Clive Cussler was the author of more than 70 books in five bestselling series, beginning with THE MEDITERRANEAN CAPER, the opening installment in the Dirk Pitt adventure series, which debuted in 1973.
A second Dirk Pitt novel followed, but it was the third one --- RAISE THE TITANIC! --- that paved the way for a new level of success. The book reached number two on the New York Times bestseller list following its publication on October 26, 1976, and Clive’s career would never be the same again.
Over the five decades that followed, Clive’s novels appeared on the national bestseller charts dozens of times featuring an array of his colorful and resourceful protagonists. In 2004, the Dirk Pitt adventure BLACK WIND welcomed Clive’s son, Dirk, as coauthor of the series for the first time. Today, Dirk Cussler remains the architect of the Pitt franchise, with Clive having passed away in 2020.
In this interview, longtime Cussler fan Walter Winterburn, who now oversees the Facebook operations of the Clive Cussler Collector’s Society, talks to Michael Barson --- Clive’s primary publicist at Putnam from 1999 to 2015 --- about the publishing history of the groundbreaking RAISE THE TITANIC! as it celebrates its 50th anniversary year.
And many thanks to Cussler fan Mike Branigan for providing counsel, along with illustrations from his splendid collection, some of which you can see on this page.
Question: What was the standing of Clive Cussler in the world of adventure novels prior to the publication of RAISE THE TITANIC! in 1976? Were his first few Dirk Pitt novels considered commercial successes?
Walter Winterburn: The publication of ICEBERG was only around 5,000 copies, with an estimated 3,200 sold, many of which went to libraries. THE MEDITERRANEAN CAPER, published as a mass market paperback, was around 45,000 printed, with a reported 30,000 sold. So I don't believe they were all that successful, especially after the publisher Dodd, Mead & Co. turned down RAISE THE TITANIC!, in part due to Publishers Weekly at that time saying that sales in Fiction were lagging.
Q: As far as you are aware, did Viking, the publisher of RAISE THE TITANIC!, position it as anything special for its release on October 26, 1976?
WW: Once Viking decided to go with the book, it is apparent from correspondence between Clive and the publisher that they made a big deal out of promoting it. There was a promotion package consisting of a book cover poster, a biography of Clive, and a synopsis/write-up about the book. In addition, hard copies were sent, requesting the book to be reviewed --- a large media push, though not all reviews were favorable! --- along with a promotional card for sellers to request orders. According to the ARC (advance reader copy) notes, there was a $40,000 advertising campaign and a first printing of 65,000.
Q: Once the book was published, was there an immediate reaction to it on the part of the review media and/or the book-buying public? Or was it more of a slow build over a period of time?
WW: Wayne Valero’s essential history of Cussler publications says that the book sold 150,000 copies in its first two printings. This was evidenced by it being number two by the end of January 1977 on the New York Times bestseller list, where it stayed for 24 weeks. At this point, Clive could claim to be the author of a true national bestseller.
Q: Did Clive himself regard RAISE THE TITANIC! as something special at the time? Or was it more or less equal to his other Dirk Pitt adventures in his eyes?
WW: After the rejection from Dodd, Mead, he and his agent were a little set back. They tried a few other publishers, with Clive eventually signing with Viking. So it became very apparent that Viking saw the potential, even to go as far as to change the title from TITANIC to RAISE THE TITANIC! and with very little editing.
Q: With the benefit of having 50 years hindsight now, how do you regard the book when compared to the dozens of subsequent Pitt novels that followed over the years?
WW: Personally, I still enjoy reading it. Over time, you see how Clive matured in his writing, even setting his own standard of no cursing/foul language and not bogging down the reader with too much technical jargon. However, it has been noted that some modern-day readers have a hard time separating fact from fiction, with the most common statement being: The ship was found in two pieces.
Q: Do you find that RAISE THE TITANIC! is held in special regard today by Clive’s enormous fan base? If so, what are the qualities it possesses that might account for that?
WW: RAISE THE TITANIC! set the tone and established the formula for all future Dirk Pitt novels --- a historical prologue, the "What if" scenario, an epically evil bad guy who has a need for some object or artifact, and for our hero Pitt to save the world from that villainy against all odds. This is what I believe established Clive as one of our premier action/thriller adventure writers for so many decades.
