Woman Sells Book; Book Sells You

Your 15 minutes of fame await
Tuesday, July 3, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER

I gave Marta Tracy [pictured left] my name and number without thinking.

"You see what I just did?" she asked after taking it down.

My information is now indelibly inscribed in Tracy's Rolodex of contacts, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Food Network host Paula Deen, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and "The View" host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

A television producer responsible for launching the Style network as well as helping to create E! Entertainment Television, Tracy has been putting people on TV for more than 30 years. She treats every phone number like a keeper -- and so should you.

Networking one name at a time is only one of the many insider tips she lays bare in her book, "Starring You!" which arrives in bookstores this week.

"People kept coming to me and getting advice from me about getting onto television," said the Old Tappan resident. "I'd see them on TV a few months later."

Now you, too, can get the Tracy treatment. "Starring You!" is a step-by-step guide to getting booked on TV shows, something that almost everyone should do, according to Tracy and co-writer Terence Noonan, a co-producer on "The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet."

"I think that television is still the most powerful medium for getting your message out," said Tracy, claiming that the Internet has yet to outdo the tube in terms of mass influence. Whether you actually want to become a TV personality or you want to "launch your brand, your business and your life," as Tracy is fond of repeating, the glowing box is the way to go.

Tracy herself was a convert to television. At Boston College, she studied education but eventually "just felt that the box was a little bit small for me."

"Sophomore year, I happened to pass a sign in the basement of the education building that said 'TV 101,' " she recalled. "I just had an aha! moment -- gosh that sounds so exciting, that's what I want to do!"

The problem was, Tracy discovered, she had no contacts in an industry where who you know is everything -- hence, her now fanatic dedication to the expansion of her Rolodex. As a fresh college grad, she spent three years pounding the pavement before a tenuous tie got her in the door at the children's show "Captain Kangaroo." By the time she was in her late 20s, Tracy was working at HBO with a then-fresh-faced Matt Lauer on entertainment segments.

Nowadays, as the owner of her own company that realizes the dreams of would-be TV guests, Tracy wouldn't trade her career for anything else. What's best, she said, is "the opportunity to be creative, to work with other creative people."

Tracy is working on a show concept that she hopes to bring to fruition soon. "It's actually confidential, but I hope you'll see it on the E! network soon," she said. "It's some of the best work that I've done in my life."

But don't expect to see "The Marta Tracy Show" anytime soon.

"I have never wanted to be in front of the camera," she said. "It was very clear to me when I was in college, working with talents in TV, that I enjoyed helping the talent get on TV and on the screen. But I never considered myself an actress.

"The best role I ever had was to help give [others] confidence," she added.

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.