Hospitality on the rocks

The U-turn by Gordon's over the provision of free gin for the launch of Carol Thatcher's biography of her father, Sir Denis Thatcher, has proved faster and more effective in damage-limitation terms than the Government's efforts to assuage fears about beef. Yesterday, a few hours after its refusal became public, the company announced that it would be happy to sponsor the party after all.

The reason for Gordon's initial refusal was its worry that the name of Sir Denis would conjure up the antediluvian image of the gin drinker as a crotchety old buffer who likes his gin neat and pink. Gordon's gin is searching for the youthful image Cinzano and Bacardi have enjoyed. An overt association with Sir Denis "would take us back to the dark ages", said Gordon's.

Thankfully, common sense has prevailed. Sponsorship of Carol's and Sir Denis's party is hardly likely to jeopardise the company's image. But why should authors be forced to suffer the humiliation of having to seek sponsorship for their launches?

Once upon a time, publishers were generous party hosts. A party to launch a book was the expectation of every non-fiction author, an engine of promotion that would generate a buzz. Now we have publishing conglomerates, dump- bins, discounting and sponsored launch parties. A publisher will make a contribution towards the cost of a party and will handle such burdens as the printing of invitations, but beyond that it is up to the author to find a sure-footed path through the enterprise culture.

Almost three years ago, I held a launch party for my anthology The Penguin Book of Interviews, to which I blithely invited 800 guests. My publisher weighed in with its widow's mite contribution of pounds 250 and I managed to attract sponsors whose products would stimulate the most jaded of partygoing palates. We found a hotel that was willing to give over its dining room for the evening at cost price and persuaded a camera company to act as the underwriting sponsor (paying for the hotel's staff costs and loss of dining trade). Then I found a large drinks company to provide an array of underexposed brands - a vodka, a malt whisky, a red wine, a range of soft-drink mixers. The final element in the line-up was an energetic new cheese supplier.

The benefits a drinks company will derive from sponsoring a publisher's launch are intangible. Equally intangible is what kind of benefit the author and publisher will derive from it. Will the guests be more likely to choose that product above others in future? Will they buy the author's book? As the screenwriter William Goldman once observed about the film business, "Nobody knows."

If Carol had wanted to guarantee sponsorship for her party, she should have approached a less familiar brand of gin. As it is, she and Sir Denis have been lucky that United Distillers felt embarrassed by the leaking of an insulting memorandum. But the whole episode has served to achieve that quintessential goal for any sponsor or author: to raise one's profile.

As I've contributed to the process too, in my own humble way, I'm looking forward to receiving my invitation to the bash from HarperCollins's publicity department. Mine's a large one.