Launching The Thirteenth Circle: The Recap
“How was the book tour?” a friend asked at the dance studio on Wednesday. I hadn’t been to class in a few weeks, but she’d been following along on social media. (She also bought and read The Thirteenth Circle—yay!)
I shared a few highlights, while also explaining that book tours, in the way she was probably thinking, are kind of a thing of the past, unless you’re one of your publisher’s top authors—or you’re financing your own elaborate tour. Regardless, sharing some of the highlights from the past two weeks reminded me that launching this new book has been pretty great.
Albeit with a few curveballs.
The Thirteenth Circle has now been on shelves for 18 days. As we exit the “launch” phase, it’s time to try to build some momentum!
So here’s where, before I dive into the actual launch recap, I have an ask for you:
If you’ve already read The Thirteenth Circle, would you mind to review it online? HERE is the book’s Amazon page. The sales algorithm is more likely to display the book to shoppers if there are reviews and ratings! All you really need is a single sentence and a headline. (If you want to go above and beyond, you could paste the exact same review on other sites, like Goodreads and Barnes & Noble. But Amazon is a great start!)
If you clicked right through and posted your review—THANK YOU!!
If you’re saving the link for later—THANK YOU!!
Now, back to the recap.
On release day, January 30th, I hopped on a train up to Boston, for our first bookstore event. MarcyKate was meeting me at the train station. The plan was to swing by a few independent bookstores in Boston and sign their copies, before heading to MarcyKate’s house to finish getting ready for our event at The Silver Unicorn Bookstore.
Curveball number one: MarcyKate’s younger son fell sick and had to get picked up early from daycare. She was still able to come meet me, but we didn’t end up having time to visit the bookstores in Boston. We did stop by a Barnes & Noble near her house, though, to sign their copies and take photos!
After that happy moment (during which I also got to see my book on a display table for the first time), we headed to her house to finish putting together the swag bags for our evening launch. MarcyKate came up with the most amazing bundle of goodies! She also made adorable alien and UFO cookies that I attempted to replicate for our NYC launch later in the week.
We loaded everything in the car and headed to The Silver Unicorn. We introduced ourselves to the booksellers. Held the beautiful hardcover edition of The Thirteenth Circle in our hands for the first time. Met and chatted with our moderator for the evening, Newbery Honor–winner Rajani LaRocca. Waited for the seats to fill.
Curveball number two: the seats did not fill.
Attendance for our first launch was slim.
It seemed like a few different factors were in play. It was a very, very cold and snowy weeknight. There were a few other kidlit events in the Boston area the same evening (which we didn’t realize before booking the date). Some people had said they’d come, but didn’t end up being able to.
MarcyKate and I tried not to let it take too much wind out of our sails. We actually had a fantastic conversation with Rajani and one of the booksellers. Because the audience was small, we kept things very casual. It wasn’t what either of us had envisioned for The Thirteenth Circle’s first big outing, but it ended up being a fun event nonetheless. We took photos, signed stock for the store, and gave UFO and alien cookies to all of the staff.
If you ever find yourself near Acton, MA, The Silver Unicorn is a really delightful bookstore, and you should stop by!
I headed back to NYC on Wednesday morning, and on Thursday, February 1st, MarcyKate and I had a joint virtual school visit, hosted by Northshire Bookstore. Eight elementary schools were registered to attend. This visit went really well, and we are hoping to repeat it in the future. If you are affiliated with an elementary or intermediate school that books virtual author visits, please get in touch!
Saturday, February 3rd, was our second launch event, this time at McNally Jackson’s South Street Seaport location in Manhattan. I hadn’t been to this particular store before—it opened a few months before the pandemic struck—and it was so charming! Their children’s area was warm and welcoming, and so was their event coordinator. I had invited just about everyone I knew with a child anywhere close to the target age for The Thirteenth Circle, as well as a number of writer friends, and I was thrilled that a lot of them were able to make it. (Admittedly, it was a very first-grader-heavy middle-grade book event; I adjusted our talking points accordingly!)
A personal highlight of this launch was my own six-year-old, sitting proudly in the front row—and occasionally raising her hand to ask important questions or offer clarifying details. I didn’t have an in-person book launch for any of the Class Critters titles, due to Covid, and while my daughter has been to a few book festivals at this point, this was the first book party she’s attended that was specifically for me, her mom! She felt like the guest of honor herself.
After the event was over, MarcyKate and I were so excited to get to have a quick lunch with our editor at Feiwel & Friends, Holly West. This was our first time meeting Holly in person! Over Thai food, we nerded out about our favorite sci-fi shows and books—and chatted about ideas for sequels to The Thirteenth Circle. This is a thing we all really want to make happen! If you also want sequels to The Thirteenth Circle, please help us by telling the readers in your life about the book, and/or by buying more copies! ;)
Last week was World Read Aloud Week, and I already shared my recap of that. Technically, all of those virtual school visits were not part of The Thirteenth Circle’s launch…but wow, was it ever good timing! Not only did I do several readings from The Thirteenth Circle, I also got to share details about the book even when I was doing a visit focused on Class Critters. (“What other books have you written?”)
Curveball number three: in the middle of the week, I was felled by the stomach virus that is currently circulating through my kid’s school. I did most of my World Read Aloud Day visits on Wednesday, February 7th, with a low-grade fever. Whee!
Finally, this past Saturday, February 10th, MarcyKate and I were thrilled to participate in a virtual panel hosted by Books of Wonder, alongside authors Ben Guterson and Anne Ursu, who also have new middle-grade books out. We had a really wonderful conversation that covered the craft of writing mysteries, where our ideas came from, and our advice for young aspiring writers. It’s always great to connect with other authors for the first time, and I can’t wait to read Ben and Anne’s books.
HERE is the Crowdcast link to the recording of the Books of Wonder event, if you’d like to watch it!
The Books of Wonder panel was our final launch event, but it’s definitely not the last thing on the calendar. For instance, I’ve been booking solo school visits for the spring, mainly in NYC and in Tennessee so far, and have applied to a book festival in May. More details soon as those things come together! And once again, if you’re interested in having me (solo or with MarcyKate) speak at your school, library, or tween/middle-grade book club, don’t hesitate to reach out. My author email is:
kathrynholmesbooks@gmail.com
Another week, I will talk more about the non-event stuff MarcyKate and I have been doing to promote The Thirteenth Circle. The social media, the podcasts, the giveaways, a prerecorded virtual school visit package, etc. I want to get a little more distance from launch in order to assess what seemed most effective—and what didn’t turn out to work, in terms of raising awareness.
But before I sign off, in case you missed it, I’m spearheading an epic nine-book middle-grade giveaway this week. Tomorrow is the last day to enter for a chance to win all of these titles from January and February 2024. There are some amazing books in here—you don’t want to miss out! Link to enter: bit.ly/Win9NewMGBooks.
Happy reading!
~Kathryn