[NOTE: I am writing this on Monday, and am still blissfully unaware of the election outcome. Hope you all remembered to vote!]

If your goal is to publish a book, make music, art or just about anything else where your success relies on having fans, then a lot of folks will tell you that marketing is key. These days publishers take into account your online following before agreeing to publish a book and will encourage aspiring creators to build a platform. (And before you run off to Home Depot to buy some lumber and nails, they actually mean an online platform, whatever that is.) This is all good advice, but I think we can’t overlook one crucial weapon in the public relations arsenal: parents (and any other relatives who are more than happy to act as cheerleaders on your behalf.)

Two things reminded me of the power of parental cheerleading this past week. First in case you live in a cave then you probably already know that this past Friday was National Authors Day. I am kidding, of course. I mean, not about it being National Authors Day, which it apparently was, but kidding about anyone other than my parents being aware of this hugely important holiday. The first I learned of it was in a text from my dad. In a newsletter I read I learned that Friday was also National Deep Fried Clams Day. So, I don’t know what that says about authors that we share our big day with deep fried clams.

In celebration of National Authors Day my mom posted this photo on Facebook:

There is a social media trend where stylish influencers share beautiful photos of their bookshelves, but I kind of like Mom’s version better. I mean sure those stylish influencers might gasp at how the books are shoved into this shelf every which way in no particular order and might take issue with all the elephant figurines but this photo is giving big eclectic used bookstore vibes. Anyway, in case you were wondering I did not write every single book in this photo, but I did write a few of them.

Even when it’s not National Authors Day, my parents are tireless promoters of my work. They regularly shout about my books to all their friends on Facebook where they also often share links to this newsletter of mine. In fact, some of my most loyal readers are friends of my parents. So, thank you, Mom and Dad! And thank Mom and Dad’s friends!

The other thing that occurred this past week that made me realize the crucial role parents play in PR, was that a woman bought some lobster stickers from my Zazzle store, but after making this purchase, she also sent a message letting me know that she was buying the stickers to help support her son who uses the persona Lobsterdamus in some music he performs. This is the short version. Her message was actually much longer than this, and it was so clear that she was very proud of her son and wanted to make sure that as many people as possible know about his music.

And you know what? It worked. Because of her message, I had to look up Lobsterdamus, which is when I found this video and had to watch it, and now of course I am sharing it with you.

I don’t know if there is a National Parents Who Promote Their Kids’ Creative Projects Day, but there definitely should be!

— Alissa

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Weekly Inspiration

What I’m Reading: A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places by Christopher Brown

What I’m Watching: Nobody Wants This

What I’m Listening to: “I Want You Back” (Z-Trip Remix) by The Jackson 5

Find out more about my books at alissagrosso.com

Find out more about my digital art at alissacarin.com

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My apologies for the typos and such this post is almost certainly riddled with.