Michael Engelhard has three new books out in 2024. Two are based on his life in Alaska and published by Pacific Northwest companies: the memoir Arctic Traverse (Mountaineers) and What the River Knows (Hancock House), an essay collection.
His third book this year explores the Grand Canyon. For No Walk In The Park:Seeking Thrills, Eco-Wisdom, And Legacies In The Grand Canyon. Michael decided to publish the book himself under the imprint Corax Books.
Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Engelhard has worked 25 years as an outdoor instructor and wilderness guide in Alaska and the canyon country. He is the author of 12 books.
Throughout the year, Engelhard plans to strategically schedule events to cross-promote all three titles simultaneously. We recently did an interview via email on how he came to have three books out in one year and what’s the best way to promote that many titles. You can learn more about all his titles at michaelengelhard.com.
Interview with Michael Engelhard
Why did you settle in Alaska?
I came to Alaska as an exchange student from Germany in 1989. I had wanted to live “up north” for a very long time—too much Jack London at a susceptible age you could say. I fell promptly in love with cabin life in Fairbanks, the Native cultures, and the immense swaths of public lands, especially in Alaska’s Arctic, all of which have inspired me ever since. My memoir Arctic Traverse and the essay collection What the River Knows are only the latest in a number of books and articles that have sprung from my fascination.
Why did you decide to bring out three books this year?
For starters, 2024 marks the centennial of the first official Wilderness (in the Gila National Forest, New Mexico), pushed for by the proponent of a “land ethic,” Aldo Leopold, a whopping four decades before the Wilderness Act. And most of my writing and much of my life is centered on the dual concept of wildness-wilderness. So, publishing three books on the subject this year feels like an appropriate commemoration. On a practical level, it allows me to cross-promote these books simultaneously.
Which came first: wilderness guide or writer?
Actually, anthropologist came first. Working with Alaska Native peoples, I discovered an interest in storytelling and what I call “the symbolic dimensions of landscapes” —place names and related myths, cognitive maps and ways of wayfinding, the lived experience of a landscape beyond subsistence activities. I only became a wilderness guide after I taught briefly at the university and found that for me, an indoor classroom is not the best setting to educate (and entertain) people. Also, while I worked on my Ph.D. I spent more and more time in front of computers and less in the outdoors, doing fieldwork.
What has been the greatest challenge in promoting your work?
It is hard to decide what kind of thing to focus on: ads, reviews, guest blog posts, excerpts, podcasts, interviews, readings, appearances at conferences and book festivals, etc. The efficiency of these promotional activities can be hard to determine, since sales reflect their cumulative effect. Currently, my biggest challenge is to promote my Grand Canyon book, No Walk in the Park, while living in Alaska.
What do you think is the easiest thing for an author/publisher to do to promote new works?
It’s important to cultivate personal relationships in the industry over the years, with people very likely to respond positively to a particular new book, to prevent having it end up in the slush pile. The easiest thing that works, for an author, is to meet his or her readers at book events. You’re trying to sell yourself as much as you do a book.
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