JC Sasser and Gradle Bird Media Kit

Gradle Bird
J.C. Sasser
DESCRIPTION
SixTEEn-yeaR-Old GRadle BIrd has lived her entire life with her
Grandpa, Leonard, at a seedy motel and truck stop off Georgia’s I-16. But when Leonard
moves her to a crumbling old house rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Ms. Annalee
Spivey, Gradle is plunged into a lush, magical world much stranger and more dangerous
than from the one she came.
Here she meets Sonny Joe Stitch, a Siamese Fighting Fish connoisseur overdosed
on testosterone, a crippled, Bible-thumping hobo named Ceif “Tadpole” Walker, and the
only true friend she will ever know, a schizophrenic genius, music-man, and professional
dumpster-diver, D-5 Delvis Miles.
As Gradle falls deeper into Delvis’s imaginary and fantastical world, unsettling
dangers lurk, and when surfaced Gradle discovers unforeseen depths in herself and
the people she loves the most.
Gradle Bird is an unusual tale of self-discovery and redemption that explores the
infirmities of fatherly love, the complexities of human cruelty, and the consequences of
guilt, proving they are possible to overcome no matter how dark and horrible the cause.
KEY SELLING POINTS
• Strong crossover into the YA market, especially as regards themes of bullying
• Classic story of an unlikely friendship
• Grandfather/Granddaughter story that will appeal to both women and men
• Author is known internationally through business relationships via Cummins, Inc.
(50,000 employee reach)
• Author is well-known in southeast, esp. South Carolina and Georgia
MARKETING AND PUBLICITY HIGHLIGHTS
• Book has been named an official international Pulpwood Queen Book Club selection
for September 2017. Additional clubs have already expressed interest as well.
• Gradle Bird has been named a SIBA Spring Okra pick. SIBA also running bookstore/
consumer promo on launch day (June 15).
• The author is arranging reviews from traditional media (The Metter Advertiser
(Metter, GA), The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), The City Paper (Charleston,
SC), The Lemoore Advance (Leemore, CA), and The Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA)), and
magazines (Charleston Magazine, Garden and Gun, Southern Living, and Southern
Writers). Deep South Magazine is considering for “Summer Read” pick.
• Author is also pitching TV and radio such as Charleston Live5News, “Lowcountry
live” morning show, Joy Talk Radio, NPR, Book Talk Radio, and others.
• ARCs of Gradle Bird have been delivered to reviewers and book bloggers including
Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Midwest Book Review, Amazon
Top Reviewers, Jen’s Bookshelves, Linus’s Blanket, and a complete literary fiction list
of over 50 top reviewers/bloggers. Title is also listed on NetGalley for reviewers.
• Authors who have already agreed to read work for potential blurbs include Cassandra
King (Conroy), Harrison Scott Key, Robert Hicks, Julia Elliot, George Singleton, Nicole
Seitz, Ken Wells, Jon Clinch, James McTeer, David Joy, Michelle Moore, Nicole
Waggoner, and Faulkner Society founder Rosemary James. (Early praise on website)
• Launch parties are planned in GA, SC, CA. The book tour will begin in the South and
then pan over to Indiana and California (where author also has strong community ties).
• Talks and appearances already scheduled with: Atlanta Writers Club, Words & Music
Literary Festival (NOLA), Pat Conroy Literary Festival (SC), and SIBA Fall Show (NOLA).
• Additional festival participation is being sought with Decatur Book Festival of Books,
Virginia Festival of Books, Deckle Edge (SC), The Writer’s Workshop (Asheville and
Charlotte), Savannah Book Festival, Winston-Salem Festival, Southern Festival of Books.
• Author is submitting to several literary contests, including: Independent Publisher
Book Awards, Crooks’ Corner Prize for Best Debut Novel Set in the South,
Chautauwua Prize, Fiction First Novel Prize and Balcones Fiction Prize
• Author continues to build her audience through her website, blog, and social media.
• Author is working with publicist Shari Stauch for additional promo/exposure.
Publisher: Koehler Books
Distributor: Ingram
PUB DATE: 6/15/2017
SOFT COVER: $17.95, 978-1-63393-263-0
HARD COVER: $28.95, 978-1-63393-265-4
EBOOK: $7.99, 978-1-63393-264-7
TRIM: 6”x 9”, 286 pages
FICTION: Coming of Age, Gothic (Southern)
AUDIENCE
• Lovers of Southern literature
• Book clubs
• Fans of up-market fiction
• Those interested in dysfunctional family
dynamics
ONLINE
jcsasserbooks.com
AUTHOR BIO
J.C. Sasser started her career
at age twelve, working as a
dishwasher, waitress, and cook
at a truck stop off Georgia’s I-16.
Over her life, she has worked
as an envelope licker, tortoise
tagger, lifeguard, Senate page,
model, editor, water-polo
coach, marine biologist, plant grower, software
consultant, and 6-Sigma Black Belt. Gradle
Bird was a short list finalist in the 2015 William
Faulkner-William Wisdom novel competition,
and her other writing credits include the short
story and screenplay, The Pigeon Catcher (Ceiba
Productions 2002). She lives in a restored barn on
Edisto Island, SC with her husband, Thomas, along
with their two sons, T.C. and Robert Esten, and two
dogs, Cro and Blue Moon June. Gradle Bird is her
first novel.
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