A few weeks ago I received this email:
Hi Paige,
I found your book a little too late, that is, after I’d written one myself on the same topic. You can check me out at http://www.milliontinythings.com. I bought your book and it seems to be the exact book that all the agents told me I should be writing! Mine is a personal narrative; almost universally I was given advice to make it more prescriptive. Anyway, I’m writing because our books seem to be well-matched for co-marketing–they are on the same topic but approach it very differently, though with similarities in tone. I’d love to explore ways we could help each other. Oh, and I just LOVE your “garden fail” blog post. I soooo relate.
– Kenna Lee
I immediately had two thoughts:
1) If agents and publishers thought my book was such a great idea then why did I have to self publish the damn thing?
2) Nice to meet you!
After reading A Million Tiny Things I realized that while we do have a similar mindset, the books are quite different, and would make lovely bookshelf companions! Kenna’s book is one of essays, exploring the green guilt, eco-anxiety, and mind-boggling decision making that us overly informed parents have to make a million times each day. Should she let her kids have treats from the “fun cookie store?” How long does it take a reasonable person to buy cheese and crackers for a book club meeting? What happens when you have too many kids to fit comfortably in a Hybrid and need to get the SUV?
I found myself highlighting passages and wanting to commiserate with Kenna over organic tea and scones. And we just may do that, connecting across the country to share our plight, trying to get by in a world where we are consumed by a million tiny things.
Paige’s Books
As Seen In
