~~~Lara Zielin~~~

This article in the Washington Post, sent to me by my friend Colleen, got me thinking about all the stuff I’ve done to promote DONUT DAYS — both on the road and on the internet. Everything I’ve done has been out-of-pocket, self-taught (because there’s no manual for this stuff) and largely hit-or-miss.

I’m not typing all this up to say, oh gee, look at me, look what I did, but rather to simply wholeheartedly agree that if you’re a first-time author, the onus is on you to get out there and promote yourself. Also, I have no idea how effective any of this is because sales numbers aren’t in.

Nevertheless, to date I have:

• Sung karaoke to a Corey Hart song and let my husband spray me with a hose to simulate crying in the rain. You may have seen this in the video “Editing Letter.”
• Road-tripped with my friend Heather to Chicago where we sneaked a suitcase full of donuts into the American Library Association conference. Oh, by the way? I so was not invited. Not at first. I begged my publisher to send me and eventually they did, giving me a full half-hour on the tradeshow floor that turned into an hour because a.) everyone wanted donuts and b.) they also wanted my book.
• Called my local Borders to ask them to carry a copy of my book, even though the national chain had decided against carrying it (thanks, Borders!). They still haven’t stocked a copy. (Thanks again SO much!) Quick shout out to Barnes & Noble who is carrying my novel. Mwa! Love you.
• On National Donut Day, Rob and I made another video. This time I dressed in a donut costume and sang a Fergie song. Ah, integrity. You are my close friend.
• I tore apart and photocopied a galley of my book and sent it out to bloggers who would not otherwise have received a copy. Um, Kinkos? You charged me a lot for that, and two of the pages were missing. Still, I think the overall effect was a good one.
• I bought Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards to enclose with my galleys. I wrote a letter to everyone willing to review the book and told them why I wrote it.
• Online, I started Tweeting (@larazielin), and I hosted a blog tour, complete with prizes for peeps who left comments.
• I contacted the Star Tribune to do an article on author Sarah Quigley and me. They did, praisejeebus.
• I reached out to my local independent bookstore and organized a launch party there. I printed out invitations and mailed them to anyone who might have a.) seen me one time at Meijer and b.) lived in a 50-mile radius. I bought a new dress and wrote a speech. I brought donuts and sold 50 books.
• I faithfully answered questions from any online interviewer/blogger who might ever want to talk to me about anything.
• Most recently I scheduled a Minnesota tour, complete with bookstore stops and visits with book groups who read DONUT DAYS. I drove the whole way — countless hours in the car and hundreds of dollars in gas — smiled, and gave away free books.
• This weekend, I was actually invited (yes!) to the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association conference in Cleveland (Cleveland rocks!), where I’ll sign a bunch of books and then come home.

I know I’m forgetting a lot of stuff here. That’s only the tip of the iceberg, really. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. But is it a lot of work? Yes. Especially when I have another job to do from 8 to 5, Monday through Friday. Sitll I’m grateful to be published, and I’m proud of my debut novel. It’s a lot of work, but like the title of the post says … it’s done out of love, love, love.

They are all here, in this one single interview at Books by Their Cover. Which is maybe the best interview I’ve ever done ever because the questions were so completely awesome. Thanks, Yan!

Tho what if I write thith whole post like thith? I was in Duluth. Ith in Minnethota. Tho there.

This past Saturday, as part of my epic one-state book tour, I visited Northern Lights Bookstore in Duluth, Minnesota. Here is me with some local book club members, who not only came out to support me at Northern Lights, they also took me to lunch beforehand and let me drink as much Diet Coke as I wanted. I love these people. Yes, I do.

Thanks to everyone who showed up to see me and get a signed book in Duluth! Minnesota rocks.

Hey all,
I think there was a problem with the comments lately — but hopefully it’s been fixed. So if you tried to post a comment and couldn’t, I apologize and hopefully you can now post away, Merrill. Post away.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Maru! I am obsessed with Maru. Oh, silly Maru. How you waste my time on the interwebs.

Last night I had a book signing at the Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota, and it couldn’t have been more funner! I had friends and family there, and some of them even bought books. Which was way nice.

Guess who else was there? I’ll give you a hint. She’s the co-author of a fab book called THE GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING. Her name starts with Charity and ends with Tahmaseb. It’s true — Charity Tahmaseb was there!

Here’s Charity and me basking in the awesomeness that is Red Balloon. Oh, and my face is totally blurry like in those photos right before the phone rings and you have to watch a video where the girl crawls out of the well and kills you. So if you don’t see me after this, that’s why.

And here are some awesome friends from high school. Thanks, Facebook, for reconnecting us!

More signing, more signing. That girl who is at the table? Her name is Carla and we went to Spain together on a senior trip. I had forgotten this completely. That scares me a bit, actually. If I’m like this now, what will I be like when I’m 50?

And look, they put my name in construction paper lights! I love it.

Thanks to everyone who showed up and made the evening awesome!

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: The awesome and fabulous Malinda Lo, author of ASH, talks about diversity in a recent interview, and she even mentions DONUT DAYS! Our books probably couldn’t be more different, but we both agree about the importance of reading outside your comfort zone.

I am off to wildly glamorous New York Minnesota for a couple author events. Here’s where I’ll be and when. If you can come by, please do!

Red Balloon Bookstore, St. Paul, Minnesota
Wednesday, September 23, 7:00pm
Click here to see Red Balloon on a map.

Northern Lights Bookstore, Duluth, Minnesota
Saturday, September 26, 1:00pm
Click here to see Northern Lights on a map.

Along the way I’ll also be meeting with some book clubs who were nice enough to add DONUT DAYS to their reading lists. If you are a book club interested in reading DONUT DAYS, please let me know by emailing me at new (dot) zielind (at) gmail (dot) com. I can provide discussion questions and I’ll even call you during your meeting to add my Very Special brand of book discussion flair. (Translation: I will ensure you have donuts during your talk and we’ll all get hopped up on sugar and then I’ll start blabbering until you hang up on me.)

Okay, I’m off to make the road trip happen. Wish me luck — none of my clothes fit because I’m huge from all the donuts I’ve consumed so I have no idea what to wear. So thanks, writing career. Thanks SO much.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Amy’s diary. Also sometimes called her “dairy.” It’s short and clever and hilarious.

I got an email the other day from a dude who is 30-ish, likes to watch football and drink quality beer, and who really, really loves Star Trek. He also really, really loves DONUT DAYS, apparently.

I was really tickled by his email because he’s *so* not the demographic for my book. With permission, I’m sharing a few excerpts here.

(Note: Some parts edited out for spoilers.)

Amazing! Seriously. Better than an actual donut — except *maybe* a custard filled, chocolate covered long john.

I loved all the clever little lines and situations throughout, and while I dug the book in its entirety, I thought the ending was just superb. That whole last scene was so crystal clear, it was like watching a movie, especially in how you chose to finish without revealing her final path. That’s the kind of story telling that I suppose good books and good indie flicks tend toward that gets lost a lot in a pop cult world. My two cents, anyhow.

Anyhow, I found it so enjoyable that I — clearly the real crux of your target gender and age groups — set aside both American Pastoral and my latest issue of “The Art of Eating,” which I generally read cover to cover within 48 hours of receipt. So you moved this stubborn, cynical, vehemently atheistic middle-aged, male food snob to break his routine and get into a young adult novel about a Christian teenaged girl at a donut camp. That’s something, I think.

(Btw, the title of the blog post, for any of you who are like, wha?, is a play off of Sarah Rees Brennan’s awesome book, THE DEMON’S LEXICON.)

Okay, one more day of Kathy love. I can’t help it. Her book is awesome, AND she has a new film, which she talks about here on Jimmy Kimmel. Brilliant.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: If Kanye West has taught me anything, it’s that you don’t mess with tweens. Ever. Here’s what would have happened if he’d interrupted a few other folks besides Taylor.

If I could have stayed home from work today to read OFFICIAL BOOK CLUB SELECTION by Kathy Griffin, I would have. I love this book.

I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I believe (and often say as much) that any writer who wants to be successful has got to bring it real in his/her book — fiction or nonfiction. They have to delve into the nitty gritty and look at some icky stuff and then make as much of a silk purse as they can out of that sow’s ear. (Unless you’re Joyce Carol Oates, in which case the sow’s ear molests you, ruins your life, and you die.) Ah-hem, anyway, Kathy brings it SO REAL in this book. She talks about everything. Ev. Re. Thing.

And because she talks about it and owns it, it has no power over her. And neither does anyone else. What are the tabloids going to say if Kathy beats them to the story? How can a journalist be hard on her when she’s being even harder on herself? How can something from her past haunt her when she’s faced it fully?

That’s bravery right there.

The book is funny, touching, smart, and insightful. I was a fan of Kathy’s before, but now I might be her number one fan.

Except for the stalking part.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: I watched this Sting song sung by Linus from the Peanuts three times yesterday. And, look at that, it’s playing in the background again right now.

Books can and do have intended audiences. Women flock to Janet Evanovich; guys dig Vince Flynn. For teen audiences, we know girls are likely to pick up Sarah Dessen; guys might run with Eric Luper.

But after gender, how do audiences get broken down? And is it a good thing?

I ask this because many of the reviews for DONUT DAYS call it a Christian book, even though my publisher, Putnam, is not a Christian publisher, nor did I ever set out to write a so-called Christian book. Some readers have said, “I wasn’t the intended audience for this book…” or “I am not a Christian so I couldn’t relate to it…” One reader even flat out refused to finish it for moral reasons.

To which I sort of have to blink and say, Really?

Is Emma a Christian? Yes. Do many of her problems happen to center around the drama happening in her parents’ church? Yes. But does that make this a Christian book? For the record, Emma wrestles with many universal issues including fighting with her best friend, figuring out her feelings about a guy, deciding what to to with school, and more. Faith is just one of those issues.

Dude, can you imagine if I picked up Malinda Lo’s book ASH, a gorgeous lesbian re-telling of Cinderella, and said, “I can’t read this because I’m not gay”? Or what if I said that I couldn’t relate to Christopher Paul Curtis’s book, ELIJAH OF BUXTON, because I’m neither a slave nor black?

It’s ridiculous, right? But why is it that while our culture wants us to keep an open mind about some things, it’s okay to slam it shut about others? Religion is so totally one of those things. Another might be politics. If I wrote about a Republican teen trying to help get a certain gun-toting Alaska governor elected president, you can bet I’d have a firestorm of readers saying they couldn’t read the book because they were opposed to it.

But isn’t the whole point of books (or at least one of them) to enter worlds we don’t know, and learn something about which we were previously ignorant? Aren’t books supposed to help us to have an open mind?

I don’t have Tourette Syndrome, but I still read JERK CALIFORNIA by Jonathan Friesen.

I don’t have a friend who killed herself, but I still read 13 REASONS WHY by Jay Asher.

The list goes on.

I’m cool if you dislike my book because you think the plot sucked, or the characters were lame, or the writing was bad. You can hate the cover art, my author photo, the pacing, the dialogue.

But don’t discount DONUT DAYS just because the main character has a different religion than you, or because it represented a point of view that forced you out of your comfort zone.