It’s hard to believe it, but we are celebrating our 7th year as a company. Our years of work have been full of adventures, changes, and the very best clients and friends a team could ask for. We’re so grateful that you’ve been a part of our Gold Leaf journey. Thank you for being here!
Below we’ve got special notes from our two founders, Caroline and Lauren, sharing their reflections on the last seven years. We’ve also got tips on best practices for your author website. This summer is bursting full of incredible book events, so be sure to look at our upcoming events and see if something is happening in your corner of the world.
In addition to celebrating our 7th year, we’re also celebrating two book releases from our fantastic clients: Here in the Dark by Meagan Lucas is releasing July 14th and Under this Forgetful Sky by Lauren Yero is releasing July 18th! These are two books that you do not want to miss.
Stay well and thanks for keeping up with Gold Leaf. We appreciate you so much. Thank you for being on this journey with us!
Lauren, Caroline, and the Gold Leaf team
We’re absolutely loving our summer intern, Lauren S. Thank you for being a part of our team!
Huge congratulations to Carolyn Schweitz, on earning from her Masters in Publishing from NYU!
A Note from Caroline
As the Gold Leafer who fell off the face of the earth at the beginning of the pandemic, I don’t know that I feel the magnitude of our company turning seven in the same way as my partner in work (and, let’s face it, life), Lauren, probably does, but I can say this… I am so proud of this company. I am so delighted to say that I work with Gold Leaf and I am proud of the work we do for our beloved clients. And they are beloved!
We pride ourselves in the fact that we have true feeling for our clients and for their books. We love people and we love books and we’re so happy to be able to work with both. Thank you to all of our clients and to our fellow book-industry family. Thank you for seven years of work and spreading the love. Mostly, thank you to Lauren Harr who is the best damn partner anyone could ask for!
— Caroline Green Christopoulos
A Note from Lauren
Around here we all agree that 7 seems like a magical number. It's odd, for one thing, which is important in Japanese aesthetics, something I'm a big sucker for. It's also the year of the famous “itch”—the movie The Seven-Year Itch includes that most famous Marilyn Monroe moment when she steps on the grate and her dress blows up around her. For us, I think it also feels mature. Like good wine or cheese, we've only gotten better with age.
Thanks to our clients and our incredible communities, both book and otherwise, we've continued to learn and grow, stretch our wings and try new things. We work with the absolute best people outside of Gold Leaf, and also within it, and this business wouldn't be here without the crew that keeps it all moving, stepping in when someone needs help and finding new paths for connection: Caroline, Carolyn, Grace, Aya, Joanne, Madison, Lauren S, and Johanna, thank you for being part of getting us to another year.
So cheers to us, and to you, and to all the people (and books!) that make this work so wonderful. #booklife4eva
— Lauren Harr
Do I really need an author website?
We often get asked whether authors should have a website (among other things, of course). There are folks who will disagree, but our resounding answer is always YES.
For better or worse, we live largely online now. It's made getting information quick and easy. Of course, it makes getting misinformation quick and easy, too, and one way to make sure that people can find information about you and your work that is accurate is to have it curated in a nice location by YOU.
Events coordinators, interviewers, reviewers, agents, editors, readers—all kinds of people look for an author website to get biographical information, downloadable images for articles or events postings, lists of previously published work, reviews and other media hits, and links to purchase.
Your website doesn't need to be wildly fancy. It needs to be clean and easy to read, have images, and provide links. All of the information from the last section should be there. It can be on one easily scrollable page, or several. If you do have a book that can be purchased at multiple locations, pick a few favorites and add those links! If you have a favorite indie or local bookstore, list them first and let people know that they can purchase signed and personalized copies there.
If you can't imagine how to even begin the process of building a website, go to a professional. Ask local folks, or look at who did other authors' websites, to get a list of names and start checking them out. The first place to look, of course, is at THEIR website.
Titles Releasing this Month!
Here in the Dark
by Meagan Lucas
publishing 7/14/23
“[Lucas's] stories are tightly wound coils of fury that push you into dark places just to pounce. This collection is a cherry bomb in a mailbox just waiting to blow your fucking fingers off.”—Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain, Hard Cash Valley, and Nothing But The Bones
Under This Forgetful Sky
by Lauren Yero
publishing 7/18/23
Kirkus 20 Best Books to Read in July
“Yero molds a convincing dystopian society that explores how technological advancements and political corruption can affect future generations.”—Publishers Weekly
Books to Pick Up this Summer
We’ve had the pleasure of consulting with some fabulous folks over the past few months and they have some pretty cool books for you to pick up this summer to read. We absolutely love that we get to work with such a diverse range of authors and so many different books!
Discovering the Appalachian Trail: A Guide to the Trail’s Greatest Hikes
by Joshua Niven and Amber Adams Niven
Unlocking the Headache Mystery: Essential Keys to Reclaim Your Vibrant Life
by Elizabeth Anson Phelps, CRP
The Cry in the Night: Dramas From the Life of a Doctor
by Charles S. Norburn, MD with Lillian Norburn Alexander
While I Walk: Solo Adventuring in the Vast, Beautiful World
by Rachel Durchslag
Glint
by Carole Symer
Hemlock Hollow
by Culley Holderfield
Tilting Gravity
by Jenn Storey
Berliners
by Vesper Stamper
Super YouNeek Beast series
by Beth Davis
Upcoming Events
Alan Gratz at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
July 11th in Dallas, TX
Lauren Yero at Books of Wonder’s YA Science Fiction panel
July 11th on Crowdcast
Patricia L. Hudson with Ronni Lundy at Yancey County Public Library
July 13th in Burnsville, NC
Meagan Lucas signing Here in the Dark with Lit Local
July 14th at Filo Pastries and Post 70 Indulgence Bar and at Gallivant Coffee in Asheville, NC
Lauren Yero at Bookmarks YA Summer Sampler
July 15th in Winston-Salem, NC
Lauren Yero signing Under this Forgetful Sky with Lit Local
July 18th at Gallivant Coffee and at Filo Pastries and Post 70 Indulgence Bar in Asheville, NC
Lauren Yero at Third Thursday Marshall
July 20th in Marshall, NC
Meagan Lucas at Noir at the Bar
July 27th in Hillsborough, NC
Lauren Yero with Scott Reintgen at Flyleaf Books
July 27th in Chapel Hill, NC
Under this Forgetful Sky LAUNCH!
Lauren Yero with Megan Shepherd at Malaprop’s
August 1st in Asheville, NC
Here in the Dark LAUNCH!
Meagan Lucas with Nathan Ballingrud at Malaprop’s
August 8th in Asheville, NC
Meagan Lucas with Sara Johnson Allen at Scuppernong Books
August 10th in Greensboro, NC
Alan Gratz at the National Book Festival
August 12th in Washington, DC
Meagan Lucas with Laura Leigh Morris at M. Judson
August 15th in Greenville, SC
Meagan Lucas with Brian Panowich at The Book Tavern
August 17th in Augusta, GA
Meagan Lucas with Matt Fiander and Deal Neal at City Lights Bookstore
August 19th in Sylva, NC
Meagan Lucas with Charles Dodd White at Union Ave Books
August 20th in Knoxville, TN
Meagan Lucas with Frank Bill and J. Todd Scott at Carmichael’s Bookstore
August 24th in Louisville, KY
Patricia L. Hudson at Pack Memorial Library
August 26th in Asheville, NC
Meagan Lucas with Laurel Hightower at Read Spotted Newt
August 26th in Hazard, KY
Have a bookish event coming up? Email us at theteam@goldleafliterary.com to share your news!