--- title: How to Be a Lady Author According to Advice From the 1960s description: A 1969 photo shoot with author Jeanne Rejaunier suggests that 'lady authors' must pose for publicity shots in bed and exercise in bikinis. canonical: https://time.com/3977614/lady-author-advice-1960s/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-04T12:00:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:12.003Z og:title: This Is How 'Lady Authors' Were Told to Promote Their Books in the 1960s og:description: A 1969 photo shoot with author Jeanne Rejaunier suggests that 'lady authors' must pose for publicity shots in bed and exercise in bikinis. og:url: https://time.com/3977614/lady-author-advice-1960s/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is How 'Lady Authors' Were Told to Promote Their Books in the 1960s twitter:description: A 1969 photo shoot with author Jeanne Rejaunier suggests that 'lady authors' must pose for publicity shots in bed and exercise in bikinis. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Is How 'Lady Authors' Were Told to Promote Their Books in the 1960s  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 4, 2015 12:00 PM UTC  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 4, 2015 12:00 PM UTC Modern advice for any writer looking to make a living might include working tirelessly to hone one’s craft, striving to understand the business and considering whether one’s narrative would work in a movie adaptation. But in 1969, when model-turned-author Jeanne Rejaunier was promoting her new novel, _The Beauty Trap_, the advice was a little more gender-specific. In a LIFE photo essay called “What it takes to be a lady author anymore,” Rejaunier posed for shots that demonstrated how a woman should promote her literary work. A successful lady author, the captions suggested, must “swim a little,” “exercise in a bikini” and be “photographed in bed.” The essay attributed the success of her book, a novel based on the dark side of the modeling world, to Rejaunier’s beauty rather than her literary talents: “Just possibly because she smiles so prettily on the book jacket (the back _and_ the front of the book) _The Beauty Trap_ is now in its fourth printing.” It’s difficult to know, in retrospect, whether the captions might be tinged with a hint of satire, or whether Rejaunier’s participation was entirely voluntary or urged by eager publicists. Whatever the intent, the effect was to suggest that a few sultry glamor shots would go further than any serious engagement with the substance of the book. Whether or not Rejaunier enjoyed fulfilling the role of a “lady author” as LIFE proscribed it—a former model, she was at least used to posing for photos—there were certainly forces beyond her control influencing the marketing strategy for her novel. “There is a difference of opinion about whether or not Jeanne put herself inside _The Beauty Trap_ as a character,” read the article. “The publisher is responsible for putting her outside it.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Author of "The Beauty Trap," Jeanne Rejaunier. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A lady author must: swim a little. Jeanne appreciates the water. She lives in a Hollywood apartment and doesn't have a pool of her own yet, but she uses one belonging to a friend whenever she wants. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A lady author must: exercise in a bikini. Writing a minor best-seller is sedentary work, but when promoting one a lithe figure is very useful. This contraption strengthens the stomach muscles and figures of speech. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Author of "The Beauty Trap," Jeanne Rejaunier. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A lady author must: have her own billboard. There is a special thrill, Jeanne admits, to seeing yourself on a Hollywood billboard. Now that her face is well-known, she often visits bookstores and boosts her novel's sales. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Jeanne Rejaunier is a lady author, as you can plainly see—the new sort of lady author is always photographed in bed. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Author of "The Beauty Trap," Jeanne Rejaunier. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A lady author must: Jeanne's first purchase with $15,000 advance was Red Pepper (left), a chestnut gelding. She fell off last year, broke a vertebra and wore a brace for months. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Author of "The Beauty Trap," Jeanne Rejaunier. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. A lady author must: commune with nature. There isn't an awful lot of nature to commune with in Hollywood, but Jeanne does her best with a rake and leaves, both borrowed from her apartement house. The Victorian dress is brand-new. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Author of "The Beauty Trap," Jeanne Rejaunier. 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