In what may be a first, author David Litt, Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster and book designer Alex Merto have collaborated on a promotion with master surfboard shaper Ryan Lovelace and New Jersey surf shop Glide Surf Co. The result is a surfboard with book cover art on it featuring Litt's It's Only Drowning: A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground, whose pub date is June 24. Litt, a former Obama speechwriter, said, "I'm hoping it starts a trend. I would certainly be proud to shred on a Jurassic Park board, or to cruise some Hamptons waves on a deep-blue Great Gatsby." The board will be given away as part of the book's pre-order campaign.
