The Book Launch Party

Last Saturday I showed up at the UW Bookstore at 3:45 feeling pretty sick to my stomach that I was going to have to stand in front of people and talk about my book. Ugh. The spotlight is not my thing. Additionally, I had no idea if anyone was even going to show up to the event. Did I remember to invite people? I was pretty sure I had, but I was also thinking about who I had forgotten to invite and really, my head was a nervous wreck. Immediately upon entering the store, I spied people I knew browsing books all over the place. I saw my Clarion West mentor, my next door neighbors, and even a friend from high school. Lots of hugs and congratulations ensued before I made it upstairs to see this lovely display:

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Okay. The book store had remembered I was coming and even had my books. Phew. I chatted with the very nice book store employee while more people floated upstairs, including my parents, my sister and members of her book club, some writer friends, and old housemates. It seemed, at the very least, like there would be some people to fill the seats. Oh! And I ran into this kid, who has a character named after her in the book:

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Then the clock hit four and I knew I should probably wait a little bit to get started, which is the Seattle style, but I just couldn’t. Before you knew it I was behind the podium speaking about writerly secrets and going on and on about why I wrote this book and how people can support debut authors. I looked something like this:

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What you can’t see, and what I wasn’t smart enough to remember to take a picture of, is the crowd, which grew and grew while I talked. People had to grab more chairs and expand out into the bookstore and everywhere I looked there were smiling people who had come out to celebrate me and my Little Apocalypse. It was so huge. It made my heart grow bigger. Over sixty people showed up to launch my book into the stratosphere. I read some pages of it. People seemed to like it? Then it was time to sign books, and the line snaked and stretched all over the place. I couldn’t stop grinning as I signed every book and the employee had to run downstairs to try to find more copies. Oh, it was so lovely. And then it was drinks at Flowers and laughing with old friends. Sometimes I don’t know what I’ll make a deep memory of, but other times a moment is so shiny and perfect that I know it will stay with me forever. Thanks to all of you who made my book launch perfect.

FAQ’s About My Book Launch Party

Question: Where and when?

Answer: Saturday March 23rs at 4pm at the UW Bookstore (4326 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105).

Question: Will there be vegan gluten free cupcakes?
Answer: Heck yeah!

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Question: Is Katie really nervous and excited?
Answer: Heck yeah!

Question: Are there going to be slinkster-cool Little Apocalypse zines for everyone?
Answer: Heck yeah! And they are so cute.

Question: Can I bring my kids?

Answer: You better! And if they are rowdy, unruly, and disruptive, all the better.

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Question: Should those of us who can all go to a pub/restaurant/speakeasy afterwards and party like it’s 2019?
Answer: Heck yeah!

Official information at:

http://www.ubookstore.com/events?evmonth=03&evyear=2019&eventid=2019011117465300&pre=20190313&pst=20190329

Happy Book Day to me!

Hello!

Hope you are all doing wonderfully, wherever you may be. I’m drinking tea and sitting in a tiny blue office. It has been raining all night and into the day, but I have sunlight pouring out of me. Because today, today! My book Little Apocalypse has flown the nest and is out in the world waiting for any and all people to pick it up and read it. It wears a beautiful cover and had all kinds of experts pour over it to make it the best book it could possibly be. I’m really proud of it, and love the story it tells.

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Little Apocalypse is a middle-grade book for younger readers, but I think it’s one of those books that anyone could read. It’s about a lonely girl who finds herself plunged into a strange adventure after a catastrophe hits her city. It’s also the story of a ragtag group of misfits who decide to change the world when everyone tells them that’s not possible. Or maybe I should say it’s a story about how friendship and love are a certain type of potent magic that is just as powerful as spells and prophecies. If you read it, I would love to hear what you think about it.

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I’m going to be giving a lovely copy to one of you: email contact@katherinesparrow.net to let me know you want to be entered, and hopefully you will win. If not, it is available for purchase at these links:

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062849762
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-apocalypse-katherine-sparrow/1128064631#/
https://www.amazon.com/Little-Apocalypse-Katherine-Sparrow/dp/006284976X

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Also, if you happen to be in Seattle on Saturday, March 23rd, you are invited to my book launch party at the University of Washington Book Store at 4pm. I would love to see you there!

Many Thanks,
Katherine Sparrow

 

Book Cover Love

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There’s so much I love about this book cover. I love all the lurking monster mayhem in the background and the total feeling of doom all over the place. Most of all, I feel like the illustrator did an amazing job of capturing Celia, the main character. Thanks, Eric Deschamps!