Firsts

A Tale of Two Launches

Tuesday, August 14, 2018
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I had two launch parties for Girlish—one in my hometown of Rochester, NY, and one in my current town, Cleveland. Old Hometown Launch Venue: Writers and Books (a writing center) Food: Beautiful appetizer and dessert trays, which remained largely uneaten. Two kinds of wine + bottled water, most of which remained largely undrank. Agenda: chatting, signing, and general milling about. I did a 10-minute reading from Girlish. Takeways: People don’t care…

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Happy Birthday, FROM UNSEEN FIRE!

Tuesday, April 17, 2018
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  I love that my normal posting day is Tuesday, which is the day new books come into the world. (No one knows why this is, not even Judy Blume. I know this because I was in her bookstore on a Tuesday when they were shelving new books and I asked Judy Blume why books always release on Tuesdays and she said that she had no idea. Investigative journalism at…

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The Offer Call/Email for Girlish

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
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I was sitting on the cabin porch when I got The Call, which in my case, was not actually a call but an email—Thank God, because I hate talking on the phone and the cabin has really bad cell service. (The plastic sheeting pictured here was down when I actually got the email, because it was summer. However, today it is not anything close to summer so the plastic is…

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It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Kaitlyn’s Path to Publication

Friday, December 8, 2017
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I met my agent during a live tweet of 50 Shades of Grey. It was a different time back then. Twitter was a different kind of place. We did live tweets that dissected the fact that Ana’s never allowed to eat in that damn movie (BUT REALLY THOUGH) and made friends over silly jokes. There were fewer Nazis to worry about. The world was not yet on fire. But I digress……

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Running Down a Dream

Thursday, October 26, 2017
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When my first book is published, I will be forty-seven years old. This dream has been cyclical—one I’ve embraced and abandoned multiple times throughout my life. I wrote my first story in the sixth grade. It was depressing: An old, lonely widow (who loves celery) visits the grave of his wife. I gave it to my dad for his birthday, and was baffled by how hard he laughed after he…

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Book Launch Love

Monday, August 22, 2016
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Our theme this week is what we loved about our debut year. There are so many wonderful moments in a debut year to choose from—from getting that first request for a full manuscript from an agent to the day your sale goes through, to seeing your cover for the first time to holding your book in your hand—but book launch is really hard to top. The thing about your book…

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After the Acknowledgments

Monday, August 8, 2016
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After I handed in my acknowledgements to my editor, a funny thing happened. I kept receiving all of the help and guidance and love from all of the people! So today, one day before The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living is launched into the world, let me say thank you to the people who have done so much for me and my debut novel after I turned my acknowledgements…

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UPTOWN THIEF Launch Week!

Uptown Thief by Aya de Leon
Monday, August 1, 2016
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It is the 2nd Monday in a row that I have the great honor of kicking off The Debutante Ball celebration of another one of our authors—this week, Aya de Leon! I am so grateful to have met Aya on The Debutante Ball! She has been a constant source of positive energy She is wonderfully funny and honest, and always keeps our spirits high. I have learned so much from…

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Launch Week! Give it Up for Heather Young and The Lost Girls!

THE LOST GIRLS by Heather Young
Monday, July 25, 2016
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I have the great honor of kicking off Heather Young’s launch week, celebrating the publication of her debut novel THE LOST GIRLS. But before I tell you about THE LOST GIRLS, I just want to say what a joy it has been to share this year with Heather. She is one of the funniest people I have ever met, and she never fails to make me laugh at myself. She…

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Book Launch: Fantasy vs. Reality

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller
Monday, June 27, 2016
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I have been dreaming about my book launch party for as long as I have been dreaming about publishing a book, which is another way of saying a very long time. Your book party is your chance to celebrate. Book in hand, it’s your moment to say YES, I did it. All of those years of writing and revising, all of those hours agonizing over agent lists and query letters,…

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