Innovative Book Events
Guest Post by Chandler Rawson
From quirky authors, dedicated agents, solutions-savvy publishers, outgoing booksellers, through to the ardent reader, everyone in the book’s creation and consumption process influences the way it is read through their creativity, passions and tastes. Partnerships forged between these creatives are especially influencing how book events are being run. Innovative book events are now as numbered as the creatives which support the book’s lifespan.
Scholastic’s Author Dinners. Meals and stories alike are served at the dinner table. People gather around tables to eat and talk- sharing the stories of their day, their reactions to the news, who they saw and how they feel. Tapping into the power of this storytelling site, publishers are drawing authors and booksellers together, using the space of the table to introduce new stories. Scholastic is one such publisher.
To conclude the New England Independent Booksellers Association’s Spring Forum Scholastic annually hosts an Author Dinner: assembling a host of booksellers and an author to drink, dine, and chat freely. Hierarchical barriers of celebrity, pomp and professionalism are overcome by candlelight and the sound of glass clinking. Chewing, laughing and smiling rule the day at these tables, where bread is broken and the diners freely bask in the love of their shared interest: books.
Monarch Books & Gifts’ Midnight Release Parties. The clock strikes twelve. A book is outstretched towards you. You see the stencilled edges, you know that within you’ll find a full-color 2-page map and beyond that- the story of a lifetime. Juggling a prize wheel-won ribbon bookmark and a dragon-inspired coffee you take one final step and the book is yours. Other fans are asleep- dreaming of the story you now hold. You are at Monarch Books & Gifts’ Midnight Release Party for Onyx Storm, surrounded by dragon-obsessed, fanatic-fans who love books more than they love rest. You are with your people.
Like Monarch Books & Gifts, independent bookstores across the country are hosting Midnight Release Parties for big ticket titles. For readers dying for the latest instalment of their favorite series, Midnight Release Parties are a fantastic way not only to get their hands on the read as soon as (legally) possible, they are also the perfect space to meet people who share in the enthusiasm and affection for reading. Midnight Release Parties are community fostering, literature affirming events that draw the most die-hard readers from their homes out to their favorite bookstores.
The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. Beyond conversing about plot or celebrating a new release there are events that centralize and celebrate the world within books, rather than books themselves. The most grandiose example of such an event is The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. While these events build on the lavender-kissed visuality of the television series, let’s remember that this world was first brought into existence by Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton book series.
These balls are a lot of things: acrobatic, (alcoholic,) lively, sensory, theatrical. But more exciting than any of this is that they are participatory. In attending The Queen’s Ball you are made an active player in the world of the story you love. No longer are you curled up on your couch pining after Daphne’s ballroom experience. You are now there- dancing to the music she swayed to, floating across the floor she walked across, sipping champagne and swooning- just like her. Such immersive events allow readers to full-heartedly throw themselves into the stories that stole their heart: living the fantasy once thought to be bound to the page.
Sidetrack Books Dog Man Costume Celebration. To celebrate Dog Man Day [3/24/24], Sidetrack Books gathered a crowd of 1,000+ readers around a costumed character of Dog Man. Dog Man visited readers in the local bakery, where they enjoyed “dog treats,” sat beside them as they colored Dog Man and Cat Kid coloring sheets, and listened as letters written to him by the local school’s third graders were read. The author of one particularly outstanding letter had the honor of presenting him with a key to the city of Royal Oaks!
When the comically large key was given to the half-man half-dog full-policeman the crowd erupted into cheers. Every third grader (and their parents) were on their feet touting blinding smiles. Author Dav Pikley was not even in the country at the time of this event yet, thanks to the efforts of Sidetrack Books, the costume-embodiment of his character was able to lead the celebration of Dog Man Day. Through this event an entire community of young readers, and those that love them were able to have fun with a story, and maybe more importantly, they were able to have fun with one another.
That is what these innovative book events are accomplishing. They are bringing about new ways to connect not only with stories but with one another.
Chandler Rawson is a publishing professional: working as a Field Sales Assistant for Scholastic and a freelance writer and book publicity agent she is passionate about independent bookstores and those that contribute to their success- like you.
Image Courtesy of Chandler Rawson showcases Innovative Author Events Collage picturing; Berkley Public Library Author Dinner Series, Berkley Public Library. Monarch Books & Gifts Midnight Release Party of Onyx Storm, Monarch Books & Gifts. The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience, Shondaland. Dog Man Costume party, Sidetrack Books.
