My Peach Seed Book Trek through Southwest Georgia

The librarian was personally excited that I had written about southwest Georgia. This in fact, was a sentiment repeated over and over during the two days because this area of the country does not find itself often in literary fiction.

This was truly a boots on the ground debut book promotion.

Georgia Center for the Book kicked off my The Peach Seed Southwest Georgia book tour with a reading at the Decatur Library in the Atlanta area. In spite a bit of rain in the late afternoon, we had a good turnout: the audience was half -filled with my local cousins, which was very nice.

At the event, I made an impromptu decision to take advantage of the 48 hours between until my Book Bound Books event in the north Georgia mountains, and my cousin Herb Denson volunteered to join me as my tour buddy and driver; huge gift as I am not fond of driving. Once made, the decision seemed to plan itself as we followed our noses for the trek down to Albany, which ordinarily takes about three hours.

We set out around 8 AM Wednesday morning; first stop, Fort Valley State University bookstore, where we were cheerfully greeted by the bookstore manager, and her assistant. The book was not on their radar but we left them excited to learn about it, especially when I revealed that FVSU is mentioned. We performed what has become the usual Peach Seed routine: small snack boxes with pecans, peanuts and peach ring gummies.

Next stop was Americus, Herb and I were headed for Georgia Southwestern stopped downtown when a large corner store called The Maze, caught our attention — both being lovers of antique furniture, and such. We were greeted by proprietor who has the quintessential, southern gift of gab, and therefore meets no strangers.

Our conversation took many turns in a very short time, and, of course, included me quickly, showing him my copy of the book. He took immediate interest, and had many questions. Because of Americus’ proximity to Plains, Georgia, I asked Chuck about President Jimmy Carter, whom I knew was in hospice. I was quite surprised to find out that Chuck is Rosalynn Carter’s nephew — his mama and Rosalynn are sisters.

I then shared my wish to get a copy of the book into the Carter’s hands and Chuck volunteered to make that happen. So I had and overnight copy sent from CA; inscribed one of the book plates I had with me to the Carters and left that with Chuck. He was prepared to follow through and felt sure the story would resonate.

Our next stop was Georgia Southwestern University where President Carter is the most famous alum. Of course, we visited the James Earl Carter Library. The librarian—while she was not able to carry the book—was personally excited that I had written about southwest Georgia. This in fact, was a sentiment repeated over and over during the two days because this area of the country does not find itself often in literary fiction.

The magic of the day continued as we made our way back to Albany, and home base. We stopped by Leesburg Library and were greeted by very receptive librarians. One in particular, Claire Leary, was thrilled to help promote the book. She gave us mini tips and ideas for who to reach out to including the name of one of the few independent bookstores in the area located in Thomasville, The Bookshelf.

And so ended our first day of the two day trek. I could not have been happier with the serendipitous way things were working out.

Day 2

We passed a NEW RELEASES display on the right and what do you think was right there on the corner but a shiny new copy of “The Peach Seed” wearing its clear plastic library pajamas. Oh, I was ecstatic! To see my first library copy of the book was a feeling beyond beyond.

After a good nights sleep, and a hearty breakfast of grits and eggs and bacon, Herb and I set out for Day Two. The only planned appointment was with Joslyn DiPasalegne, Alumni coordinator for Albany State University, to finally put a face to the name. But Thomasville was beckoning. It’s nearly an hour’s drive, from Albany, and I wasn’t sure if we should make the trip, but Mr. Good-to-go Herb said “let’s do it.” I’m so glad we did.

Downtown Thomasville is beautiful. What a surprise! Quaint shops, people, milling about, coffee places, restaurants, and then, of course, The Bookshelf—a most enchanted indie book shop right there on the main street. I walked in, holding the book as usual, wearing my uniform, (red glasses) and was immediately greeted by a cheerful bookseller, who, with a smile said, would you like to sign some copies! I was floored!

They had four copies already on the shelf, and had already plugged the book on a podcast. Word quickly spread through The Bookshelf team that the author of The Peach Seed was in the house and those who were available made their way to the selling floor to meet me. I was very moved by their excitement and touched when they told me how proud they were of me, and grateful to have this corner of Georgia represented in the cannon.

We were on time for my appointment at Albany State University with Ms. Joslyn. She and I had been emailing for a couple of months regarding ASU‘s homecoming parade in October. This is another event that shows up in the story, and was thus an opportune chance for promotion. She was very gracious, accepting our treats and swag and excited about the book.

We stopped by the bookstore and library at ASU leaving with contact information for the library only. Campus bookstores are managed by large corporations, and therefore decisions are not quickly or easily made, but also, they don’t carry novels, only textbooks, (and, I suppose novels that are assigned reading), so we quickly learned to not spend too much energy except to connect with the managers and their assistants on a personal level, leaving them with fans and bookmarks and postcards and general swag, and encouraging them to ask for the book at local bookstores and city libraries in addition to their own campus library.

Our last stop of the day and the trek was the Dougherty County Main Library downtown Albany on Pine Street. And let me just say that from one to another, the libraries we visited were extraordinary. Beautiful grand buildings, spacious, and inviting. I was most impressed. At the desk we learned that we should go to the fourth floor to speak with someone in the administrative office.

The elevators were to the left, and as we made our way to them, we passed a NEW RELEASES display on the right and what do you think was right there on the corner but a shiny new copy of The Peach Seed wearing its clear plastic library pajamas. Oh, I was ecstatic! To see my first library copy of the book was a feeling beyond beyond. We went up to the fourth floor to say thank you and, although the administrator was not available, we agreed to a photo op with the young lady at the desk.

This kind of guerrilla tactic promotion is exhausting, especially in 90° plus heat and humidity of south Georgia, but nothing replaces it. It is indispensable for laying the groundwork for a larger promotion in October when I come back. I am so looking forward to reaping the benefits of this in a couple of months when the weather will be cooler and there will be much excitement in the air and many, many people in town for homecoming. So grateful to everyone I met along the way for their hospitality and sincerity.

We’ve only just begun…