My little slice of heaven... I love my NY apartment.
Fall Reading Recs
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
I swallowed this whole. It didn’t even touch the sides. A grubby and romantic literary coming-of-age novel set behind-the-scenes of a top NY restaurant. Sweetbitter was intoxicating, dangerous and addictive. True to its promise, it did expand my palate. I was lucky enough to do a panel at Word in Greenpoint with Stephanie and she was just as impressive and ingénue-y in person.
Trainwreck by Sady Doyle
This non-fiction feminist critique of the “trainwreck”—the young, female celebrity whose downfall is viciously enjoyed on a Hunger Games-style world stage—is fascinating and vital. So many truth bombs in so little time. A must for any feminist who has an opinion about Britney Spears.
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.
I just started this yesterday and have already torn through a good chunk. Smart New York family drama revolving around an inheritance (the eponymous “nest”). One of the buzz books of the summer.
WRITING TIPS: How to write the funny
When it comes to my ability to write funny scenes and characters, I largely credit my obsession with New York improv; seeing, studying and doing. Many of the rules of improv apply to humorous writing.
+ Make someone a straight wo/man. A comic character breaks the rules: they are willfully or naively doing and saying the things we find funny because they’re somehow outrageous. While an audience might enjoy a comic character, they do not fully relate to them. The straight man or woman is the voice of the audience; they are the ones saying or doing what the audience would say or do. The straight character is often the main character. It doesn’t mean they can’t be funny, it just means they ground the comic characters and help facilitate their crazy behavior. Think Annie (Kristin Wiig) in Bridesmaids, Stu (Ed Helms) in The Hangover or Evie in The Regulars.
+ Deliver on a promise. Audiences love being told something odd about someone or a situation and then see it come true. Have one character claim the neighbor is obsessed with his lawn, then later (when we've forgotten about it) have the neighbor show up with three new lawnmowers (for varying weather patterns). Once you’ve established something bizarre as true, you’ll get easy laughs by heightening: all we want from that neighbor is his obsession with his lawn to get more and more pronounced.
+ Matching is fun. One security guard who loves Taylor Swift is fun enough: two makes it really delightful. Punch up your small supporting characters by choosing an odd trait and have them do what we call “matching”. These characters support and build on each other. Neither is a straight man; they are both comic roles.
+ Get out on a laugh. In improv, we’re looking for a big laugh to edit on (ie. finish the scene and start a new one). In fiction, the same rules apply. We always want to get out early of every scene anyway, so rather than let the air go out of your fantastic scene, look at cutting around the height of hilarity with a particularly choice insight from your protagonist.
Bad Women at Better Read than Dead
While on tour in Sydney, I organized Bad Women, a panel on women, writing and likability at Better Read than Dead in Newtown, NSW. We sold out in 24 hours, with 1.5K people interested in attending (via the Facebook event page). On the panel, Lauren Sams, Caroline Kepnes, Summer Land and moderator Lex Hirst. As a result of the night, the store has started the Bad Women book club, starting with my book. I was the week's best-seller in-store!
How to work with a freelance publicist and (gulp) build your brand.
The Regulars has gotten a Judd-Nelson-fist-pumping-at-the-end-of-Breakfast-Club level of amazing press. People, Redbook, Refinery 29, Cosmo, Bust and Harper’s Bazaar are just some of the awesome mags and sites that've said nice things about my book. I worked with BookSparks, a marketing and publicity company who (in addition with the Simon & Schuster team) were invaluable in helping make The Regulars the success that it is. I asked Crystal Patriarche, founder and CEO, and Kelly Bowen, Director of Publicity and Marketing, to dish the dirt on how to sell a million billion copies.
Q. Why do I need a freelance publicist?
Kelly: Publicists at major publishing houses face the daunting task of working on anywhere from 6-10 titles each month. The best freelance publicists work in tandem with your internal publishing team, enhancing their efforts while also generating creative concepts and marketing ideas to move your campaign to the next level. A freelance publicist lives, breathes, and eats popular media outlets, social channels, and other industries’ successes to bring the best possible ideas to your campaign.
Q. What's the secret to a great launch?
Crystal: Creating as many conversations as possible. Georgia came to BookSparks with a strong author platform, great connections, numerous content pieces, and a solid marketing campaign in place already for The Regulars. Working with her S+S publishing team, we sparked conversations with national media that turned into reviews and interviews, with bloggers and Instagrammers to share fun photos and rave reviews online, and locally within communities to support Georgia’s events. All of these conversations sparked more conversations, and the word quickly spread.
Q. How can an author (and I know we all hate this idea!) “build their brand”?
- Crystal: Connect you and your books: So many authors struggle to unite their personal brand with the content of their books. If you write fantasy fiction, but your website looks eerily similar to a divorce attorney’s webpage, you’ve already started down an unfortunate branding path. Be sure that the brand you show the world matches the books you write.
- Practice your voice: If you’re incorporating a lot of your personal life into your brand strategy, then your voice may just be your voice. For many though, there will need to be a deviation from the typical way you talk. You may need to be darker, or funnier, or bubblier. You may need to swear less (or more!). Just like your office personality may differ from your party personality, your author identity may not be a dead ringer for who you are at home. Practice your voice on Twitter.
- Choose your branding elements: Once you've firmly decided on your brand, think about the physical and digital elements that'll incorporate the look and feel you’ve established. Decide what elements are most important. Some you’ll be able to create on your own, others you may need to hire an expert for. You may not have a huge budget for branding, so start out by prioritizing these elements to get your brand off the ground