On launching, expectations, spangly dresses and pouring your own champagne
You go through so many moments on the writerâs journey: the moment you decide to, and then finish, an actual book, with characters, and plot and that you actually think, yeah, this is worth working at; the moment you think, âmaybe someone else might want to read thisâ; the moment you go, âno they wonâtâ; the moment you KNOW they wonât; the throwing in the towel; the picking it up; the hand wringing and friend-making and tentatively stepping out into the professional world of words.Â
The most common moment is when you tell someone, âIâm a writer,â and they (family, friend, colleague, the person you just met on the bus who would really rather you were not having a conversation with them) say, âOh, can I buy your book.â (or something to that effect), and you rapidly change the subject.
Thereâs this new moment now, when you get say âIâm a writerâ and then get back it up when your conversational partner sits up, looks a little taken aback, and then, leans forward and wants to know more. Iâll be honest, for the rest of my life, I will love this moment the most. And you get to say, with chest puffed and hair flicked, âwhy, yes, thank you for asking, you may.â
Launching a book in a pandemic, however, was not something I ever expected to happen. When I was 23 and was briefly working at Bloomsbury publishing the highlight of the whole experience was supporting and promoting a simultaneous book launch for Susanna Clarkeâs âJonothan Strange & Mr Norellâ, the amazing Kahled Hosseiniâs âThe Kite Runnerâ and âHavoc, in its third yearâ by Ronan Bennett. It was so glamorous. People would come up to me thinking I was a person of influence (I was not, but I let them think it for a little while). I was mostly there to sell books. When I was alone at that party Iâd look out of the glorious window into Soho Square and dream of my book launch. One day, in the distant haze, when I would be at my own party - the coolness of it, the exclusivity. ..
By the time I actually launched my debut novel, one month ago now, that it wasnât anything like that. Iâm sure glam launches like that happen (will happen again) but multiple KidLit launches I have hd the gift of attending rewrote my expectations.
All I wanted - expected - was a gathering of loads of lovely people, some family, warm wine, cake with a sugar content that would put twinkies to shame, and maybe, Iâd say a few words before letting everyone mingle and then hop to the pub with a copy of my book under their arm. It would be cozy, full of laughter, and with some moments of abject embarrassment and pride.
My launch, virtual as it was, delivered EXACTLY that (minus the pub part, for now).
We only had âroom on the zoomâ for 100 people so I even got a little of the exclusivity my young and deluded self would have desired. The one thing I always dreaded doing at a launch - an interview - was going to be a necessity, and the incredible Dr Leah Phillips, who I have fangirled over for a few years agreed to host. Leah has written some amazing academic books and papers about YA, and women and identities in YA, and is the founder and chair of the YA Studies Association. So it was sort of like being interviewed by the foremost expert in the thing I have been fangirling about, and also slaving away at for decades.
Speeches preceded, of course. My incredible editor Mattie Whitehead basically made me cry (my other fab editor, now Senior Commissioning Editor of Oneworldâs Rock the Boat childrenâs and YA list, Katie Jennings was there too to celebrate). Everyone joined wearing masks to mimic the masks worn by the women in the Auction events.
Some of the people I thanked included my fabulous crit group who were part of so much of this journey: Charlotte Teeple-Salas, Olivia Whitehead, Helen Simmonds, Jenny Rees, Mandy Rabin, Andrea Fowkes; the fabulous SCBWI and the Undiscovered Voices team, Golden Egg Academy and Word Theatre, through whom I learned to hone the craft I had been working on for years alone. My family for all their support and my husband who missed his thanks as he was addressing crying babies in the room two doors down. Then we got down to the interview, I drank 3 glasses of fizz and we closed with a fab Q&A. We recorded the event so hopefully Iâll share that soon!
Thereâs a sadness in me though as one person who I wished could have lived to see my book published, the INCREDIBLE person and talented Jane Zingale died a week before my book was published. Jane was one of my greatest supporters and my twin in submitting flash stories. She was there when I gave up my last book and when I told her about this new idea Iâd had. She was the first to read a lot of my work. Her writing is spectacular, please read her words or listen to her stories when you can. She also inspired a character in the book, Madam Cramp.
A virtual launch meant some of my dearest friends from overseas could dial in. My 94 year old uncle and as my friendâs 2 year old. How many book launches get such amazing breadth of experience and geography attending. Certainly not the kind of events you have in posh houses in Soho square. It may not have been posh, or exclusive, but it was magnificent. It meant lots of lovely booksales for the awesome Through the Wardrobe Bookshop during a time when itâs so important to buy books! Also, I got dressed up for the first time in almost a year, so that was definitely a bonus. Though, I was also wearing jeans and slippers. Best of both worlds. I wouldnât have it any other way.
See some of the tweets from the amazing people who attended, pictures and even drawings from the launch! https://twitter.com/i/moments/edit/1358042288111427596
