When I was a kid, my mom and I used to gather flowers, put them in baskets, and deliver them to the neighbors for May Day. It was a secret ritual because you would sneak up to a neighbor’s door, hang the basket on the door knob, ring the bell, and run and hide while watching them open the door from that hidden location. The surprised looks on their faces was all the joy that was needed. That was such fun.
I’m not sure it would work quite the same way now with video and Ring cameras on doors everywhere; they would know who came to the door with the basket of flowers, but the thought is still there.
In that light, I am sending you some virtual flowers right now and wishing you a Happy May Day and a very lovely and successful month of May.
And, of course, Mother’s Day is coming up, which is another very important day in May. To all moms everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day!
What else does May have in store for us? Remember, as an author you want to look for a topic you can tie your book into in order to make it newsworthy again. Here are some possibilities:
Of course, there are other special days in May, but the list can get very long. I have to cut it off at some point, but if you didn’t find anything on the above list to tie into, you can do some additional research.
I’m also very happy to announce that the 12th Annual Nonfiction Virtual Writer’s Conference is coming up this week, May 4-6. This conference is for anyone who loves books, writes books, is promoting a book, or would like to promote a book.
To say the Nonfiction Authors Association attracts great talent is an understatement. Take two of the big guests appearing this year. They are:
New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winning writer Anna Quindlen. The New York Times Book Review calls her latest book, Write for Your Life (Random House, Available April 12, 2022), a “clarion call to pick up a pen and find yourself from ‘one of our most astute chroniclers of modern life.’”
And Julia Cameron, author of the bestselling book The Artist’s Way. Julia turns her attention to creative prayer in her latest book: SEEKING WISDOM: A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection (St. Martin’s Essentials; Jan 11, 2022; $18.99).
I was first introduced to Julia Cameron via Kenny Loggins when we invited Kenny and his wife, Julia, to do a week-long retreat at the Living Enrichment Center when I was PR director there. Kenny did a close and intimate concert on a Friday night for just a few hundred people, and I’ll never forget when he held up this book called The Artist’s Way and mentioned how he was doing all the daily exercises in the book including Morning Pages. I thought, “Hey, if it’s good enough for Kenny Loggins, it’s good enough for me.” It was a game changer, and still is for writers everywhere all these years later.
I’m also delighted to say that I’ve been asked to be a presenter during the conference and will be speaking on how to set up your own podcast and radio tour. Basically, it will be filled with easy hacks to make the process so much easier! What a blast.
I will be there live on Thursday, May 5th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time/11:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
Bottom line
May is here and spring has arrived. We all know there are plenty of very difficult things happening in our world; let’s hope more good things begin to grow and optimism begins to flourish again this month.
To your success!
Joanne
P.S. Here is a link to the Nonfiction Writers Association Conference. Hope to see you there!
P.P.S. I’ve got the month of May.
#NFAAconference
#WritersConference
#MayDay
#MothersDay
#BookPublicity
#BookMarketing
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