“Everyone in the book community is, by definition, looking to connect.” Love this reminder. Thanks for sharing the behind the scenes of this event! Sounds like a fun party. 🥳
Oh my gosh, this is incredible. What a clever idea! Now I'm trying to think of ways to kidlit-ify this for future books, and having visions of taking all the teachers in my school district out to lunch...
i appreciate this breakdown of the "ask-forgiveness-not-permission approach"! such a great reminder that emerging writers/authors have promo power over their work. thanks for sharing!
I love this interview! Especially this quote from Andi "in my experience, the best way to get to know content creators is to interact with their content!" -- it means so much to me when authors engage with the content I create, especially when it's one of their books!
There's so much chatter about how publishing houses don't have the resources to promote all of their authors--very inspiring to hear about a writer finding creative ways to connect to her readers. I wonder if this kind of buzz-generating event would work outside of NYC?
I think you can do it outside NYC—by just figuring out who is local. I learn where book influencers live either by their social media bios or when I collect their mailing addresses to send books
thank you Katherine! You ask an excellent question. Most of the bookstagrammers and BookTokers I follow primarily recommend fiction, so the first task would be to find the book influencers who read in your category (or come up with a creative guest list of podcast hosts/media?)
I agree, great question! And Leigh's idea of looking into podcast hosts and media is spot-on. Depending on the book's topic, you might also find subject-matter influencers instead of bookstagrammers/booktokers/etc...
Thank you so much for sharing the great pitch letter; it confirms my theory you need to heavily namedrop in the first paragraph in order to keep people reading.
For authors who have book parties in private homes, I've found it surprisingly easy to get donated wine. Its usually wine the producer can't sell so NBD.
As seen in the pitch letter, some shameless namedropping is required and/or evidence that the party attendees are the winery's target demographic (i.e. affluent spenders)
One warning; if you get a high end winery to participate, they'll probably expect you to provide a certain type of glass. And the marketing person will attend to do "the pour."
Thanks so much for coming and for chatting with me, Leigh!
thank you for sharing so much behind the scenes details! ⛴️⛴️⛴️
“Everyone in the book community is, by definition, looking to connect.” Love this reminder. Thanks for sharing the behind the scenes of this event! Sounds like a fun party. 🥳
Love this! It's making me think about an in-person promotional event for my newsletter! 😉
looooove that idea
I’ve been thinking about that too lately! Would love to know if you do it!
been brainstorming already this morning about this idea!
Thank you for sharing, Andi! all aboard!
Oh my gosh, this is incredible. What a clever idea! Now I'm trying to think of ways to kidlit-ify this for future books, and having visions of taking all the teachers in my school district out to lunch...
that would be so cool!
i appreciate this breakdown of the "ask-forgiveness-not-permission approach"! such a great reminder that emerging writers/authors have promo power over their work. thanks for sharing!
I love this interview! Especially this quote from Andi "in my experience, the best way to get to know content creators is to interact with their content!" -- it means so much to me when authors engage with the content I create, especially when it's one of their books!
And I had so much fun at The Last Ferry Out party!!!
I was so happy you made it!
Love this initiative. And Cheers to scrappiness!
What a fantastic post loaded with great ideas. Thank you Andrea and Leigh for sharing this.
love the recap of this party, what a fun event! Just grabbed your book. Thanks for all the help on my writing journey, truly!
thank you so much!
This is such an amazing interview with really helpful tips for authors!
There's so much chatter about how publishing houses don't have the resources to promote all of their authors--very inspiring to hear about a writer finding creative ways to connect to her readers. I wonder if this kind of buzz-generating event would work outside of NYC?
I think you can do it outside NYC—by just figuring out who is local. I learn where book influencers live either by their social media bios or when I collect their mailing addresses to send books
Super interesting post! Have you heard of non-fic authors pulling this off? And ps I just preordered your book!
thank you Katherine! You ask an excellent question. Most of the bookstagrammers and BookTokers I follow primarily recommend fiction, so the first task would be to find the book influencers who read in your category (or come up with a creative guest list of podcast hosts/media?)
I agree, great question! And Leigh's idea of looking into podcast hosts and media is spot-on. Depending on the book's topic, you might also find subject-matter influencers instead of bookstagrammers/booktokers/etc...
All aboard! Great article with super specific and actionable how-to’s!! Thanks to you both for sharing your insights!!!
Congratulations, you are the winner of The Last Ferry Out! I'll email you to get your address.
No way, I’m so excited!!! 🥳🥳🥳
Thank you for another great (info-filled) post. Thank you also for the shout-out (and all your support leading up to my book launch).
And congratulations on the review from Kirkus. Can't wait to read - and receive my stickers!
thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing the great pitch letter; it confirms my theory you need to heavily namedrop in the first paragraph in order to keep people reading.
For authors who have book parties in private homes, I've found it surprisingly easy to get donated wine. Its usually wine the producer can't sell so NBD.
As seen in the pitch letter, some shameless namedropping is required and/or evidence that the party attendees are the winery's target demographic (i.e. affluent spenders)
One warning; if you get a high end winery to participate, they'll probably expect you to provide a certain type of glass. And the marketing person will attend to do "the pour."
Ooh, this is great intel, thanks!