Mascot Blog

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing, parents and students everywhere are looking for ways to be entertained, to learn, and to persevere through these difficult times. Due to school closings and event cancellations, many authors are bringing their stories to readers’ homes through live, virtual readings or Q&A sessions. Alysson Foti Borque, author of the Alycat series, recently launched a weekly series: There are many options out there (Instagram Live, YouTubeLive, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, etc.) for live readings and Q&A sessions. What platform(s) did you choose for your virtual Q&A sessions, and why? We chose Be.Live because … read more

“You can avoid plastic by refusing, reusing, reducing, and recycling. Try replacing just one thing that you use all the time that is plastic—like your straw, your cup, or your utensils. Eventually you will do it with many things and it will become a habit that helps the earth.”Our March featured title is Coral’s Quest by 10-year-old Zoë Williams! We chatted with Zoë about ocean conservation, her collaboration with Ocean Ramsey, and her big plans for the future!1. You have been a dedicated advocate for ocean conversation since age 7, helping to organize local beach clean-ups and educating kids and … read more

In our recent post on series and Nadine Haruni of the series successfully brand their book series. 2. Build or maintain your audience.Another factor to consider when posting about your book on social media is whether you want to create a new profile specifically for book marketing, or if you want to post book content on your personal social media pages. Both of these options have their pros and cons.While posting to your personal social media pages guarantees a built-in audience, you may not want to bombard your existing followers with book content. Additionally, mixing your personal content with book … read more

Spring into March with our new book releases! From cookbooks to memoirs, our March book releases have something for every spring reading list. March Featured Title: Coral’s QuestBy Zoë WilliamsCoral’s Quest welcomes us to an underwater world where sharks and ocean life are under constant attack from climate change. This essential and timely book examines the ability of humans to pollute the planet – but also their ability to fix it, too.When Coral mistakenly eats a plastic bag, she has no idea that she is starting a chain of events that will make her into a human and force her to learn … read more

“We will all encounter difficult things in our life, adversity and trauma.  We never know what life has in store for each of us.  Being resilient means coping the best way you can when life throws you curve balls.  It means figuring out a way to get out of bed by putting one foot in front of the next.  It also means trying to feel gratitude that your situation is not any worse, because you can always find worse.  Resiliency is about mustering our inner strength and resources, and channeling our human spirit.”Our February featured title is Chemo Muscles: Lessons … read more

Pitching your book to retailers for in-store placement consideration and events is essential for book promotion and sales. To a first-time author, this process can be difficult to navigate. We’ve outlined our dos and don’ts for pitching to retailers below to make things a little easier!Dos:DO know what your retail pitching goals are.Is your goal to secure a book signing and reading event? Do you want the store to carry and sell your book? Do you want both? It is important to know what your goals are before reaching out to retailers. Oftentimes bookstores will have one contact for event … read more

It’s a tale as old as time: as an author, it’s always important to have some sort of platform to promote your book. Whether this is a Facebook page geared toward friends and family, or a large Twitter account with thousands of followers, having an audience to post about your book to is a great way to help the title succeed. With social media influencers, that platform is already built in, which can make them a more likely candidate for traditional publishing. However, that route isn’t always what’s best for the influencer in the long run.Influencers like working with us … read more

With 42 new titles, our February releases have something for every reading list! Check out our full list of February releases below.February Featured Title: Chemo Muscles: Lessons Learned from Being a Psycho-Oncologist and Cancer PatientBy Renee A. Exelbert, Ph.D.Dr. Renee Exelbert was working as a psychologist in a pediatric cancer center in Long Island, New York, before being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. The news came as a devastating shock to her and her family. She found herself on a path she had explored many times before as a doctor, only this time, she was the patient.Dr. Exelbert reflects … read more

You’ve decided you want to embark on the creative, rewarding, and sometimes frustrating journey that is writing a book—and, you’ve decided when you want to publish it. The next step is developing a strategic, realistic writing timeline that gives you enough room to fully develop and redevelop your manuscript while also ensuring that you hit your release date goals. While every book and author is different, we’ve created a sample writing timeline below to make the planning process a little easier! Before diving into the manuscript timeline, it is important to first understand the difference between the “book-to-print” date, the … read more

In downtown Herndon, VA—a quaint, historic town just 40 minutes outside of the bustle of Washington D.C.— with Crème Earl Grey. On the docket for March is local favorite , paired with the Herndon Breakfast Tea.  

Our “Tea Tuesdays” with Elden Street Tea Shop will begin Tuesday, February 25th. Catch us at our first “Write From the Tea House” on Wednesday, March 18th! We will be reading manuscripts, chatting with authors, and talking about the hybrid publishing process.

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