I’m excited to say I finally managed to get a clip of me reading from my book uploaded to YouTube! It’s also posted on my Goodreads page. Have a look!
I had an enlightening exchange with Jessica Peterson White, proprietor of Content Books in Northfield, MN, that I’d like to share with you. She is passionate about gender equality from the point of view of marketing and selling books—in other words: equal access for readers.
She wants boys and girls to read about heroes of both genders, choosing a book based on interests rather than on the requirement that the main character be the same gender as the reader. She’s very informed and savvy about it, and I’m totally with her!
When I asked her how she would talk about my book to her customers, given what I just revealed about her, this is what she said:
“If I were talking to customers in the store about the book, I think I would say it has a sense of adventure AND a sense of humor, and that it will appeal both to kids who like fantastical tales, but also kids who want a more grounded sense of character and place, because your book (like Peter Pan!) coaxes the reader into another world rather than jarring them into it. I would say that it’s fantasy that’s accessible and exciting, but not too scary — there’s a lot of very scary fantasy writing for kids right now, and many, many kids who don’t want to read anything with dead parents, a post-apocalyptic world, morally-depraved villains, etc. This will have a lot of appeal for them. There are also, of course, grown-ups who don’t want to buy scary things for the kids in their lives. Adults and girls who are looking for adventuresome girl characters will tune into it of their own accord, I think — I definitely have lots of those customers, and I know a lot of booksellers who are always on the lookout for great girl characters (and women writers!), but if they’re like me, they’re trying to sell those books to boys as much as girls :).
Thanks again for the event, and for all you’re doing to create great heroines!” —Jessica Peterson White
I’d like to give a big cheer for Jessica and librarians and booksellers like her who are working to make books equally accessible across the board!
Remember the Goodreads Giveaway is live until the end of the month—be sure to tell your friends to put in for their chance to win a free copy.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Curse of the Neverland
by Lindy MacLaine
Giveaway ends July 01, 2015.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.