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Author Spotlight

January 2009 --- Jay Toberman

Most people dream of a life filled with adventure. For Jay Toberman, author of Don’t Quit Your Day Job, it wasn’t enough to just dream about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro or hiking the Incan trail to Machu Picchu. He had to do it.

Living in Minneapolis during the rigid, cold winters meant that Toberman had to find something to occupy his free time at home. After looking through all of his travel diaries, he realized he had the makings of a book.

“I had a lot of small diaries accumulated from my adventure trips. Being in the winter tundra area of Minnesota which keeps me indoors, I started writing out my notes. I started to realize that I might have the makings of a book. I took classes on writing and what it takes to become an author,” Toberman said.

Toberman selected iUniverse because of its affordability. While going through the production and post production process, he also took notice of how his contact was always available for any questions and the ease it took to order books. The service Toberman received led him into looking at the marketing services offered by iUniverse.  One iUniverse marketing service that he took notice of was the Radio-TV Interview Report (RTIR) Program. Through this program, authors, their credentials, and their availability for interviews reaches producers, hosts, and program directors for radio and television stations in the United States and Canada. As a part of this program, WIMA Radio in Lima, Ohio, became aware of Toberman. After an appearance on a segment for the station’s midday program, Toberman got his break.

“As the result of a successful appearance, I got invited to do a weekly spot on WIMA,” said Toberman. “I am their travel guy.”

Toberman was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Although the disease has limited physical activities such as mountain climbing and hiking, Toberman still embarks on many adventures. Recently, he went on a kayak, camping adventure in the Galapagos. His group was the only outfit allowed to camp on the islands.

His advice to those with similar setbacks is simple. “Don’t let a disease stop you from doing adventures. Don’t let it ruin your life,” he said. Although he is in his 50s, Toberman believes adventure can start at any age.