Absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about, Alicia! It’s quite okay to talk about (promote!) yourself and your writing. And here’s the thing: Yes, you are right about the value of ‘being a constant presence in people’s digital lives’, but you could not possibly have become a ‘presence’ and then stayed a constant one if your writing - your voice, your ideas, the content of what you write and (inseparably!) the way/how you write - did not really move people emotionally, was not personally meaningful to people. So there are very good reasons why you have followers and, yeah, fans, and it all boils down to the fact of ‘Alicia Kennedy the brilliant writer and thinker’ :)
All the self-promotion in the world cannot do the trick, will not find a committed audience if the *person and their writing* is not itself very very special, competent on its own.
Jack, thank you so, so much! It has been very difficult to navigate this time here in the newsletter--I really do prefer to be thinking and writing than promoting!--and it’s so nice to hear it hasn’t been a chore and it’s all worthwhile. I appreciate you!
Congrats, Alicia, on your incredible book! Just finished and was left wanting more chapters to consume...I really enjoyed how accessible and thoughtful every chapter was, and found myself actively reflecting on my own relationship to food along the way. The punk scene chapter was very fun to read especially for those of us with little knowledge of that world. Wishing you much success and excited to continue following your journey (wishing for a London book tour stop!) ¡felicidades!
You inspire! I have an unrealized cookbook/food-writing dream, but grappling with how I'll add to the canon. You've exemplified just how critical and meaningful that is. Thank you!
I was literally thinking last week that I need some sort of list of all the interview etc cos I was getting stressed that I'd missed some, so imagine my delight at exactly that arriving in my inbox this morn!!
I've loved reading your thoughts on the book process, and I think my fave part at the moment is the acknowledgement that: it's big but it's not everything and how important that perspective is. It's impressive how grounded you stay, and seem to not get too caught up in all the circus of how things are at times (I’m sure Benny helps with that).
Congrats again, and I can't wait to dig into my copy when it arrives :) also can't wait for newsletter relaunch etc!
Congratulations on the book and best of luck on your book tour. I have my copy and can't wait to get started. Love the honesty in your posts. Looking forward to your September 11 return to the newsletter! And maybe I will have a fall roadtrip to see you at one of your stops.
Thanks so much for adding to my growing bookmarked list of "things authors are saying about books that I am determined to remember myself!" I will be there on your DC book tour stop :)
Catching up slowly on all the posts I missed while my SO was here, monopolizing my time and energy (in the best way). Congratulations! I also told my favorite local bookstore about your work, and I think there may be a familiar, beautiful cover on their shelves when next I visit...
At first I was excited to read the reference to Madre Terra olive oil in your On Publicity newsletter. But when I clicked on the link, I was honestly disappointed. To explain the excitement: I lived in Sciacca , where Madre Terra is located, for five years from 2004--2009, and regularly purchased and cherished their olive oil. To explain the disappointment: The link brought me to a reseller instead of to the direct link (https://www.madreterra.it/en). Madre Terra has a very informative and beautiful website, in Italian and English (the English is extremely professional), from which they sell and ship their olive oil to customers all over the world. The olive oil is available in a variety of sizes, types, and containers, and all at a cost substantially lower than the one product available via the link in your website. I just purchased a 5 L can of their olive oil for Euros 45 (+ Euro 18 delivery costs), which was delivered to my home in Germany. Even with the delivery costs, that's a bargain at € 12.60 per liter for such excellent olive oil. I really bristle at rebranding products (read extracting more money from uninformed consumers), although I realize it's done all the time, and sometimes to the benefit of the original producer (exposure and a cut of the profits). I was just honestly surprised and disconcerted to discover an indirect connection to this process in your newsletter. My intention is along the lines of "food for thought" with regard to future marketing plans that remain true to you.
I just went through their website and Puerto Rico is not an option. Neither is my family home in New York. This is why Wellspent is a US reseller. I suppose they only ship within Europe.
I should have rechecked the delivery restrictions before claiming they ship worldwide (last time I looked they did ship to the US). My apologies for making a claim that can't be backed up. That's a shame because the reseller / distributor, Welllspent, is still wildly expensive in comparison. This I stand by. As I do to my opinion that Madre Terra is a phenomenally high-quality olive oil. Obviously Wellspent's tastes and sense of quality can be trusted! I understand the bind. I guess this was just a little exercise in how hard, for each of us, it is to achieve equity in our business dealings. Thank you for making the situation and your intentions clear in your reply.
I’m sure Jim, who runs Wellspent, or someone else from their team could explain precisely why there is such a price differential. I don’t believe they would be doing so out of greed!
I’m sorry. This was the shop I worked with to create the boxes, to writers in the US. I don’t work with brands often, because I know this kind of thing would come up. I wasn’t intending for people to buy the olive oil through this link, just to give a shout-out to the shop that helped coordinate this. I have tried to be present to every piece of this process, but I have certainly let the publisher and others take a lead, as I have been in the throes of the release.
I would feel remiss if I didn't finish the story of my recent direct order with Madre Terra. The packing and delivery mode were substandard, and as a result, the beautiful 5 L canister arrived damaged (but gratefully not punctured). I compensated by transferring the oil to other containers, which I decorated with my own labels and personal photos of olive harvests in Sciacca. So in summary, Madre Terra olive oil is exquisite, but their packing and delivery are substandard, and so far, their customer service has been unreceptive to my complaint. US buyers will certainly do well buying Madre Terra oil from a US distributor (e.g., Wellspent) for the reasons I mention here.
Absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about, Alicia! It’s quite okay to talk about (promote!) yourself and your writing. And here’s the thing: Yes, you are right about the value of ‘being a constant presence in people’s digital lives’, but you could not possibly have become a ‘presence’ and then stayed a constant one if your writing - your voice, your ideas, the content of what you write and (inseparably!) the way/how you write - did not really move people emotionally, was not personally meaningful to people. So there are very good reasons why you have followers and, yeah, fans, and it all boils down to the fact of ‘Alicia Kennedy the brilliant writer and thinker’ :)
All the self-promotion in the world cannot do the trick, will not find a committed audience if the *person and their writing* is not itself very very special, competent on its own.
Jack, thank you so, so much! It has been very difficult to navigate this time here in the newsletter--I really do prefer to be thinking and writing than promoting!--and it’s so nice to hear it hasn’t been a chore and it’s all worthwhile. I appreciate you!
completely* on its own
Congratulations, Alicia, on all of this and thank you for sharing your process and thoughts along the way.
Thank you so much! I’m glad it’s been interesting.
Congrats, Alicia, on your incredible book! Just finished and was left wanting more chapters to consume...I really enjoyed how accessible and thoughtful every chapter was, and found myself actively reflecting on my own relationship to food along the way. The punk scene chapter was very fun to read especially for those of us with little knowledge of that world. Wishing you much success and excited to continue following your journey (wishing for a London book tour stop!) ¡felicidades!
Omg, thank you so so much!!! I’m so happy to hear this--and I too hope to come to London someday!!!
Good luck on your book tour - I wish you lots of success. And thanks for putting this informative series 'out there'
You inspire! I have an unrealized cookbook/food-writing dream, but grappling with how I'll add to the canon. You've exemplified just how critical and meaningful that is. Thank you!
That means a lot to hear!!! I hope you get to realize your dream.
xoxo
I was literally thinking last week that I need some sort of list of all the interview etc cos I was getting stressed that I'd missed some, so imagine my delight at exactly that arriving in my inbox this morn!!
I've loved reading your thoughts on the book process, and I think my fave part at the moment is the acknowledgement that: it's big but it's not everything and how important that perspective is. It's impressive how grounded you stay, and seem to not get too caught up in all the circus of how things are at times (I’m sure Benny helps with that).
Congrats again, and I can't wait to dig into my copy when it arrives :) also can't wait for newsletter relaunch etc!
Ah so glad this was of use to someone other than myself 😅 thank you so much for your careful reading and feedback--it means so much!
Congratulations on the book and best of luck on your book tour. I have my copy and can't wait to get started. Love the honesty in your posts. Looking forward to your September 11 return to the newsletter! And maybe I will have a fall roadtrip to see you at one of your stops.
Thank you so much!!!!
Thanks so much for adding to my growing bookmarked list of "things authors are saying about books that I am determined to remember myself!" I will be there on your DC book tour stop :)
YAY! Can’t wait to meet you!
❤️❤️
Catching up slowly on all the posts I missed while my SO was here, monopolizing my time and energy (in the best way). Congratulations! I also told my favorite local bookstore about your work, and I think there may be a familiar, beautiful cover on their shelves when next I visit...
Thank you so much!!!
We all want to help with the Shake ‘n Bake.
At first I was excited to read the reference to Madre Terra olive oil in your On Publicity newsletter. But when I clicked on the link, I was honestly disappointed. To explain the excitement: I lived in Sciacca , where Madre Terra is located, for five years from 2004--2009, and regularly purchased and cherished their olive oil. To explain the disappointment: The link brought me to a reseller instead of to the direct link (https://www.madreterra.it/en). Madre Terra has a very informative and beautiful website, in Italian and English (the English is extremely professional), from which they sell and ship their olive oil to customers all over the world. The olive oil is available in a variety of sizes, types, and containers, and all at a cost substantially lower than the one product available via the link in your website. I just purchased a 5 L can of their olive oil for Euros 45 (+ Euro 18 delivery costs), which was delivered to my home in Germany. Even with the delivery costs, that's a bargain at € 12.60 per liter for such excellent olive oil. I really bristle at rebranding products (read extracting more money from uninformed consumers), although I realize it's done all the time, and sometimes to the benefit of the original producer (exposure and a cut of the profits). I was just honestly surprised and disconcerted to discover an indirect connection to this process in your newsletter. My intention is along the lines of "food for thought" with regard to future marketing plans that remain true to you.
I just went through their website and Puerto Rico is not an option. Neither is my family home in New York. This is why Wellspent is a US reseller. I suppose they only ship within Europe.
I should have rechecked the delivery restrictions before claiming they ship worldwide (last time I looked they did ship to the US). My apologies for making a claim that can't be backed up. That's a shame because the reseller / distributor, Welllspent, is still wildly expensive in comparison. This I stand by. As I do to my opinion that Madre Terra is a phenomenally high-quality olive oil. Obviously Wellspent's tastes and sense of quality can be trusted! I understand the bind. I guess this was just a little exercise in how hard, for each of us, it is to achieve equity in our business dealings. Thank you for making the situation and your intentions clear in your reply.
I’m sure Jim, who runs Wellspent, or someone else from their team could explain precisely why there is such a price differential. I don’t believe they would be doing so out of greed!
I’m sorry. This was the shop I worked with to create the boxes, to writers in the US. I don’t work with brands often, because I know this kind of thing would come up. I wasn’t intending for people to buy the olive oil through this link, just to give a shout-out to the shop that helped coordinate this. I have tried to be present to every piece of this process, but I have certainly let the publisher and others take a lead, as I have been in the throes of the release.
I would feel remiss if I didn't finish the story of my recent direct order with Madre Terra. The packing and delivery mode were substandard, and as a result, the beautiful 5 L canister arrived damaged (but gratefully not punctured). I compensated by transferring the oil to other containers, which I decorated with my own labels and personal photos of olive harvests in Sciacca. So in summary, Madre Terra olive oil is exquisite, but their packing and delivery are substandard, and so far, their customer service has been unreceptive to my complaint. US buyers will certainly do well buying Madre Terra oil from a US distributor (e.g., Wellspent) for the reasons I mention here.