(Winter25) Writing: Your Book Is Not Going to Sell Itself

Your Book Is Not Going to Sell Itself: Planning and Executing a Book Publicity Strategy with Kate Feiffer and Elisa Speranza
Dates: Saturday, February 8 & Sunday, February 9
Time: 2:00PM - 3:30PM
Location: online via Zoom
Fee: $85

You’ve been toiling away on your book, and you’re almost ready to get it out into the world. Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to get an agent and a publisher, or maybe you’ve decided to go the independent route and hybrid or self-publish. Either way, it’s unlikely there’s a marketing team standing by to help you, so how will anyone beyond your friends and family find out about your book? This workshop will help demystify and navigate the world of book publicity and will provide practical and creative advice for developing your book launch and marketing strategy. We may gently push you out of your comfort zone, but we promise it will be fun and valuable.

This interactive online workshop is for you if you’re a writer working in any genre on a book you plan to publish and sell. It’s never too soon and never too late to find your readers.
Participants will submit ahead of time: one brief paragraph describing their project and one brief paragraph with their writing-related bio. Participants will introduce themselves in the chat at the beginning of the class.
The format will combine information-sharing, tag-teamed between Kate and Elisa, and time for individual work, then sharing with the group. Templates will be provided ahead of time for identifying goals and objectives, finding your target audience, and brainstorming key foundational questions

Kate Feiffer is the author of eleven highly acclaimed books for children, including Henry the Dog with No Tail, and Double Pink. Morning Pages, her first novel for adults, was published in 2024 and was called a “winning adult debut” by Publisher’s Weekly. Kate is also an artist and the illustrator of the poetry/parody The Lamb Cycle. Kate has been the event producer for the annual Martha's Vineyard-based writers' festival Islanders Write since its inception in 2014. Her writing and illustrations have appeared in newspapers and magazines on Martha's Vineyard, on HNN, NPR, and in Literary Hub. Prior to writing for print publications, Kate was a television news and documentary film producer. KateFeiffer@gmail.com, www.katefeiffer.com

​Oak Bluffs summer resident Elisa M. Speranza spent thirty-plus years in marketing and strategic communications before publishing her 2022 historical novel The Italian Prisoner, a finalist in the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. She’s been a featured author at the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival, the Louisiana Book Festival, the Salem (MA) LitFest, and Islanders Write on Martha’s Vineyard, where she co-founded the Washashores Writers Collective. Elisa serves on the board of the New Orleans Writers Workshop and is an active literary citizen in New Orleans, Martha’s Vineyard, and elsewhere. elisamariesperanza@gmail.com, www.elisamariesperanza.com