Farm to Tablet: Launch Month!

Dearest readers,

Greetings from one wild month! Not much has happened on the homestead, besides daily chores, a quick bout of rabbit butchering (eek!), and rapidly digging the garlic in. Here's what has happened instead!

Publications

My pub team helped me place some essays in a few key spots. Here are the links if you'd like to check them out...

“How Homesteading Helps Me Write,” on Lit Hub

“A Meditation on Slaughter,” on Modern Farmer

“8 Books that Wrestle with the Complexities of Religion,” on Electric Literature

Book Tour

I took myself on a whirlwind tour of 17 stops all around our beautiful state, from Island Books and Crafts in Sault Ste. Marie to Snowbound Books in Marquette to McLean and Eakin in Petosky to Horizon Books in Cadillac to Book Nook and Java Shop in Montague. At each store, I met with the kind of beautiful book people who radiate that inner-life incandescence. I'll be visiting nearby bookstores (in Albion, Marshall, Detroit, etc.) throughout the coming weeks, as those are close enough not to require overnight travel. All in all, I've enjoyed many joyful romps, and I've a few more still to come.

Events and Other Press

My launch at Literati was one of the most joyful evenings of my life, hands down. Most memorable moment: signing Silas's book while he danced a happy cha-cha the entire time. End result...

I was also lucky enough to get interviewed by April Baer for Stateside on Michigan Radio! If you'd like to listen, you can do so here. The interview runs from minute 31 until the end.

Finally, I enjoyed an evening with the beautiful readers' community, staff, and owner at Forever Books in St. Joseph, where I met so many lovely strangers who showed up on a cold and rainy night and generously gave my book a go. My adopted in-laws also attended, one of whom took some killer pics. Here's a snap.

Still to come is Out of Esau's evening at Serendipity Books in Chelsea, which will be held in the First Congregational Church across the street from the store. It starts at 7 on Thursday the 27th, and I'd love to see you there!

Launching

Out of Esau's launch has exceeded my expectations in so many ways. So many people have bought the book! So many people have read the book! So many people have recommended it to others! So many people have shown up to events and bookstore visits! So many people have even decided to give “Out of Esau” as a Christmas gift! I am truly humbled and almost uncomfortably grateful. Without the efforts of readers, this book would never get read. Here are a few final ways which, if you're interested, will help “Out of Esau” launch even higher.

First of all, ratings and reviews hold a lot of heft in this brave new world, even if those reviews are a single sentence. The most effective places to post them are at Amazon and Goodreads, where, if you don't have an account, it's easy to set one up. Goodreads is immensely helpful for finding books, remembering the books you want to read, and remembering the books that you've read, too! Scott and I compete every year as to the number of books we've read. (Side note: I'm decimating him this year.) 

Second of all, if you've read “Out of Esau” and enjoyed it, please consider recommending the book to a fellow book lover. Word of mouth goes a long way!

And finally, “Out of Esau” also works as a thought-provoking book club pick. You can recommend it for friends' clubs, or read it with your own. My publisher and I have put together a reader's guide which is available here, and I'm also eager to Zoom in and answer questions.