights and remaining copies of The Last Open Road from St. Martins. Better yet, the full color advertising section in Montezuma's Ferrari was tastefully presented as an in-context 1950s sports car magazine bound right into the book. Many advertisers (like
Mercedes-Benz of North America, who bought a full page) came up with period ads that contributed greatly to the realization of the idea. This "novel" concept won Montezuma's Ferrari a Benjamin Franklin "Book of the Year" award from the Publishers Marketing Association. It has sold over 12,000 copies already and will be going out for a second printing early next year.

The third novel in Levy's 1950s racing trilogy, The Fabulous Trashwagon, debuted just two months ago and sales have been excellent (over $60,000 during pre-release "sneak previews" at Road America, Monterey, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, the USGP and Daytona this summer) and reviews in the motorsports media have once again been outstanding. Like Montezuma's Ferrari, the new book includes a sponsorship and advertising section, only this time disguised as a race program from the very last event in the story line, the inaugural race weekend at Road America in September of 1955.

Levy's books have established themselves as genuine cult classics on the road racing and car enthusiast scenes, and he looks forward to expanding that market this year. "There are a lot of racing fans out there who have never heard of my books, and I know it's our job to try and get the word to them," says Levy.

In the meantime, he's working on another racing novel and driving other people's race cars "as often as I can talk them into it."

For more information, contact THINK FAST INK at
(708) 383-7203, or check out www.lastopenroad.com.