Twin Cities Book Festival 2012

First was Heartland Fall Forum, and then last Saturday, we hauled all of our books to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in  St. Paul for Rain Taxi Review's annual Twin Cities Book Festival.

This year was a little different as the festival wasn't held downtown at MCTC, but that just meant more space and WAY better parking. The weather ended up being pretty dreary, but the atmosphere inside was full of energy and excitement. Between the people stopping by our booth to buy books and the children in the children's pavilion across from us running around with painted faces and masks, it was a fun--and busy--day. Here are some of the pictures we managed to take throughout the day:

The sea of people browsing

Building Author Relationships Online

Was it just us, or did authors used to have an air of mystery about them? Maybe you saw them once at a book signing, but mostly they were just names on the covers of your favorite books. You felt a connection to them because of the words they wrote, but it didn't go far beyond that. Now things are different. With social media and the internet, authors, like everyone else, are searchable, followable, and accessible to everyone (not just those able to come to a signing). So what does that mean for readers?

I sent a tweet last winter that said my plan for the night was to curl up with some takeout food and a new book I had gotten. With Twitter, I usually expect my tweets to get lost in the chatter, but not long after, the author of said book tweeted me back to say it sounded like a perfect night. Did she have to do this? Not at all, and not every author does. But it certainly made me excited to read the book, and more willing to check out her other titles. And obviously, it made me want to talk more about her and her book to friends. And we can all agree that these things are important for an author. That's why it seems like more and more authors are taking the plunge and getting involved online.

Scarletta authors, and the authors of our imprints, get involved in different ways as well, and we do what we can to support whatever avenue they choose to take. Some of our authors run blogs and websites, which you can find by going to the authors section on the left side of this page, and some are on social networking sites*. We even feature our new authors on this blog so you can read about them before their books have even come out. (Have you read the interview we did we Betsy's Day at the Game author, Greg Bancroft? Or the guest blog written by The Mighty Quinn author, Robyn Parnell?)

We want readers to get to know our authors and be as excited as we are about their books. So we want to know, in this day and age of accessibility, how much to you like to connect with authors online? And what is your preferred outlet--reading a blog, chatting on Twitter, getting updates in your Facebook newsfeed, or maybe all of the above?

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Click here for Pendred Noyce's Facebook page for Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbers and here for her Twitter profile

Click here for Anne Sawyer Aitch's Facebook fan page for Nalah and the Pink Tiger

Click here for Bob Macdonald's Twitter account

Click here for Pamela Cory's Facebook page

Wonderful Reviews for Knives on the Cutting Edge

When we have great books, like Bob Macdonald's Knives on the Cutting Edge: The Great Chefs' Dining Revolution, we can't help but be proud of them. And when other people love them, well that's even better. So we just wanted to briefly share the great reviews we've received so far.

From Foreword Reviews:
"Highly innovative gourmet meals and the exquisitely selected wines to accompany them may be as intricate as a symphony, and as tricky to explain, but here the author has taken an orderly approach to describing the hunt for culinary perfection....Yet, just when one eating tale seems like another, MacDonald lets loose with an unexpected account, often brimming with intrigue, that puts a reader in mind of the ultimate dining compliment: 'I’ll have what he’s having.' At least, in a vicarious way, his hungry readers can." Read the rest here.

From Jesse Kornbluth on Huffington Post Food, and on his website (Headbutler.com):

What keeps him human -- what keeps this book from a wallow in meals that read like NC-17 movies -- is his lack of snobbery about his good fortune. 'Our meals in local bistros and even picnics with fresh French bread and favorites such as pork rillettes, sliced sausages and hams, celery remoulade and Comte cheese could be just as memorable.'
...You get the idea: the Macdonalds have had decades of the kind of experiences that are unrealized dreams for most foodies. For those dreamers, as for me, this is armchair dining, and at the highest level." Read the rest of the article here.

Author Event: Bob Macdonald at Barnes & Noble

In a blog post last week, we discussed author events and what we think about when we're planning readings/signings for our authors. Last night at the Barnes & Noble Galleria in Edina, MN, we had an event with Knives on the Cutting Edge: The Great Chefs' Dining Revolution author, Bob Macdonald, and Star Tribune Taste editor, and author of the cookbook Come One, Come All, Lee Svitak Dean. It turned out to be a great event, with a lot of interesting conversation between Bob and Lee about the changes in dining over the last 20 years, sustainable food, what makes a great restaurant, and how to begin developing a palate for find food and wine. (Hint: Just show up and eat! Oh, and bring friends: food is meant to be shared, after all.)
Here are a few of the pictures from the event. To see more, you can visit our Facebook page. And if you were there, please let us know what you thought and make sure to tag yourself in the pictures.

 The books. Most of them were gone by the end of the event!

Bob and Lee's Q&A session

The audience listening intently to Bob

Signing books at the end of the discussion session

Thank you to everyone who came out--and to the Barnes & Noble Galleria--for making this such a successful event!

Thinking Outside the Box: Scarletta Press Events

We're a small indie publisher, so it's important that we use the motto "think outside the box" to guide all our marketing (e.g., events, social media, etc.). In Monday's Publishers Weekly Shelftalker, Josie Leavitt discussed "What Makes a Good Event?," and that had me thinking, what kind of outside the box thinking have we done to reach that "good event" status?

It's the common case with all book events that you most likely won't get what you expect. Book stores, libraries, and other venues graciously welcome our authors in, so a good chunk of promoting the event and the store is up to us. When determining events or setting up any type of event, we ask ourselves a few simple questions:
     1. What can we do that's outside of the
        box or special for this event?
     2. What is the incentive for consumers to attend this event?
     3. What connects consumers to this venue?
     4. How can we creatively reach consumers who frequent the venue & those who
        do not?

Something that Leavitt said in her post really stuck out to me (because it's true!)

"What publicists and authors need to understand is that not every event is going to a crush of hundreds of people. But having a good event means that the folks attending will remember you and your work. They will tell their friends about how wonderful it was to meet you and talk to you about your work. And most importantly, they will now become loyal fans who will not only buy your books, they’ll give them as gifts."

So what can we do to draw those good consumers in?

Read and Dine with Bob Macdonald and Lee Svitak Dean

Join Bob MacDonald (local foodie and author of Knives on the Cutting Edge: The Great Chefs' Dining Revolution) and Lee Svitak Dean (Star Tribune Taste Editor & author of the cookbook Come One, Come All) as they discuss the rise of celebrity chefs, the healthy eating movement, and other trends in the food industry. Hors d' oeuvres will be served - catered by Broders' - and there will also be a special treat made by Lee! Planning on attending? Let us know by joining the event page on Facebook, and make sure to share the event with your friends! See you there!

Great Food, Great Prices: Twin Cities Restaurant Week

Until Friday, it’s restaurant week here in the Twin Cities, and that means great food from some of the area’s best restaurants and chefs at unbeatably low prices! None of us at the office has participated in restaurant week before—blame a mixture of procrastination, forgetfulness, and not enough time—but this year we are determined to change all of that.
We’ve been looking over Mpls.St. Paul Magazine’s list of participating restaurants and their respective menus, and we have to say, there are some great options. A couple of us are already planning on going to The Oceanaire Seafood Room, and I’m personally really excited to try the Firelake Grill House and Sea Change at the Guthrie.

And not only do we want to go to some of the best restaurants, but we want to hear what restaurants you’re excited to finally try! Tweet us with your restaurant plans this week, using the hashtag #MNRestaurantWeek, and you could win a copy of local foodie Bob Macdonald’s new book, Knives on the Cutting Edge: The Great Chefs’ Dining Revolution. In it, you'll find everything from the rise of celebrity chefs to the healthy eating movement and the growing use of bold flavors by chefs all over Europe and the U.S. It's a great accompaniment to all the delicious food you'll be experiencing this week! Plus, it's not out until August, so you'll be the first of your friends to read it!

A Taste of Reading's Adventures - Yum!

This summer, Scarletta is coming out with its first food-related book: Knives on the Cutting Edge by Bob Macdonald. And let me tell you, copyediting a book about food makes you HUNGRY! Which got us thinking, what other books have made our mouths water? So we set out to create a list of the foods found in our favorite books! And then we went on to find the perfect recipes for them.
Here's a sample of the list below:

• Chili for Get In if you Want to Live by John Jodzio
• Lamb stew with dried plums for The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Southern potato salad for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Tabouli for A Beirut Heart by Cathy Sultan

You can check out the rest of our list here.

Why You Should Preorder Your Favorite Books

Why do people preorder books? Are they just too lazy to go to a bookstore the day the book arrives? Actually, people preorder books because they love their authors! Each book you preorder tells Amazon/Barnes & Noble/whoever that one more person needs this book so badly that they're willing to pay for it long before they'll actually receive it. Maybe you're thinking, well what does that change? It changes the number of books those same companies (Amazon/Barnes & Noble/etc) will purchase for their shelves (or in the case of Amazon, their warehouses).
The more buzz and preorders an author can get, the more likely booksellers will promote that book. Because there's already proof that it's something people are interested in.
And you're not just helping out your favorites authors by preordering their books, you're also helping out your checking account. How's that, you ask? Most preordered books are discounted.