Category: bittersweet

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Tomorrow the fam and I are heading back up to my grandparents’ land, the place that inspired Bittersweet. It’ll be icy and frigid and snowy, a far cry the idyllic summer escape it’ll be in just a few months. I’m looking forward to a few days of quiet, away from the bustle of book promotion, and working on my new book, away from internet (which means I won’t be posting agin until next week), away from packing school lunches and pre-K drop-off and thinking of the winter as an insurmountable foe. I’m looking forward to being in a place I’ve known loved my whole life.

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

I just got off the phone with the fabulous Jessica (Crown marketing) and Rachel (Crown publicity), who are working their butts off to get the word about Bittersweet into the world! These ladies not only believe in the book, but take every idea and notion I have seriously (even when they’re off the wall), and respond to my emails promptly and warmly with wonderful news. Writing a book can be so so SO lonely, and, I’ve come to learn, so can publishing one. But these ladies never make me feel stranded, and I’m so grateful for their expertise, generosity and help. And, after this morning’s meeting, I’m REALLY excited about the book trailers! More news to come soon, I promise… 🙂

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

The possibility occurred to me this morning: “Oh God, maybe no one will read Bittersweet.”

It isn’t that this thought hasn’t occurred to me before. It’s floated through my brainpan ever since I signed the contract a year ago- but I’ve always been able to dismiss it because I’ve been too amazed at how lucky I am to get to do this again to be distracted by doubt. “Self,” I’ve said (to myself), “this is just too great to ruin by worry.”

And it’s worked. Until today.

The funny thing about this kind of anxiety is that it didn’t just spring from the blue, and it didn’t come in its obvious form, waving its arms and shouting, “Hey, let’s worry together!”

It came in the familiar green package of envy.

Specifically, it came in logging on to Twitter far too early in the day, clicking on a link to Instagram, and seeing these:

What are these? you ask, you who are not envy-deranged. These are gorgeous postcards made to promote Emma Straub’s novel, The Vacationers, which I have not read but I have heard wonderful things about, about a dysfunctional family on vacation in Mallorca. Her book comes out May 29th, the same month Bittersweet does, Bittersweet, which is also (incidentally) about a dysfunctional family on vacation on Lake Champlain (which ain’t no Mallorca, folks).

Oh those postcards! They were so beautiful! There were so many of them! They were posted on Instagram, where I don’t even have an account! And Straub has 16,000 followers on Twitter, a number so big that it is denoted as “16K” (I have 745). Straub is so well loved and well reviewed! And oh look, here on Facebook, Riverhead is giving away a galley with a bunch of warm stuff and they’re calling it “Emma Straub’s Winter Survival Kit” and running a giveaway and Oh my God why didn’t I think of that? Look at how many people have already commented on the Winter Survival Kit!!! All those people are going to LOVE her book! They are going to buy her book, and they’ll only have enough money for one summer book and only enough love in their hearts for one summer book, and it’s going to be her book, not MY book, and don’t even get me started on reviewers…

In other words, I panicked.

Now that I’ve had some PG Tips (cause I don’t drink coffee), I’m feeling a little calmer. And I’m laughing at myself. At my assumptions. At how fruitless envy is. I’m laughing envy out the door.

The truth is, in my non-envy-deranged state, I’m THRILLED for Emma Straub. I’m thrilled for anyone who is publishing a book these days; I believe we are a tribe that must have each other’s backs. And though I’ve never met her in person, I hope that having summer beachy books coming out the same month means we’ll have the chance to get to know each other this year, to help talk up each other’s books, to discover the similarities and differences between her beachy book and mine. To become friends to each other’s work.

Envy makes me so small, and worried, and mean. I don’t like being that person. If the possibilities that Bittersweet has brought have taught me anything, it’s that I prefer to have my arms wide open, to smile, to celebrate, to encourage, to rejoice.

Yeah, it’s a little cheesy. But it’s better than thinking: “Oh God, maybe no one will read Bittersweet,” or, for that matter, any of our books.

So: if you want to read a book I’ve heard fantastic things about, please consider preordering The Vacationers, by Emma Straub. I hear it’s going to be fantastic.

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

Oh, I’m so excited and greedy to show the world the haunting, intriguing, dark, and juicy work Kai and our team of actors (animal, child, and relative) helped make. I wish wish wish I could show them to you right now, but if I showed you, well, I’d have to kill you. (Wait, no, I’ve got to stop thinking like a Winslow… more like, if I showed you, then I’d miss the chance to be able to offer them to larger venue, who’ll show the trailers to a lot more people than would see them if they were posted here first). I promise, you’ll see the fruits of our labor soon. But in the meantime, here are a few pictures from the middle of our summer shoot to whet your appetite (and make me ache for summer all over again!):

This is part of the Bittersweet Book Launch case study, where Dan Blank and Miranda Beverly-Whittemore share the yearlong process of launching her novel. You can view all posts here.

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by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

One of the most uncomfortable aspects of putting on the self-promotion hat is asking- for favors, for addresses, for blurbs, for shared connections. These past couple weeks I’ve entered the “I want to send you my galley of Bittersweet” phase of The Ask, and it’s scary, asking people I admire and respect if they’d like a copy of my book, hoping they’ll read it, hoping it won’t embarrass me, hoping they might be able to help me get the word about my book into the world.

I’ve always found asking uncomfortable, but it’s especially strange to ask for something on behalf of something I’ve written. How do I keep it from feeling like I’m self-aggrandizing? How do I stop myself from sounding like I’m showing off? Here, in no particular order, are a few pointers I’ve come up with to keep myself sane:

1) Keep The Ask short and sweet. Start with a warm greeting and a point of connection (e.g.: “Our mutual friend X suggested I should write you”), but also make it clear that you are writing/calling because you want something: (e.g.: “I’m writing because I have a galley of Bittersweet I’d love to send your way.”) Don’t bury the favor way down deep; be upfront with what you need. That said…

2) You never know where The Ask will lead you. Let’s say you’re sending your book to someone who you believe will enjoy the read. Perhaps you know that they are connected to someone influential, but chances are, even if they are, you can’t predict who else they might mention your book to. The life of a book is winding and unexpected, and it should stay that way, because that’s how people come to love a book- they claim ownership over it.

3) Keep The Ask as general as possible (e.g. “I’d love to send you a copy of Bittersweet“) instead of microscopic (e.g. “I hope you can write a review for X in May when the book comes out”). The first option leaves open the chance for the asked to fall in love with the book, and claim it, and brainstorm their own ideas. The second, in addition to sounding presumptuous (unless you know someone very very well), closes down the conversation. Which leads me to…

4) Build in a follow-up. End your email with “I can’t wait to hear what you think!” If you’re not already connected to this person on social media, do so, and engage with them over the coming weeks in that forum. Send a follow-up email when you send them the book (“Just a heads up- Bittersweet is headed your way”). If/when they tell you they’ve read the book, respond warmly. Essentially, be nice and remind them you exist and are a great resource for them. Signal that you’re going to make it easy for them to help your book.

5) Be confident. The Ask is not a place to apologize. It’s likely that most of the people you’re asking are people who want to read a book. Especially a good book. And your book is good, right? So lead with that.

6) Stay humble. The Ask is not a place to brag. This is a hard balance to find. Because isn’t asking someone to read your book kind of like bragging? Well, no, not if you remember that having a book to send into the world doesn’t mean you’re better than anyone else. Acknowledge that the person you’re asking likely has a very full plate, and might not actually want to get your book in the mail. State how appreciative you are. One way to stick to this is to…

7) Quote others. Did someone really kickass blurb your book? Have you had any advance press? Quoting such positives will not only deflect some of the “I’m bragging” feeling away from you, it’ll also signal to the person you’re contacting that the larger world knows about your book and already likes it. Yes, this is a bit like middle school- if someone popular says you’re cool, you must be- but hey, it works, and it works because it’s true. Put those kudos to good use and help them with your Ask!

8) Be okay with no. Someone is going to say no to you. Someone you admire, trust, maybe even love, someone you were absolutely sure would help you when your book came out, is going to say no. It’s okay. People say no. There are a lot of other people who are going to say yes.