Participating Blogs
Blog Book Tour Schedule - Who's blogging when?
Mommy Chronicles
Her Able Hands
This Woman's Work
Gettin' Smaller in the Rearview Mirror
Octopus Jenny
So Close
Restless in the Suburbs
Snakehaired Girl
Mom Writes
Great Solutions
Midlife Mama
Munchskins
Childsplay x2
La Petite Banane: the baby blog
Midwestern Mommy
The Date Report
The Blender’s Blog
Elizabeth Lyons
Fussy
Booby Juice
Bad Mama
PoliticallyIncorrectMoms
Martinis for Milk
Miles, Etc.
Moms With More
Queen of Spain
Quiet Fish
Diary of a Reluctant Housewife
The Underpaid Kept Woman
Peters Cross Station
Mama In Translation
The Mother of All Blogs
Karen Cheng
Mommy Needs Coffee
Suburban Turmoil
A Mama's Rant
Three Kid Circus
Postcards from the Mothership
Playground Revolution
Daddy Types
Paper Napkin
Baby Blog Book Tour Is Here!In celebration of Mother’s Day and the Día de los niños this May I’m going on a book tour for Why Babies Do That. In cyberspace.
When my first book came out I did a total of 14 events across the country, from California to New York City. Some, like a reading at Food For Thought in Amherst, Massachusetts, were standing room only, packed with moms, dads, and nurslings. Joined by Toddler contributors Catherine Newman, Leanna James, Alix Kennedy, and Eve Weinbaum, we showed slides, read excerpts from the book, answered questions, and enjoyed some fresh fruit, cheese and crackers, and white wine (I figured if people were going to schlep out to hear me speak I should at least wine and dine them as well as I could). I carried my newborn son on my chest—the perfect protection against shyness—and even though he chose the MOST inopportune time to poop, I think everyone walked away from that evening inspired, refreshed, and with a stronger sense of community, which is what good books about parenting should ultimately create.
Other events, like a presentation I did up at Kidsplayce in Brattleboro, Vermont, were not as successful. At that reading only about four families came for a kindermusic program and they all wondered why I was talking to them about a book. Even though I kept my remarks to about five minutes (I swear), the toddlers got restless and the parents rolled their eyes. I could see them thinking: we never sleep, our kids drive us crazy, why would we ever read your stupid book anyway? One woman came up to me afterwards to tell me she was a writer and hoped I’d include her in my next anthology. But no one, not even that parent, bought my book.
Now that Why Babies Do That is out on the shelves and in the gift stores I’m trying to promote the book in a different way. Now that Etani (the aforementioned newborn) is two years old he finds things like wiping yogurt on my shirt and shaking paprika all over the floor funny and I can barely bring him into a bookstore let alone take him with me on a book tour (read more about him in "Messy Little Man").
For the handful of real life events I’ve done so far, James has stayed home with our three kids. Although I’ve done three bookstore readings and two Mother Talk Events, the heart of the promotion for this book is the baby blog book tour that I will embark on in May.
So what is it? On assigned days I’ll be visiting blogs and talking about Why Babies Do That, parenthood, sex (well, maybe not but that’s how all the babies get here, isn’t it?), and anything else of interest to bloggers. Every blogger decides what they want to do on their day, some will be having e-interviews, others will be writing reviews, others will be using something in the book as a jumping off point to write about something else. The point of the tour is not only to get the word out about the book but to create a dialogue among readers and authors, parents and babies (so what if they can’t talk yet, they will be soon), and anyone else who wants to participate. And the best thing about a blog tour is that you can do it in your pajamas with a towel turban in your hair so hundreds more moms and dads can attend and participate than can get to a bookstore reading or Mother Talk event.
The 30 blogs I have signed up so far include moms and dads from Eastern Canada to Southern Africa. These bloggers are writers on the cutting edge who are using the Internet to create a global community, something every parent needs. And my six-year-old daughter’s school blog (“The Blenders”) is also participating.
If you have a blog and you want to participate, there’s still time. Please email me and we’ll talk!
Finally, the description of this event would not be complete without a heartfelt thanks to Andrea Buchanan, author of Mother Shock and editor of It’s a Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons and It’s a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters, as well as a new anthology of writing from the Web site, Literary Mama: Reading for the Maternally Inclined. Andi has long been my inspiration in all things publicity related though I am not nearly as successful or intrepid about publicity as she is. For the month that Andi did an e-tour for It’s a Boy (with 50 blogs participating) her book became Seal Press’s number one bestseller. I think Why Babies will have a hard time beating out other Willow Creek Press titles (like Why Dogs Do That and If I had a Horse) but it’s certainly worth a try!
Jennifer
Margulis