Make space for the extraordinary ✨ imagine the unimaginable
Let's talk book launches and literary events
Moons ago, my sister and I ventured to a tiny island off the coast of Honduras to scuba dive before heading to Guatemala for a service project. There, on a little plop of sand in the Caribbean, we befriended the locals and entered a time warp. A week suddenly became a month. We never made it to Guatemala.
Our Islander friends ushered us into a world beyond dreams, suspended in time and place, devoid of cars and other material things. We rode horses (there were no cars) and walked barefoot everywhere. We ate off the land and learned to harvest whelks and crabs, how to carve a hog, and peel plantains. We kept time by the sun and the rhythm of dancehall reggae.
Thus began a foray into critical examination of self and a journey into my own cultural deprogramming.
I learned to slow down and be present. The Islanders taught me that words and performative gestures meant little. If words were spoken, they should sound like music, be funny or meaningful. Possessions and money held little value. Time and energy were valued most. No one minded that dinner took three hours to prepare when it always tasted like the nectar of the gods.
Years later, my sister and I still ask, “What if we stuck with the plan and left after a week to go to Guatemala? What if we hadn’t made room for the unexpected extraordinary?”
Two years ago, I won a small writing contest and developmental and line edit from two fantastic editors, Bridget Boland and
.Bridget helped me make a prayer bundle blessing for my book. During the blessing, she asked Spirit to “allow for things we cannot even imagine.”
What could that be? I wondered.
✨
Last Friday, I hosted the first event for my unfinished book. (Why would I do that?! Read here!)
At first, it was scary, vulnerable, and embarrassing to imagine sharing my story. Would anyone care enough to come hear it? I didn’t want to test my friends this way, to see who showed up, i.e., to measure who loved me or didn’t. I didn’t really want to talk about myself.
“You’re not your book,” writer acquaintances advised.
But I didn’t have a book to sell. I only had my stories, voice, and body. Some pages I had workshopped. Shout out to my fabulous East Coast writing group.
I would tell my story by immersing the audience in the world I wrote about. To create something that never existed.
Phenomenal. Surreal. That’s how my book event felt last Friday.
I began in Spanish to immerse the audience immediately, and then some hip-hop cats set the party off properly. Their energy set the sexy-lit bookstore on fire. It was fiyah. It trembled like leaves in a windstorm and shook like holy rollers. The Muse herself stopped by to say hello.
While reading my story, I interspersed music from Argentina, Utila, and Jamaica, which brought the story to life. I hadn’t practiced this because, as an actress, I know that often, the most raw and authentic performances are those that have not been practiced.
I felt like I had captured the audience inside a glass ball where I could do anything. Other than my voice and the music, you could hear a pin drop. We can create anything; we only have to dream it.
Sometimes, we need to bushwhack a new trail. Sometimes, the best is something that has never existed. Sometimes, we must allow for something better than we can dream or imagine.
Initially, I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough chairs, and I was also afraid no one would come. I messaged friends directly and made a private Facebook invite, but other than that, I didn’t post posters, go on the radio, or even share on social media.
It was a great turnout, mostly friends, about fifty people. Many quietly stood in the back and stayed through the whole thing.
What is the definition of a dream? I think of something so outrageous, insane, nonsensical, and ridiculous it often makes no sense.
We are not our book. We are not our things, hair, skin, or tongue. But we are our senses, our stories, and how we make meaning. This is what we offer. We offer dreams to inspire and stretch imaginations.
We owe it to others to share our dreams, our sparkle. We owe it to ourselves to dream, to imagine what is still unimagined.
Are you thinking of planning a book event? Would you ever consider throwing an event before your book comes out?
I know it sounds sadistic, but hear me out: Throwing a book party before your book comes out generates buzz. You will whet their appetite, drop curiosity seeds, and have them asking questions. I can’t tell you how many people said how excited they were for my book to come out because they had SO MANY QUESTIONS after listening to me read.
It also allows you to gather emails. Anyone who signed up for my email list was entered to win a gift card from Alaska Robotics, which hosted us. This way, the bookstore got paid (I bought the gift cards), and I got gifts to give away in exchange for emails.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of including good music and sound quality. I hired a profesh to do sound; it was worth it. Music sets a vibe and can be transportive. Make a playlist to immerse the audience. You can access the one I made for my lit event below the paywall.
Suppose you are interested in ideas for creating a multisensorial, immersive experience for your book launch. In that case, you can read my post below the paywall on how to do just that.
Now tell me, have you hosted, or do you envision hosting a lit event for your book? How did it go? What worked, and what would you do differently?
Love,
Summer
If you feel compelled, please share with someone who might be interested. As always, likes and shares are appreciated. ✨
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