2201 NE 23rd Avenue, Third Floor Portland, OR 97212 503-327-8849 Marketing Plan Publicist: Sarah Currin Book Info Title: Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter Author: David Shields and Elizabeth Cooperman (editors) Publication Date: January 2015 Categories: LCO000000 LITERARY COLLECTIONS/General LIT018000 LITERARY CRITICISM/Short Stories Format: Hardcover Trim Size: 6” x 9” Page Count: 311 + front matter Imprint: Hawthorne Books ISBN: TBD List Price: TBD Print Run: TBD Edition: 1st Author Info Author Biographies David Shields is the author of fifteen books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead and Salinger (cowritten by Shane Salerno); Reality Hunger, named one of the best books of 2010 by more than thirty publications; Black Planet, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Remote, winner of the PEN/Revson Award; and Dead Languages, winner of the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. He is the Milliman Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Washington. His work has been translated into twenty languages. Elizabeth Cooperman’s work has appeared in the Writer’s Chronicle, Seattle Review, and 1913: A Journal of Forms. She earned her master's of fine arts degree in poetry from the University of Washington in 2010. Cooperman works for Poetry Northwest.
Authors' Hometown Seattle, WA Nielsen Bookscan Information for Selected Books by Author Salinger • 9781476744834, TC, $37.50, BIO007000, Simon & Schuster, Sep. 2013, RTD Sales: 14,562 The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead • 9780307268044, TC, $23.95, BIO026000, Random House, Feb. 2008, RTD Sales: 15,135 • 9780307387967, TP, $15.95, BIO026000, Random House, Feb. 2009, RTD Sales: 9,538 Reality Hunger: A Manifesto • 9780307273536, TC, $24.95, LIT006000, Random House, Feb. 2010, RTD Sales: 6,277 • 9780307387974, TP, $15.00, PHI001000, Random House, Feb. 2011, RTD Sales: 4,776 Book Background Book Summary In our fast-paced, constantly changing digital world, it's easy to wonder if the novel is dead. David Shields, the acclaimed co-author of Salinger, and Elizabeth Cooperman ask, “So what if it is?” In this unconventional collection featuring authors as classic as George Orwell and Kate Chopin and as contemporary as Amy Hempel and Jonathan Safran Foer, the entire span of life’s experiences, from birth to death, is explored and offered in conjunction with instructive writing lessons that will charge and inspire readers to put their own thoughts to paper. Shields and Cooperman share their favorite short fiction and essays in order to prove that the stories we yearn for today are concise, raw, and vital—a short bridge between ourselves and the rest of the world. Audience List This book has enormous crossover potential because many different types of people will be drawn to the different aspects of the book. We expect the following audiences to be attracted to Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter: • Fans of short literary fiction • Fans of modern and contemporary personal essays • Teachers and professors looking for a text to incorporate into their creative writing, literature, or English classes • People who liked or heard about Salinger and are interested in reading more of Shields's books • Established fans of Shields's other work • Writers looking for unconventional writing manuals and/or writing inspiration • Fans of any of the included authors Strongest Selling Features Shields himself is this book's biggest draw. He has a great audience, and Salinger has garnered excellent sales and an enormous amount of publicity for Shields. He is in the public's awareness
now, which means people will pick up his other books. Shields also has another book in the fall of 2014 coming from Knopf, so we are hoping to dovetail our own marketing and publicity efforts into theirs. Shields is a very personable author, as well; he has proven that can hold his own on television shows like The Colbert Report, and he's a funny and engaging speaker. Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter also has the potential to reach a large educational market as a writing manual or course anthology for creative writing, literature, and English classes in both high schools and universities. Finally, this anthology contains work from a wide array of excellent and popular writers; fans of any one of them will be interested in purchasing this collection. Markets General trade market (independent bookstores, major bookstores, online bookstores), specialty stores (Urban Outfitters, Tender Loving Empire, de Medici-Ming Fine Paper, Monster Art, etc.), libraries, education market (course adoption in English/literature classes, creative nonfiction writing classes, etc.). Special Emphasis as: [x] Text Book [x] Trade Book [ ] Professional Book [x] Library Book [x] Other Text Adoption Courses Special Rights Subsidiary Rights Hawthorne Books retains the right to keep or license to third parties certain subsidiary rights at their discretion. These rights include foreign translation rights, paperback and book club rights, and adaptation/sequel rights. All revenue stemming from subsidiary rights that do end up being licensed to a third party will be split evenly with the author. First Serial Rights Atlantic Monthly Granta McSweeney’s Mental Floss New Yorker Utne Reader Vanity Fair Zoetrope Foreign Rights Press packets including the book will be sent to our international rights list, and the book will be represented by PGW at international literary festivals in Bologna, London, and Frankfurt.
Blurber List
Alice Munro (Nobel Prize-winning short story author) Sarah Hall (BBC National Short Story Award winner) Karen Russell (MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, author of two short story collections) Tom Spanbauer (Hawthorne Books author, contemporary and teacher of many authors in Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter) Dave Eggers (Best American Nonrequired Reading series editor, McSweeney’s founder) Junot Diaz (Pulitzer Prize-winning, PEN/Malamud Award-winning author of short stories) Jay Ponteri (Hawthorne Books author, quoted by Shields in book, professor of writing) A.M. Homes (Multiple award-winning author of short stories and novels) Aimee Bender (Pushcart Prize-winning contemporary short story writer) George Saunders (Bestselling and celebrated writer of short fiction and essays) Scott Nadelson (Hawthorne Books author, contemporary short story writer)
Jonathan Lethem (Blurbed Shields in the past, celebrated contemporary short story writer) Chuck Klosterman (Blurbed Shields in the past, beloved pop culture essayist) David Sedaris (Adored essayist, NPR contributor) Mary Gaitskill (Guggenheim Fellow short story author) Amy Bloom (National Book Awardnominated short story author) James Wood (Staff writer and book critic for The New Yorker) Louise Erdrich (Award-winning short story author, guest editor of The Best American Short Stories) Tom Perrotta (Author, guest editor of The Best American Short Stories) Paul Socken (Editor of The Edge of the Precipice: Why Read Literature in the Digital Age?) Maryanne Wolf (Author of Proust and the Squid) Jaron Lanier (Computer scientist, cultural theorist, and author of Who Owns the Future? and You Are Not a Gadget) Laura Furman (Series editor for The O. Henry Prize Stories)
Susan Lohafer (Author of Coming to Terms with the Short Story, Short Story Theory at a Crossroads, and Reading for Storyness)
Kirk Curnutt (Author of Wise Economies: Brevity and Storytelling in American Short Stories)
Per Winther/Jakob Lothe/Hans H. Skei (Editors of The Art of Brevity: Excursions in Short Fiction Theory and Analysis)
Deborah Treisman (Fiction editor of the New Yorker)
Andrew Levy (Author of The Culture and Commerce of the American Short Story)
Any of the authors on the PEN/Faulkner Foundation board of directors who help select PEN/Malamud award winner
Book Marketing Strategy/Tactics Galleys E-Galleys will be available on Edelweiss. Print galleys will be sent to targeted media outlets, reviewers, requesting bookstores, and contest winners. Promotional Materials Selected media targets and local independent bookstores will receive special gift boxes including the following: • Copy of Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter for review • Press kit • Letter introducing the book from Jay Ponteri • Original flash fiction or short essays from David Shields and Elizabeth Cooperman not included in Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter, bound as a small chapbook • Small journal with note of encouragement to try the writing exercises included in the book • Nice pen • Chocolate with pop rocks (for a surprising flash of sensation that mimics the short writing in the book) Media Targets The following targeted media sources will receive monthly packages (beginning three months before the pub. date) calling their attention to Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter. Individual relationships with specific reviewers will be utilized via email, telephone, in-person meetings, and story pitches. These targets are: Publishers Weekly
New York Newsday
Shelf Awareness
Village Voice
Christian Science Monitor
New York Times
Washington Post Book Work
Philadelphia Inquirer
USA Today
Portland Mercury
Booklist
The Oregonian
Seattle Post Intelligencer
BookWorm
The Seattle Times
NPR (All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Fresh Air)
The Stranger Willamette Week
Meanwhile, press packets including review copies of the book will be sent to the following reviewers (*previously reviewed a Hawthorne Books title): Industry Publications *Booklist *Kirkus Fiction *Library Journal *Publishers Weekly
Magazines *Absinthe Literary Review
*Elle
American Short Fiction
*Entertainment Weekly
Atlanta Magazine
*Foreword
The Atlantic Monthly
Harper’s Magazine
*The Believer
*Indiana Review
Bitch Magazine
Interview Magazine
Bloomsbury Review
Jane Magazine
*BOMB Magazine
*Literal Latte
Bookmarks
*Marie Claire
Book Page
Maxim
BookForum
Mental Floss
Bookwire
Mother Jones Magazine
Bust
The Nation
*The New Republic
*Rain Taxi
The New Yorker
*Resonance Magazine
Newsweek
*Speakeasy Magazine
The Onion
Storyteller
*Oprah Magazine
The Utne Reader
The Paris Review
Vanity Fair
People
*The Writer’s Chronicle
*Playboy
Writer’s Digest
Ploughshares
Zoetrope: All-Story
*Poets & Writers *Portland Monthly
Dailies *Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Arizona Republic
Houston Chronicle
The Baltimore Sun
Indiana Review
*The Boston Globe
Long Beach Press Telegram
The Boston Herald
*Los Angeles Times
The Charlotte Observer
Marin Independent Journal
*Chicago Sun-Times
The Miami Herald
Chicago Tribune
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
*Christian Science Monitor
Minneapolis Star Tribune
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
New Orleans Time-Picayune
*Contra Costa Times
The New York Times
*The Daily Astorian
*New York Times Book Review
The Dallas Morning News
The New York Review of Books
*The Denver Post
New York Newsday
Detroit Free Press
Omaha World-Herald
Orange County Register
*Seattle Post Intelligencer
*The Oregonian
*The Statesman Journal
*The Philadelphia Inquirer
St. Petersburg Times
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
USA Today
The Press Democrat
The Wall Street Journal
*San Diego Union Tribune
*Washington Post Book World
*San Francisco Chronicle
*Winnipeg Free Press
The San Francisco Examiner San Jose Mercury News
Weeklies AM New York
*Jackson Free Press
Amarillo Globe News
Kansas City Star
Anderson Valle Advertiser
LA Weekly
*Austin Chronicle
Metro Silicon Valley
Boston Phoenix
Metro Times
Chicago Reader
Miami New Times
Chico News & Review
Nashville Scene
City Pages Minneapolis/St. Paul
New Haven Advocate
Cleveland Free Times
NOW/Toronto
Colorado Springs Gazette
OC Weekly
Colorado Springs Independent
Orlando Weekly
*Creative Loafing
*Philadelphia Weekly
*Eugene Weekly
Pitch Weekly
Eureka Times-Standard
Point Reyes Light
Fairfield Weekly
*The Portland Alliance
High Country News
*The Portland Mercury
*Independent Weekly
Portland Phoenix
*The Portland Tribune
*Seattle Weekly
Pueblo Chieftain
*St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Providence Phoenix
*The Stranger
Reno News & Review
The Taos News
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Valley Advocate
*Rocky Mountain News
The Village Voice
Sacramento News & Review
Weekly Planet Tampa
*San Diego Reader
Weekly Planet Sarasota
*San Francisco Bay Guardian
*Willamette Week
*The Seattle Times
Book Clubs Telegraph Short Story Club The Guardian Book Club with John Mullan Quality Paperback Book Club The Literary Guild Short Story Club on KZSU Stanford Online Media Bookdwarf
The Midnight Bell
Bookslut
Narrative
Booktrust Short Stories
Nerve
Conversations with Famous Writers
The New Yorker’s Page-Turner
The Elegant Variation
Ploughshares Literary Magazine Blog
Flash Fiction Online
ReadySteadyBook
Grumpy Old Bookman
Salon
Huffington Post Book Section
The Shatzkin Files
The Literary Saloon
*Shelf Awareness
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
So Many Books
Slate
Venuszine
Tin House Blog
ZYZZYVA Blog
USA Book News
Social Media We plan to utilize all major social media networks to promote Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter. We will involve Shields and Cooperman, as well as the collection's contributors, on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and the like. If possible, we would love to have Shields, Cooperman, and contributing authors write blog posts, flash fiction or short essays, and/or film short videos for our social media accounts while simultaneously promoting the book on their own personal accounts. Author Website Shields’s has an active and up-to-date personal website; it will absolutely be utilized for active promotion. We will also encourage Cooperman and any contributing authors to promote the book on their personal websites, as well. Publisher Website Our website will contain an informational page about Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter (as is customary for all of our titles). In the months before and after the release of the book, we will also have a special “New Release” promotional page up on our website and blog posts detailing the progress of the book's productions and release. Online Promotions We plan to offer giveaways of the book on Shelf Awareness and Goodreads, as well as host a flash fiction/short essay contest via our various social media accounts in which the winners receive a copy of the book and the honor of having their story posted on said social media accounts. We could also potentially set these winners up with a virtual meeting, personal email, or the like with Shields, Cooperman, or a contributing author. Television We will attempt to pitch Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter and book Shields and/or Cooperman on the following shows: The Colbert Report (Shields has been a guest on The Colbert Report before) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Oregon Art Beat Book TV Charlie Rose
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson CBS This Morning The Ellen DeGeneres Show Good Morning America Jimmy Kimmel live!
Conan
Live! With Kelly and Michael
Late Show with David Letterman
The Tavis Smiley Show
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The View
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
The Today Show
Piers Morgan Tonight
Radio We will attempt to pitch Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter and book Shields and Cooperman on as many radio shows as possible. Press packets including the book will be went to the following stations: Book Worm/KCRW, FM
KATU AMNW
Diane Rhem Show
KGW
Howard Stern Show
KOIN
Imus in the Morning
KPDX
Fresh Air with Terry Gross
Live Wire! Radio
KAXE
NPR: All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Fresh Air with Terry Gross
KBOO KEX/Clear Channel Portland KLCC KONP KMUN KWVA (University of Oregon) KBVR (Oregon State University)
OPB Radio Oregon Considered Oregon Territory Talk of the Nation WETA’s Author Author WHYY
KXL
Advertising We don’t plan to pay for book advertisements; instead, we want our interviews, social media presence, extensive marketing, and reviews speak for themselves.
Events Reading Tour Shields is no stranger to reading engagements, having just wrapped up a nationwide book tour for Salinger. We intend to piggyback onto the Knopf-sponsored tour for his Fall 2014 book with them and ensure publicity for our book at those readings. We will also be setting up events specific to Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter in the Pacific Northwest and other major cities that Shields will be traveling to upon the release of our book (exact locations to be determined). Panels and Discussions We will be attempting to set up panel discussions or dual lectures with Shields, Cooperman, and some of the writers included in the anthology; these events will take place in whatever cities work best for all parties to converge upon, and will feature the writers discussing the short story form, the craft of writing, and their contributions to the anthology. Academic Tour We would like to schedule an educational tour for Shields, in which he (along with Cooperman and any contributing authors, if possible) visits various creative writing classes and MFA programs at universities across the country. Shields is a high profile author and having him speak would be a feather in any school's cap; we expect hosting schools and universities to be able to pay for the opportunity to have Shields (et al.) lecture. Virtual Events If Shields or Cooperman are interested, we want to set up Skype sessions with book groups and classrooms that have purchased a certain number of copies of the book. We are also interested in setting up Google Hangouts or other similar online video conferences that fans can join in order to communicate with the editors and contributing authors. These fans could be selected via random giveaway, contest, social media, etc. We also plan to host a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) with David Shields and have periodic Twitter blitzes, during which fans can tweet Shields, Cooperman, and participating contributing authors questions or comments about the book. Potential Literary Festivals To be determined as applicable: Alabama Book Festival
Baltimore Book Festival
Alabama Bound Festival
Banned Books Week
Amelia Book Island Festival
Bay Area Storytelling Festival
Arizona Book Festival
Bellingham Storytelling Festival
Arkansas Literary Festival
Book World Prague International Book Fair
Augusta Baker’s Dozen—A Celebration of Stories Festival
BookExpo America BookMania!
Border Book Festival
NC Literary Festival
Boston Globe Book Festival
Nebraska Book Festival
Buckeye Book Fair
Newberry Library Book Festival
Cape Clear Island International Storytelling Festival
Northern Arizona Book Festival
Capital BookFest Delaware Book Festival ETSU Celebration of Books and Authors Fall for the Book Festival Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference Festival of Reading Festival of the Written Arts Georgia Literary Festival Great Salt Lake Book Festival Hollins University Annual Literary Festival Illinois Authors Book Fair Kansas Book Festival Kentucky Book Fair Key West Literary Seminar Literary Feast Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Louisiana Book Festival
Ohio River Festival of Books Oklahoma Book Awards Oxford Conference for the Book Printers Row Book Fair Queens Book Fair Reading Rendezvous Sarasota Reading Festival Small Press Book Fair South Carolina Book Festival South Dakota Festival of Books Southern Festival of Books Southern Kentucky Book Fest Southwest Florida Reading Festival Spring Literary Festival Steinbeck Festival New Orleans Literary Festival Texas Book Festival
Miami Book Fair International
University of North Dakota Writer’s Conference
Minnesota Book Awards
Vegas Valley Book Festival
Montana Festival of the Book
Vero Beach Book Festival
Much Ado About Books
Virginia Festival of the Books
Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration
West Texas Book and Author Festival
National Book Festival
West Virginia Books Festival
National Library Week
Wordstock Festival
Writing Rendezvous Wyoming Book Festival
Conventions PNBA (table and author signing) AWP (table and author signing) BEA (shelf space, cover out) PGW will also represent this book on our behalf at the numerous conventions they attend. Release Plan We plan to host dual release parties in Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR, at venues that accurately reflect the hip, contemporary attitude and aesthetic of Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter.
Academia David Shields graduated from Brown University in 1978, with Honors in English Literature, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. In 1980, he received an MFA in Fiction, with honors, from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. From 1985 to 1988, he was a visiting assistant professor at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He is currently the Milliman Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Washington. He is also a member of the faculty in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. Elizabeth Cooperman received her MFA from University of Washington. We will be fully taking advantage of the editors' ties to the following academic institutes: •
Brown University
•
University of Iowa
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University of Iowa Writers' Workshop
•
St. Lawrence University
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University of Washington
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Warren Wilson College
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Phi Beta Kappa
It is beneficial to universities, fraternities, and honors societies to promote their successful alumni, so we will be reaching out to these institutions and making sure that they have what they need to promote Shields and Cooperman in their courses and publications. We will also be targeting the school markets in PGW's distribution circle and utilizing regional mailing lists for
English and creative writing teachers and professors to contact individuals about adopting Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter for classroom use.
Retail Promotional Programs Barnes & Noble •
We will be applying for the opportunity to purchase chain-wide front-of-store display space in Barnes & Noble stores across the country; if we are accepted, we will pay $3,500 to display copies of Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter at the front of chain-wide locations.
Amazon •
We will be participating in Amazon’s Vine program, which costs $500 and requires us to provide 300 copies of the book. However, this will provide us with valuable customer reviews on Amazon’s website.
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We will be purchasing a Single New Product email blast; it will include a link to the product page and will cost $1,500.
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We will also be receiving a basic merchandising package from Amazon; through PGW, we can receive a discount of 50%.
Independent Booksellers •
Deluxe press packets including gift items and copies of the book (specifics detailed earlier in the plan) will be sent to the following independent booksellers: ◦ McNally Robinson ◦ Powell’s Books ◦ Book Soup ◦ The Strand ◦ Prairie Lights Bookstore ◦ Tattered Cover Book Store ◦ Elliott Bay Book Company ◦ St. Mark's Bookshop ◦ City Lights ◦ Politics & Prose
◦ Shakespeare & Co. ◦ Dickens Books ◦ Changing Hands Bookstore ◦ Flying Pig Books •
Indie Newsletter Co-Op Program ◦ $1,000 cap per store per year, but includes Powell’s, Tattered Cover, etc.
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Indiebound (Booksense) ◦ We will be campaigning to have Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter chosen as a Booksense pick, which means we will be approaching every independent bookseller we know to nominate it for us. We will also contact Booksense directly via the American Booksellers Association in order to pitch the collection to them.
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We will invite local booksellers to sell books at every book event Shields and/or Cooperman attend to promote the books.
PGW/Distribution Promotion Printed books will be made available to all sales reps at the sales conference preceding the release of Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter. Advance reading copies will be made available to all requesting booksellers.
Book Awards/Grants/Fellowships We will submit Life Is Short—Art Is Shorter for the consideration of the following awards, grants, and fellowships: James Tait Black Memorial Prize
PEN/O. Henry Award
New York Book Festival Award
Pushcart Prize
Oregon Book Award
American Booksellers Association Awards (Booksense)
National Book Award The Story Prize USA Book News Best Book Award PNBA Book Awards Pulitzer Prize National Book Critics Circle Awards PEN Center USA Awards
Lannan Literary Awards and Fellowships Oregon Arts Commission grant The Guggenheim Foundation fellowship Library of Congress grant The National Endowment for the Arts