In August 2014, the first Swoon Reads title was announced for publication: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall, a teen librarian in Morristown, N.J., who wrote a novel about two college students who fall in love. Everything about the book is a little something different: the way it was submitted, the way it was shaped by its readers, and the way author Sandy Hall and three other Swoon Reads authors will tour next month.
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| Jean Feiwel | |
"The community at Swoon Reads is now doing a lot of the proselytizing," said senior v-p and publisher Jean Feiwel of Feiwel and Friends, who came up with the idea and model for Swoon Reads three years ago. "That's what makes it a different kind of experience. The writers and readers have a stake in it. So even if your manuscript isn't chosen for publication, there's a lot of constructive mentoring and conversation that's helpful. That's created a congenial experience and a lot of good will." Together with associate editor Holly West and director Lauren Scobell, Feiwel has provided the Swoon Reads community with editorial, marketing and tech support. They've published five books (as of May 12), with 10 more announced. And now their first crop of writers is ready to hit the road.
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Katie Van Ark, author of The Boy Next Door; Temple West, author of Velvet; and Kimberly Karalius, author of Love Fortunes and Other Disasters, will appear with Sandy Hall at seven destinations: Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati (Tues., May 12); the RT Booklovers Convention in Dallas, Tex. (Wed., May 13); Books Inc. in Opera Plaza, San Francisco (Thurs., May 14); Seattle's University Bookstore (Fri., May 15); The Book Stall at Chestnut Court in Chicago (Sun., May 17); Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Mon., May 18); and Barnes & Noble in East Brunswick, N.J. (Tues., May 19).
Anna Billings of Books Inc. in San Francisco said what makes her most excited about hosting the Swoon Reads tour is its concept. "I really like the idea that readers are involved in choosing what will be published, almost the reverse of the idea of advance reader copies," Billings said. "People read them, get to give their input, their comments, and it really helps debut authors--even if their book isn't chosen [for publication], they can revise and resubmit it." At Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Rachel Person, events and community outreach coordinator said, "Teens and romance readers are two constituencies that I've been working hard to bring to the store and to our events program, so this tour in particular seemed like an amazing way to continue that outreach." A Little Something Different is "a great staff favorite" at Books Inc. They work with a lot of middle schools, and they're happy to have light YA fiction that's appropriate for 12-up rather than 14-up. Billings added, "It's good contemporary fiction. It's done really well."
Books Inc. will hold a panel moderated by a local blogger from Tales of the Ravenous Reader, with cupcakes and a "Candy Bar" where fans can mingle while they wait to get their books. Billings plans to get the word out through social media, and the store's "Not Your Mother's Book Club blog. Person is doing direct outreach to high schools for the event, and through the teen room at the local library and local RWA (Romance Writers of America) chapters. She anticipates a mix of teens and adults in the audience, due to strong interest from members of her "We Are Not Too Old for This" reading group (which consists mostly of adults reading YA), as well as from local romance readers and authors.
Billings believes Swoon Reads is a logical next step for the many teens writing for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). "You have NaNoWriMo in the fall, so if you finish, you can submit for the next quarter to Swoon Reads," she pointed out. Feiwel had noted the same phenomenon among the Swoon Reads writers, many of whom grew up writing fan fiction. "They're practicing their storytelling in a different way," Feiwel observed. "They're not going for the MFA, they're going to NaNoWriMo." Feiwel said that she's learned from the self-publishing conversation to answer the question, "What can publishers do?" with "What can we bring to your manuscript?" She explained: "The editorial, the marketing, the packaging process, if you do it yourself, that's a miracle, and if you're successful, that's a miracle. It's more likely to be successful if you can partner with a publisher."