Square Books hosted an early morning release party for Emily Henry’s highly-anticipated novel “Great Big Beautiful Life” on Tuesday, April 22. At 8 a.m., the first floor of the bookstore was full of eager customers who had been waiting to purchase copies of the new release.
Lyn Roberts, the manager of Square Books, said she was greatly satisfied with the turnout of the release party.
“It was a publisher promotion, and they had reached out to independent bookstores and found out we wanted to do it. Independent bookstores all over the country (participated),” Roberts said.
Square Books had previously found success with early morning release parties, such as last year’s party for Henry’s novel “Funny Story.” Roberts attributes the timing of these parties to their success.
“People are able to stop by on their way to work, school or after they (drop) the kids off, and we offer donuts and coffee,” Roberts said. “It’s easier for most people to get out at eight in the morning than at midnight. Especially with our crazy square, midnight is kind of the witching hour.”
Roberts mentioned that other bookstores sometimes choose to hold their parties as soon as they can.
“Some bookstores do them at like midnight, then at 12:01 a.m., they sell the book. Publishers can be really strict, especially about really popular books about the lay-down date. So if we had tried to sell this book yesterday, we would have gotten in trouble,” Roberts said.
The party’s promotion of the book also involved a raffle in which customers who had purchased “Great Big Beautiful Life” each received a ticket to enter. With the conclusion of all purchases, various prizes were distributed, including signed copies of the book, tote bags, buttons and bookmarks.
Katie Martz, an employee at Square Books Jr., said she got an email about the release party and immediately knew she would be going.
“This is my first early morning book release party, and Emily Henry is one of my favorite authors,” Martz said. “So when I got the email that the event was happening, I was planning to go. I know a lot of my friends have preordered it already.”
Aggie Doddridge, a customer and member of the party, shared how she felt when she found out the party was happening.
“I really like this author. I like the stories that she writes. And so when I saw this release party, I was like, ‘Oh, this would be a fun thing to do on a random Tuesday morning,’” Doddridge said. “I got excited about the book because it’s book release season.”
Ashley Baxter, a University of Mississippi employee and friend of Doddridge, shared how fun this new experience was for her.
“I’ve read a couple of the books by the author, and I’ve always liked her. The stories are just a fun, easy read but also really intriguing,” Baxter said. “So when Aggie told me that there was this book release party I wanted to try it. It’s always good to treat yourself with a book.”
Roberts mentioned Square Books will be hosting another book release party on Tuesday, May 6, now in the evening, for Frida McFadden’s new book “The Tenet.”
