Once Again, Bringing Books To Readers

Pumpkin people, in case you couldn't tell.

It's been a while since I've featured a children's author or a children's book or, I think, any kind of in-person author appearance here. You all know how I love Zoom. But I was at Pumpkintown USA today, which in this part of Connecticut is a big deal. I'm not being sarcastic. We love Pumpkintown in these parts. While I was walking around, I was reminded of a blog post I did around nine years ago, Getting Books Out Into The World, about Connecticut author Sandra Horning, who did a signing at Pumpkintown, as well as two other nontraditional sites, to promote a pumpkin picture book. No sooner did I start thinking about her, then what did I see but another author doing a book signing!

Peggy Schaedler, author, not pumpkin person

Author Peggy Schaedler was there supporting a series of books she's written about characters based on Pumpkintown characters. She's doing a number of weekend appearances there. Now, given that her books involve Pumpkintown it makes a great deal of sense that she should be making appearances there. Nonetheless, years ago you wouldn't have seen someone like her at a place like this, just as you wouldn't have seen someone like Sandra Horning there. They would have been at a bookstore or library.

Times have changed.

In large part, this is due to self-publishing. There are far more books being self-published than bookstores can absorb, the main reason why few self-published books are featured there. All writers, but particularly those who self-publish, are becoming more and more creative and working harder and harder to find ways to take their books to readers, since readers can't come to their books in bookstores 

Last year, for instance, I saw author Jo Ann Burgh at a porchfest. Many thanks to her. She promoted her appearance at a Facebook group I belong to, which brought me to the porchfest. Turns out, I love porchfests. Really, many thanks. I went back this year.

I am now a member of another Facebook group, Connecticut Authors and Their Readers Meeting Place, where I see authors posting about appearances at bars, vineyards, and breweries, among other places. These are often group appearances, meaning someone has not only approached these places about bringing their books in, but done some administrative work so a number of authors could come in. One Connecticut author who posts there and has had quite a bit of attention for her first book and has written a second says the bulk of her sales are made through these kinds of appearances.

These people, like Peggy Schaedler, are spending enormous amounts of time on marketing in a very real boots on the ground way.  Best wishes to all of them. But as I told Peggy today when I met her at Pumpkintown, I just don't want to work this hard. Yes, I am a little bit ashamed. But not enough to make the effort she and all these people are making. 

Bringing Connecticut Writers To The Public

Two local not necessarily literary events included/will include local authors in examples of thinking outside the box for book promotion. They are also examples of reaching readers who don't necessarily find their books through the traditional bookstore and library route.

Book At A Porchfest

One group of porchfest musicians

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a porchfest in Wethersfield, Connecticut. What is a porchfest, you may ask? I certainly did.  A porchfest is an annual event involving musicians performing on porches. They began in Ithaca, New York in 2007 and are now held across the U.S. and Canada. I've heard of a couple more in the last couple of weeks, before which time, I'd never heard of one at all.

The porchfest we attended was along a main street and the musicians were set up in front of stores and restaurants, creating a porchlike atmosphere, and performing at different times. Big variety of types of music. This porchfest also had businesses and artisans set up in the street, which had been closed to foot traffic. 

P. Jo Anne Burgh

Among the people with booths was author P. Jo Anne Burgh, author of State v. Claus and the upcoming Becoming Mrs. Claus. She had a great set-up and exhibited calm in a situation in which I rarely am. 

An interesting part of the Jo Anne/Porchfest/Gail story: She posted at a Connecticut Authors Facebook group we both belong to that she would be at Porchfest Wethersfield. I didn't know her, and I hadn't heard of this porchfest thing, though I live maybe 20 to 30 minutes away from where it was being held. I googled Porchfest Wethersfield and decided I wanted to go. I met Jo Anne, bought her book, had a great morning, have been talking about porchfests with family members ever since.

My point being, this is an example of social media marketing working. I don't know that it works as well or as often as the publishing world hoped when it latched onto it. I don't know that it works in big ways very often. Book titles going viral are probably pretty rare, and I don't know that viral Internet attention for a book necessarily leads to big sales. But I do believe it works in small ways like this.

An Author Stage At An Arts & Crafts Show

Next weekend, the River Bend Bookshop in Glastonbury, Connecticut is holding its Author Stage, which it has been doing for at least a couple of years, at the Glastonbury Arts' On The Green Arts & Crafts Show, which has been happening for a while, too. This features both adult and children's authors over multiple genres. 

A lot of authors over 2 days

Once again, I found out about this in interesting ways. Facebook friend (one I've actually met in the flesh) Stacy DeKeyser will be appearing and has posted about it on Facebook. I'm also on the River Bend Bookshop email list and have been notified that way. To be honest, I'm usually 6 to 8 weeks late reading the local weekly paper that would probably carry information on this. 

Give some thought to how information is spread these days and how you can hook yourself up with groups to make sure you get the kind of information you want. Being members of the "right groups" doesn't mean what it used to mean. Now it means getting access to their information.

 

A New Connecticut Appearance For Sara Levine With A Book Giveaway!

You will, of course, remember that New England children's writer Sara Levine made an appearance at my local library this summer. Well, she's going to be in Connecticut again this next week, Thursday, October 6 at the Guilford Public Library in Guilford. Time--4:15. 

For those of you in the area who can get there, this appearance is around her picture book The Animals Would Not Sleep, which is part of the Storytelling Math series from Charlesbridge Publishing. 

Also note that free signed copies of the book will be given to each child who registers. But, remember, separate preregistration is required for each child coming in order for each of them to get a book. You can find the registration form at the Guilford Public Library link above, but, heck, to make this easy, I'm going to link it again. Here. 

A great opportunity.

Virtual Author Events For September

Central Connecticut is exploding with in-person author events over the next couple of weeks. You'd think it was 2019 or something. However, you can still find a few virtual appearances, mainly coming out of the Brookline Booksmith in Massachusetts, for those of you who like to get around without actually getting around. I will update over the course of the month, if I stumble upon anything. 

Monday, Sept. 12, Amy Sarig King, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT  5:30 PM ET 

Wednesday, Sept. 14, Courtney Summers & Sara Farizan, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 7:00 PM ET

Friday, Sept. 16, Alison Ames and Courtney Gould, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 7:00 PM ET  

Sunday, Sept. 25, Kacen Callender with Rebecca Kim Wells, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 11:00 AM ET 

Wednesday, Sept. 28, Jesse Q. Sutanto with Ali Hazelwood, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 8:00 PM ET

Bone By Bone With Dr. Sara Levine

Last Wednesday, I attended Facebook friend and author Sara Levine's Bone By Bone presentation at my local library. Clearly I have missed my calling, or, at least, missed a good calling. If this event is any indication, bones have a powerful attraction for kids. The enthusiastic audience put Sara to work discussing the bones she had on display before she was even introduced.

Sara, who is a veterinarian, was an assistant professor of biology for 12 years and has taught children’s environmental education classes for for over 20. Experience shows, both in terms of her knowledge of her material and ability to deal with children.

I try not to share much of authors' presentation material. However, I have to say that Sara has a bone box. I will not say what she does with it. But, come on--a bone box! And I was sitting very close to it. 

This presentation included a reading of Sara's book Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons, illustrated by T.S. Spookytooth. She has also written eight other books, and has three more coming out in 2023 and one in 2024.

Some Virtual Opportunities For June

As the Covid positivity rate went up and up across the country, I came across fewer and fewer virtual appearances for children's writers. That explains why I didn't do a Virtual Appearances For May post. I'm seeing more again for next month. 

I will add to this post over the month of June, if I come across more material

June 1 Nora Raleigh Baskin, Debbie Reed Fischer, Debra Green, Jonathan Rosen, Melissa Roske, Books & Books and Miami Book Fair, Miami, Florida 7:00 PM ET

June 8 Dan Abdo and Jason Paterson, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 5:30 PM ET

June 10 and 11, Various Writers, nErDcampCTJr,, CT  Association of School Librarians, Colchester, CT Various sessions between 9:00 AM and 2:45 PM ET Open to K-12 students and their families.

June 14 Livia Blackburne and Alexandra Monir, Once Upon a Time Bookstore, Montrose, California 4:30 PM PT, 7:30 PM ET

June 15 Lynette Noni and Alexandra Bracken, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

June 21 Marika McCoola and Aatmya Pandya, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For April

Books of Wonder still has a great many virtual author visits scheduled. Other bookstores, not so much. There's a definite shift back to live visits, which may be good for host bookstores. Readers attending virtual author talks may be buying their books anywhere or not at all. But when the end of virtual opportunities arrives, as it probably will, it will make the world seem smaller for readers, with fewer opportunities.

As usual, if I stumble upon anymore appearances this month, I'll post them here.

April 9 Carrie Tillotson and Estrela Lourenco, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts 11:00 AM ET

April 19 Zibby Owens, Kerry Docherty, Karyn Parsons, Holly Hatam, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

April 25 Brady Smith, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT

April 26 Cameron Chittock and Amanda Castillo, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For March

As usual, I will update this list over the course of the month as new events come to my attention. And, once again, check out Books of Wonder's many upcoming virtual events.

March 1 Lincoln Peirce and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Marcy 2 Kelly Yang and Jerry Craft, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Austin, Texas 5:00 PM CST

March 2 Yamile Saied Mendez, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

March 7 Leslie Bulion and Becca Stadtlander, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

March 8 Jen Yen, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Austin, Texas 7:00 PM CST

March 8 Rebecca Podos and Katherine Locke, River Bend Bookshop, Glastonbury, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

March 8 Michele Assarasakorn and Nathan Fairbairn, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET  

March 14 Crystal Maldonado, Anna Meriano, and Skye Quinlan, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET  

March 17 Renee Kurilla, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 1:30 PM ET

March 22 John Cho and Kal Penn, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET   

March 22 Andrea Wang and Jason Chin, Blue Willow Bookshop, Austin, Texas 5:00 PM CST

March 29 Eric Gapstur and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET                  

Some Virtual Opportunities For February

Okay, now we're seeing events again.  Books of Wonder in New York City, for instance, has so many events planned just through February 15 that I didn't  try to list them. Scroll down for its array of children's book launches, panels, and group events. 

As always, I will update this list throughout the month as I stumble upon new virtual childlit author appearances. To catch anything new you can follow me on Twitter, where I tweet links to this post for each appearance as its date approaches.

Feb. 1 Greg Howard and Alan Gratz, Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe, Asheville, North Carolina 6:00 PM ET

Feb. 2 Greg Howard, Second Star to the Right Bookstore, Denver, Colorado 5:00 PM MST

Feb. 2 Haley Neil and Jean Meltzer, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 8:00 PM ET

Feb. 5 Greg Howard and Renee Ahdieh, Park Road Books, Charlotte, North Carolina 2:00 PM ET

Feb. 8 Nancy Tandon and Debbi Michiko Florence, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut 6:00 PM ET

Feb 8 Mac Barnett and Carson Ellis, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET 

Feb. 8 Lisa Stringfellow and Tui T. Sutherland, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET

Feb. 9 Dori Hillestad Butler, Kevan Atteberry, and Nancy Meyers, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Feb. 9 E.B. Goodale, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 4:00 PM ET 

Feb. 10 Paddy Donnelly, Second Star to the Right Bookstore, Denver, Colorado 10:00 AM MST

Feb. 12 Racquel Marie, Chloe Gong, Tashie Bhuiyan, and Christina Li, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET 

Feb. 15 Tommy Greenwald, Harvard Club of Fairfield County, Westport, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET Fee for nonmembers. 

Feb. 22 Lisa Stringfellow, Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Feb. 22 Michael D. Beil and Brittany Geragotelis, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET 

Feb. 24  Lesley Connor, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut  6:30 PM ET

Feb. 24  John Patrick Green, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut 6:00 PM ET

Feb. 27 Mariko Tamaki and Michael V. Smith, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 2:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For January

I didn't do a virtual opportunities post in December, because news of appearances were not cropping up in my social media. Author appearances pretty much disappeared in December back when I did the Connecticut Children's Literature Calendar pre-pandemic. While I'm seeing a little more action now on Facebook, events on bookstore calendars are sparse, and some bookstores that had been active last year have nothing at all scheduled right now. I don't know what's going on.

I hope to be adding to this calendar later in the month.  

Jan. 11 Nancy Springer, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Noon GMT (I believe that is ET in the U.S.)

Jan 12 Michelle Coles, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 10:30 AM ET

Jan. 12 Emilie Boon and Jamie A. Swenson, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 4:00 PM ET

Jan. 12 J. Elle and Brigid Kemmerer, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Houston, Texas 7:00 PM Central Time

Jan. 18 Dayna Lorentz and Chris Tebbetts, Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vermont 7:00 PM ET

Jan 22 Nancy Tandon, River Bend Book Bookshop, Glastonbury, Connecticut 3:15 PM ET (The sign-up is for an in-store event. Scroll down to get the virtual option. I did it. It works.)

Jan. 25 Jake Burt and James Ponti, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut   7:00 PM ET

Jan. 30 Alice Faye Duncan, Yolanda Gladden, Jamie Michalak, Debbi Michiko Florence, Karyn Parsons, Books of Wonder, New York, New York 1:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For November

  

Virtual author visits didn't seem to be falling in my lap for this month the way they did for earlier months, but, look, the post is beginning to fill up, after all. I will continue to add to it over the coming weeks as I see new opportunities. You can follow me on Twitter (@gail_gauthier) to see updates without having to keep coming back here. 

Nov. 3, Tracey Baptiste and Kelly Barnhill, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Nov. 4, Rachael Lippincott and Alex Richards, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Nov. 8 Melissa Stewart, The Writing Barn, Austin, Texas 6:00 PM CT

Nov. 9 Jennifer E. Smith and Leo Espinoza, Once Upon a Time Bookstore, Montrose, California 11:00 AM PT 

Nov. 9 Katherine Paterson, Christy Mihaly, Leda Schubert, Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, Vermont 7:00 PM ET

Nov. 10 Andrea Williams, Silver Unicorn Bookshop, Acton, Massachusetts 8:00 PM ET 

Nov. 13 Janet Lawler and Timothy Basil Ering, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 10:30 AM ET

Nov. 13 Stephanie Lucianovic and Anne Ursu, Linden Tree Books, Los Altos 11:00 AM PT

Nov. 18 Namina Forna, Pequot Library, Southport, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Nov. 20 Tricia Elam Walker, Silver Unicorn Bookshop, Acton, Massachusetts 11:00 AM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For October

As usual, I will be adding to this post over the course of the month.

Oct. 2 Chris Colfer, Book People, Austin, Texas  2:00 PM CT

Oct. 4 Victoria Kann, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 4:00 PM ET

Oct. 4 Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET

Oct. 4 Holly Jackson and Victoria Lee, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:00 PM ET

Oct. 5 Betsy Bird, The Book Stall, Winnetka, Illinois 6:30 PM CT

Oct. 6 Chris Negron, Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev, Christyne Morrell, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 7:00 PM ET Facebook Live

Oct. 6 Margaret Rogerson, Ayana Gray, and Chloe Gong, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 8:00 PM

Oct. 7 Victoria Kann, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 1:30 PM ET

Oct. 9 Rick Riordan, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 7:00 PM ET

Oct. 12 Rebecca Evans, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 11:00 AM ET 

Oct. 12 Dylan Dreyer and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET

Oct. 13 Eugene Yelchin, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 10:00 AM ET

Oct. 13 Gayle Forman and Adam Gidwitz, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Oct. 18 Brendan Wenzel, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 5:00 PM ET Facebook Live

Oct. 19 Maryann Cocca-Leffler and Janine Leffler, Print, A Bookstore, Portland, Maine 7:00 PM ET 

Oct. 19 Barbara Dee, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Oct. 21 Shelli R. Johannes and Maddie Frost, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 5:00 PM ET Facebook Live

Oct. 25 Ruth Freeman and Tricia Springstubb, Print, A Bookstore, Portland, Maine 7:00 PM ET

Sunday In The Park With Linda: An In-Person Author Appearance

Yesterday I attended an in-person book launch for Linda Zajac's very attractive and intriguing picture book, Robo-Motion: Robots That Move Like Animals.  It was the first in-person author appearance I've attended since, I believe, December 2019. 

I see a lot of book people on Facebook chomping at the bit to get back to in-person book events after a year-and-a-half of pandemic living. I've always found it difficult to feel all that enthusiastic about being with strangers in confined places, even before masks. Also, the last couple of years before Covid I was aware of how much of my time was going to running around doing...stuff. One positive thing the pandemic has done is give me some control over that. I've loved eliminating prep- and drive-time to attend literary on-line events. (I'm going to a workshop sponsored by an organization in Cincinnati this very evening!)

I also loved Linda's book launch, even though I had to iron a shirt to wear to it and drive fifteen minutes to get there. The site was in a pavilion in a charming town park, an outdoor, safer setting with some strolling possibilities on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. It wasn't a dead-end event, like going to the grocery store or the doctor or a bookstore, where you've made an effort to go for one thing and then go home.

At this book launch, you could chat and purchase a book and head off for an easy mile walk.

Sad to say, Linda has raised the bar for book launches for me. And not just because of the walk across an extensive lawn to this tower and the impressive view beyond it.

She served cake.

In-person Author Appearances Coming Back To Connecticut

In-person childlit author appearances are slowly coming back in a number of places. Here are a couple of interesting ones here in Connecticut, because they're outdoors.

Sept. 10 and 11 Children's writers are among the authors featured at the River Bend Bookshop Author Stage, Glastonbury. 

Part of the Arts on the Green Art and Craft Show.  

 

 

 

 

Sept. 26 Linda Zajac, Hartmann's Pavillion, Henry Park, Vernon 2-5

I think I heard there's going to be cake at this one, but I'm not sure.

Linda Zajac is another one of my writers' group colleagues who has done well.
 

Some Virtual Opportunities For August

I'm getting the virtual opportunities post up first thing this month, because there are several multi-author events coming up in the next week. I'll be updating over the course of August. 

Aug. 3 Helen Rutter and Gordon Korman, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madision, Connecticut 5:00 PM ET

Aug. 5 Amitha Knight, Sandhya Prabhat, Livia Blackburne, Belmont Books, Massachusetts 6:30 PM ET

Aug. 5 Tehlor Kay Mejia, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Aug. 7 & 8 Middle Ground Book Fest, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut  Panels all weekend, ET

Aug. 7 Tehlor Kay Mejia and Nina Moreno, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 12:00 PM CT

Aug. 7 Britta Lunkin, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 3:00 PM ET

Aug. 14 & 15 Virtual Indie Book Fest, YA panel on the 14th, Starting at 10:00 AM ET each day.

Aug. 16 Deb Caletti, Morgan Matson, Nafiza Azad, and Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 6:00 PM CT

Aug. 23 Chandra Prasad, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For July

This month I'm including a writers' conference. (See July 30-31 below.) The Northwestern University Summer Writers' Conference is of particular interest because, not only is it virtual this year, you can also just register for the workshops you're interested in. They offer options for one, two, three workshops, or the whole conference.

This is a big deal to me. Sad to say, my interests appear to be pretty narrow. I'm hard put to find enough workshops offered at a conference that fit my work, either as it is now or I want it to be, to make it worth attending a one- day conference, forget about two. And I'm talking conferences just an hour or two from my home. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know about the hanging around/networking thing. At least, I've heard about it. But if you've got only two one-hour workshops spread over even just a one-day conference that's a whole lot more hanging around/networking than I can tolerate. 

To be able to sign up for just one workshop, as I have for this NU program, and be able to attend it from my home--that is like a fantasy. On top of that, Northwestern is in Chicago. I am in southern New England. Yes, yes, we are talking a fantasy here. No, wait. We may be talking a futuristic sci-fi scenario.

UPDATE: I've added two more virtual opportunities for writers, these specifically for writers of children's books. See below.

As usual, as I hear about more virtual programs, I'll update this post. I tweet all the offerings so following me on Twitter would be a way to keep up with anything new that I find.

July 20 Alison Pearce Stevens, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska 7:00 PM CT 

July 20 Meghan P. Browne, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT

July 21 Max Brallier, Supriya Kelkar, Minh Le, Alicia D. Williams, Kate Milford, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut  7:00 PM ET 

July 21  Chris Tebbetts First of two-part webinar, The Writers' Loft, Sherborn, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

July 21 Diana Lopez, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT 

July 27 Erin Dionne First of a multi-part webinar, The Writers' Loft, Sherborn, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

July 28 Emily Arsenault, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

July 30-31 Northwestern University Summer Writers' Conference, Chicago, Illinois  CT

July 31 Jerry Craft, R.J. Julia Booksellers and E. Scranton Memorial Library, Madison, CT 10:00 AM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For June

I love virtual author appearances. Here are some I've stumbled upon. This post will be updated throughout the month as I stumble upon more.

June 1 Alicia D. Williams and April Harrison, Brave & Kind Books, Decatur, Georgia 12:00 PM ET 

June 2 Nick Bruel, Turning the Page, Monroe, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

June 2 Ann Hood, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

June 4 Sara Farizan, Charlie Jane Anders, A.S. King, Rebecca Kim Wells, Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts. 7:00 PM ET 

June 5 Debbi Michiko Florence and Josephine Cameron, Print A Bookstore, Portland, Maine 6:00 PM ET

June 5 Stephanie Sorkin, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 10:30 AM ET

June 10, J.C. Phillips, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

June 10 Jamie Pacton and Becky Albertalli, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas  7:00 PM CT

June 14 Mary Alice Monroe, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

June 15 Sarah Beth Durst and Jessica Day George, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT 

June 15 Shelli R. Johannes and Mike Moran, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT 4:00 PM

June 17 A.C. Wise, Space Cowboy Books, Joshua Tree, California 9:00 PM ET

June 22 Maddie Frost, Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Action, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET 

June 23 Daniel Aleman and L.C. Rosen, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT 7:00 PM ET

June 27 Jacqueline Woodson, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 4:00 PM CT

June 29 Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows, Brigid Kemmerer, R.J. Julia Booksellers,  Madison, CT 7:00 PM ET

June 30 Jennifer L. Holm, Savanna Ganucheau, Stephanie Cooke, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT

Some Virtual Opportunities

Here are some opportunities to see a number of children's literature authors--sometimes more than one at a time--from the comfort of your home. Choose appropriate snacks for the time of day. NOTE: I will add additional May dates to this post, as I come upon them.

The Silver Unicorn Bookstore in Acton, Massachusetts is featuring the following events. All can be accessed at the store's event page. Scroll down to look for them. 

• Wed., May 12 Virtual Paperback Launch for Debbi Michiko Florence and Jo Knowles 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET
  
• Thurs., May 13 Math-Joy Picture Book Spectacular. Rajani LaRocca, Sara Levine, and Carrie Finison 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET
  
• Wed., May 19 Adventures in Middle-Grade Three-Author Event. Rebecca Caprara with Kaela Rivera and Sam Subity 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET
  
• Sat., May 22 Saturday Morning Story Time. Phaea Crede and Terry Runyan 10:00 to 11:00 AM ET
  
• Thurs., May 27 Middle-Grade Author Event: Jenn Bishop, Laurie Morrison, and Tanya Guerrero 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET

John Green Tour, various bookstore sponsors, ticketed event. Tour supports his new book of essays.

• May 17, Northeast Stop, 7:30 to 8:30 PM  ET
  
• May 18, Western Stop, 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM  ET
  
• May 19, Southern Stop, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM  ET
  
• May 22, Midwest Stop, 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM  ET 

May 19 Alyson Gerber and Jarrett Lerner, Best of Books, Edmond, OK 7:00 PM CT

May 20 Stuart Gibbs, Children's Book World, Los Angeles, Calif., 10:00 AM presumably Pacific Time  Pre-purchase required for individual registration

May 22 The Peter Panel, Aiden Thomas, Kayla Ancrum, A.C. Wise, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Martha Brokenbrough 7:05 PM ET

May 24 The Renegades of Middle Grade: James Ponti, Janae Marks, Stuart Gibbs, Sarah Mlynowski, Karina Yan Glaser, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT  7:00 PM

May 26 Abdul-Razak Zachariah, Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT 4 to 5 PM ET

 

Barbara O'Connor's "Halfway to Harmony" Publishes This Month

Facebook friend Barbara O'Connor's new book, Halfway to Harmony, will be published on January 12. She'll be doing a virtual launch that day at 6:00 PM, hosted by Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina. 

Virtual, people. That means that no matter where you are, you can attend.

I'm going to miss this, because I'll be doing my annual retreat week. (Whatever that means in the time of Covid.) Otherwise, I would be all over this. I attended virtual launches in the midwest and Massachusetts last year. This year I want to go to book events all over the country. North Carolina would have been an incredible start for 2021.

Hmm. Maybe Barbara will do another.

Book Launch For "Seven Golden Rings"

While putting together the second post for October's book releases, I discovered that author Rajani LaRocca was having a book launch last week for her new picture book, Seven Golden Rings. You all know that when a virtual book event catches my fancy, I am in. So I did, indeed, register to attend. And showed up on time.

This was an excellent event on a couple of different levels.

As A Virtual Book Launch

Zoom event vs. webinar. Another book launch I attended this past summer was a traditional Zoom event, with the people attending showing up in the Zoom boxes a la The Brady Bunch. However, the Seven Golden Rings event, as a staff member from the bookstore sponsoring the launch (The Silver Unicorn Bookstore in Acton, Mass.) explained, was a webinar. The people running it could not see or hear the attendees, nor could any of us see or hear anyone else.

This means, folks, that not only did I not have to dress up for this thing, I could have washed my hair and sat there with it drying, as I would have if I'd known how this was going to go down. Seriously, not only do I not want to have to drive to go anywhere ever again, I don't want to have to get dressed or comb my hair while I'm taking part in it from home. 

By the way, 100 people registered to attend. By a few minutes after 7, when the show got on the road, 60 of us had shown up. More could have come later. But, you know, 60 people. Good work.

Interviewer and interviewee. So the bookstore staff person turned everything over to LaRocca, who was seated in what looked to be a whole lot better home office than I have, and the person who was going to interview her, author Hayley Barrett, who was somewhere else, since we're in the midst of a pandemic and all. Barrett and LaRocca are critique partners and have known each other for some time. A situation like that has the potential to go really badly, with all kinds of inside jokes and drifting off to their shared interests that listeners couldn't care less about. But au contraire. Barrett had the inside dope on what happened while this book was being written and knew just what to ask to get that information out.

The reading. LaRocca did a reading of the book. She did not just awkwardly hold the book open in front of a camera and turn the pages. She had her book loaded onto some kind of techie thing that kept it open and turned the pages. I don't know what it was, but it was terrific. 

A surprise guest. LaRocca's son turned up, coming to us from his dorm room. It made sense why he was there. I once had two college-age boys. They are terrific, too.

A model. I think this was an excellent model for how a virtual book launch can operate so it isn't just the author talking. Bring in your own, prepared interviewer. Have some good technology. Bring in a guest. 

As Exposure To A Lovely Book

I have now actually read Seven Golden Rings while it was being read to me by its author and have seen every page. It's a terrific story centering around a math/logic issue that I was actually able to understand. The illustrations by Archana Sreenivasan are wonderful. It's very, very possible that someone in my family is going to receive a copy of this book for Christmas. I will then share with him all the insider info I have about it, because I attended this book launch.