Writing may be a mostly solitary pursuit, but many writers find that adding a social aspect can make the process less lonely, more fun, and provide help in polishing their drafts. Now a quartet of middle-grade authors has figured out a way to turn the friendship that grew from their critique group into a campaign designed to give their books a promotional boost. It’s called #TrueFriends and they are offering prizes, writing ideas for students, and a downloadable kit to help spark classroom conversations about reading, writing, and, most importantly, friends.
“We thought it was pretty remarkable that all four of us had sold novels that were going to be published in 2016 and that friendship was an import element in each book,” said Kirby Larson, whose latest novel, Audacity Jones to the Rescue (Scholastic Press), stars a booksmart orphan who needs her friends – “new, old, and four-footed” – to help her foil a dastardly plan.
Larson wrote the book with feedback from her longtime critique partners – Barbara O’Connor, Susan Hill Long, and Augusta Scattergood – who get together for writing retreats and share drafts long distance. (Two live in the Pacific Northwest; two in the southeastern U.S.) “The value of having someone to turn to when a plot takes a nasty twist, when a character won’t wake up and speak to you, when you’re not sure you'll ever write another sentence, much less a book – that’s priceless,” said Scattergood. Her new book, Making Friends with Billy Wong (Scholastic Press), features two main characters who meet in Arkansas during the Civil Rights Era and initially think they have nothing in common. Azalea is a reluctant transplant from Texas; Billy is the son of the local Chinese grocer. Similarly, the characters in Long’s The Magic Mirror (Knopf) don’t start out as likely acquaintances but meet on a journey where they become “a band of true friends [who] together discover the meaning of family.”
O’Connor’s new book, Wish (FSG), features a hot-tempered heroine whose new best friend is in a lot of ways her polar opposite. The author theorizes that it’s no coincidence friendship figured so prominently in each novel. “Friends are the invaluable link to a sense of belonging,” O’Connor said. “Let’s face it. No child wants to each lunch alone while the cafeteria is swirling with hoards of laughing, chattering friends.”
Once Larson realized all their books all shared this thread, she wondered if there was a way to capitalize on it in order to reach readers. “We’re writers, not marketers, but I am always in awe of writers who have figured out a way to promote their books together,” she said. Since friendship figured prominently in all four books, and the four are such good friends, “it just seemed like a natural fit” to build a campaign around that.
Each author created a short video talking about her book and how friendship figured into the plot. Each video, posted to the #TrueFriends YouTube channel, concludes with an idea for a writing prompt. Scattergood suggests writing about meeting someone you took an instant dislike to, or felt you had nothing in common with. “What made you turn an unlikely friend into a true friend?” she asks. Larson explains how postcards figure in Audacity Jones and encourages students to pretend they are sending one to a friend from a place they have been or a locale they’ve always wanted to visit. “I love the idea of postcards because it’s not daunting,” she said. “You can only get about three sentences on the back, four if you write really small, but they represent such a lost art of writing home when you are away.”
The #TrueFriends campaign will also give away 15 sets of all four books, and four Skype visits for a school, classroom or library with one of the authors.
“School budgets are dwindling and some school are just to small to bring in an author,” Larson said. “You miss that kid who comes up to you after the presentation and whispers a question, so it isn’t completely satisfying, but it is still much better than nothing.”
The giveaway can be entered here and anybody can download the #TrueFriends mini activity kit that features conversations between the authors and a fun “Friend Catcher” craft to make.
All in all, it’s a pretty jazzy marketing effort... for a bunch of writers. Even some publishers were impressed. “Barbara and I were together at SIBA and wore our little #TrueFriends buttons,” Scattergood said. “Our publishers’ people thought they were great.”
