Laura Krughoff and My Brother's Name are Going on Tour!

It's tour time everyone! Tours are some of our favorite things here at Scarletta because they're always a wonderful way for authors and illustrators to get out, talk about their work, and meet fans face to face. Right now we're gearing up to head on the road with Laura Krughoff, for her first tour of the twin cities. As many of you may knowLaura is the author of My Brother's Name (Sep 2013), a psychological/GLBT fiction that questions identity and gender in a whirlwind of a novel. It will keep readers on the edge of their seats as it encounters the precipice of mental illness and just how far familial love can go.

Anytime you have a book with as much emotional depth as My Brother's Name and heavy subjects like mental health and transgender identity issues, it's crucial to use that opportunity as a window into the author as much as into the characters. This tour will also give you another chance to meet and chat with like-minded individuals, specifically book-lovers.

So join us, enjoy an evening amongst peers, and if you're lucky maybe go home with a new book or two. You'll find the schedule below. Also, if you follow our social media accounts, we'll also be posting the stops there.

January 5, 2014

Bookcase of Wayzata

824 Lake Street, Wayzata, MN 55391

2:00 PM

January 6, 2014

Subtext

165 Western Ave N, St. Paul, MN 55102

7:00 PM

The event at Subtext will include a giveaway of My Brother's Name to one 

lucky attendee.

January 7, 2014

Magers & Quinn

3038 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408

7:00 PM

The party at Magers & Quinn will include hot beverages and baked goods to 

warm the winter chill away!

See you there!

"Determined To Matter" Matters to Me

"You gotta love me.  And if you don't, about a billion other people do." ~Shannon O'Hara 

I had not met the O'Hara family until last night at an event for Determined to Matter at Micawber's Books. I came aboard the Scarletta train just in time to see the finished product, so I never interacted with them through the acquisitions or editorial process. While I think working with Jen and her family during the first parts of the book's journey would have been a great experience, I am glad that I get to share in the stops that are left.

A confession:

Determined to Matter was my least favorite book among the many that Scarletta was working on when I started here in February. I was so excited to work on events with creative, zany, adventurous children's books, and DTM is just about the furthest title from what I thought I'd be working with. It just didn't speak to me in the way that The Mighty Quinn or Monster Needs A Costume immediately did. And, as Dan and Jen pointed out last night in their discussion of the book's creation, I found it to be a little cliched. A family member passes and you write a book to memorialize them--it's a common practice.

Yet.

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!

Let's Hear a Hip-hip-hooray for ALA!

We're so excited for ALA's annual conference in California this weekend--or at least we will be as soon as we finish the million and one things we need to do to prepare! This week is proving to be crazy as we finalize travel arrangements, make sure all our lovely books are shipped correctly, pack our posters and press releases, and try to figure out if there's time in the schedule to visit Disney. This last one seems doubtful with all the other cool stuff going on.
If you're also going to be in Anaheim for ALA, make sure you remember to visit us! We'll be part of the Publisher Group West booth (#2566) and we've got plenty of stuff going on make it worth your while.

Celebrate with Author Bill Watkins!