Kathleen Grissom’s debut novel, The Kitchen House, was released in February 2010, to acclaim and modest sales.  But then last year, almost two and a half years after it was published, The Kitchen House hit the NYT bestseller list, and it got there in an innovative way: Grissom set out on an innovative, intimate new kind of book tour. She visited and called book clubs all over the country, talking to readers about her book.

We reached out to Grissom to ask for her advice about outreach and events, and to get the firsthand story of how she built her unique success.

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schoollibraryjournal:

Excellent question!

James Patterson’s full-page ad from the New York Times Book Review.

(via Book Patrol)

A great question from an unexpected source.

Sometimes if you want to get something done, you just have to do it yourself. Bring a friend to the library, if they haven’t enjoyed one in a while. Start a book club at work, and encourage everyone to buy from the bookstore down the street. Attend author events to support the writers you love, and to learn about the ones you’ll love next.

We like to think that the power lies in our own hands — not just the hands of avid readers, but any one of us who cares about ideas, learning, dreaming, and sharing those experiences with the people in our lives. 

It’s no small task, but we can work together to make it happen. Saving books means saving creativity and innovation. Who wouldn’t want that?

It’s National Library Week! Team Togather loves libraries (though let’s be honest, who doesn’t?). As we were sharing some of our favorite library moments today, we thought it’d be fun to share them with you, too.

Jessie:  When I was a freshman at NYU, I went to see a panel of Czech authors discuss their latest books at the NYU library. Most of them had written about life during and after Prague’s famous Velvet Revolution and their experiences living in Eastern Europe throughout the Cold War. Their stories about Prague’s tumultuous history and unique culture inspired me to study abroad there in the spring of my sophomore year.

Taylor: Living and attending college in Boston for the last 4 years, The Boston Public Library Courtyard was always my go-to spot whenever the slightest hint of warm weather arrived in the city. It’s the perfect urban oasis where the likes of Harvard professors, wide-eyed freshman, and tourists from all over the world can all be spotted enjoying the lavish gardens while cozying up with their favorite book. Although I admittedly never read anything while hanging out here, some of my prime people-watching (an activity I take very seriously) was done in this quaintly nestled retreat in Downtown’s bustling Copley Square. Especially during these last few days, I can’t help but to get a little nostalgic for my favorite library in my favorite city.

Dana: I was in a teen reading club at my local library the summer before 7th grade. It was a pretty small group, and one of the girls commandeered our first meeting and made us look up ghost stories on the internet instead of talking about the book. I was kind of mad at her for derailing the whole thing but didn’t see her again. Two years later, we had an English class together and have been best friends ever since. She’s still obsessed with ghost stories.

Emilio: There is really nothing else like the library, at least not in the neighborhood I was raised in. In our small working class enclave, more than an hour into the Bronx on the red line, it is a place where the local youths hang out hang, their parents still at work, where the chess players, hunched over their rooks and pawns, complain loudly about said youths, and the young mothers drop of their kids, because in their words, “they’re your problem now.” Occasionally people even read. I’ve worked at this library for as long as I can remember, and it’s been like a second home to me.

We’d love to know your favorite library stories. How has a library impacted your life?

We’re really looking forward to a new online series coming your way from the lovely writer, crafter, and handmade advocate, Kelly Rand. As someone who successfully turned their passion project into a lucrative small business, Kelly knows a thing or two about pursuing a career as a self-employed artist and the risks and rewards that follow. During each session in her series, we’ll hear from different creative guests on their stories of success, change, fear, failure and innovation across a number of industries and backgrounds.

To kick off our “Work It” series, Kelly will host an interactive discussion on April 30th about what it takes to make it in the crafting biz. The chat will feature Grace Dobush, fellow entrepreneur and author of The Crafty Superstar Ultimate Craft Business Guide. Stephen Fraser, co-founder of Spoonflower, a print-on-demand fabric and wallpaper company, will also join us to discuss the ins and outs of setting up shop, spreading the word and defining smart goals. The trio of crafters will provide useful insights and tips for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Reserve your spot here, and be on the lookout for more events in the “Work It” series to be announced soon!  All proceeds benefit Hello Craft, Kelly’s non-profit trade association dedicated to the advancement of independent crafters and the handmade movement. 

You might not know her as Kate Tkacik, but if you’re involved with Tumblr’s library scene, you’ll know her by her username, thelifeguardlibrarian. In 2011, Kate began to build a network of librarians on Tumblr, now known as Tumblarians. In addition, she is a 2013 Library Journal Mover & Shaker and a contributor to Library Journal.

We spoke with Kate via email about building the Tumblarian community; why it started, how it grew, and all of the great things that have come (and will continue to do so in the future) from connecting such a widely spread group of people with just a few hashtags.

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The next in our series of Togather team book reports comes from Client Services Coordinator Michael Mannheimer, who read Pauls Toutonghi’s Evel Knievel Days.  Pauls is based in Portland, but has upcoming travel dates all over the west and midwest this summer. Maybe he wouldn’t mind stopping by a bar or bookstore in your town — why not ask? 

Part ghost story, part loving tribute to baklava and creme brûlée, Evel Knievel Days is the rare book that makes you thirst for your hometown, wherever that may be. I can’t wait to see what Toutonghi comes up with next. 

We’ve already gushed a bit about our excitement for novelist Jennifer Miller’s mission to set a world record by meeting with 100 book clubs in a single month. It’s definitely ambitious, and maybe a little bit nuts, but she’s already almost halfway to her goal!

Our team tallied up the count this morning and we’re blown away by the progress she’s made in just a few short weeks. With a few local events on the East coast, and a bunch of video chats with groups in other areas of the country, we’re seeing supporters pop up all over the map — in Nashville, Plano, Duxbury and Richmond, to name a few cities, as well as right here in Brooklyn. 

And to be honest, we shouldn’t be surprised. Jen pulled off some creative (and thrifty!) book promo stunts when The Year of The Gadfly came out in hardcover last year, including selling copies of her book and giving away free cookies at novelade stands on the sidewalks of New York City.

If your book club, library, local bookstore, friends, colleagues, neighbors, classmates, cousins, aunts, etc. want to go down in history as record-setting legends, let us know. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is even giving away one free signed copy of the book to each group that signs up! Just check out Jen’s page on Togather or contact us directly for more info and availability: taylor [at] togather [dot] com.

Here at the Togather office, we’ve all been reading books by Togather authors. Here’s our library outreach coordinator Dana Skwirut’s report on Liz Moore’s novel Heft, which makes us want to create a book club event with Liz, stat. 

I’ll admit it. Heft made me cry. 

It’s hard to explain why without embarking on a tl;dr journey that is ultimately too TMI for even my high school livejournal account, let alone a very public place like this. It’s also hard to explain without giving too much away. Also, I don’t even like admitting that it happened.

Heft is the story of Arthur Opp, an obese former academic who has not left his Brooklyn home in nearly a decade, and Kel Keller, an all-star high school athlete living in Yonkers. Kel is the son of one of Arthur’s former students, Charlene, who sets the story in motion by calling Arthur, who she hasn’t spoken to in nearly twenty years.

I really had no idea what to expect when I started reading Heft, and I certainly didn’t expect what happens or the effect it had on me, but Liz Moore’s characters are entirely relatable and live through events that are universally human. They remind us that even though our individual details are different, we are all still able to connect through shared feelings and experiences.