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The PodcastEPISODE #153
The Big, Careful-ish Comedy Author Interview What happens when a CoupleCo splits up for separate projects? Or vanity projects? Is it possible that it’s still a couplepreneur venture, even though only one of them is getting all the glory? It works that way with us. Honey and Blaine abandon the regular CoupleCo format for a whole new chat about crushing it with Honey's new novel, Careful-ish. This is about buying the big lottery ticket, doing what seems like a vanity thing when it’s still a covert joint venture, and being supportive. Or…too supportive? What happens when one partner pushes the other out of the comfort zone in pursuit of fame and fortune through art? Well, fame and fortune can be a slow build…
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THE TRANSCRIPT
Blaine (00:02):
You have to learn to be uncomfortable for your art.
Honey
I am.
Blaine
All right. We are doing it things a little differently today. This is a very special CoupleCo ironically, I do not have a cohost, but do not worry, Honey Parker is okay. Contrary to what you might think. She has not been overindulging in Smokin’ Mary Smoked Bloody Mary Mix. But yes, she does love it because it is made from fresh whole tomatoes. Only no reconstituted tomato juice, and it is available in hundreds of stores across the U S including select Whole Foods and Total Wine And More stores. And to find a location near you, or to order online, visit smokin mary.com. That is Smokin’ Mary Smoked Bloody Mary Mix. Hey, nice tomatoes. Now today, I'm interviewing an author who is taking the rarefied world of COVID comedy by storm. Her new novel Careful-ish is a laugh out loud comedy about six ridiculous friends who are living through quarantine in Manhattan.
Blaine (01:09):
And let's forget for a moment that this story has a five star average rating on Amazon and has been called a “welcome antidote to the current plague” by David Sheffield, a former Saturday Night Live writer and the co screenwriter of Eddie Murphy's Coming To America movie and the forthcoming sequel. Let's forget all of that. Careful-ish the book has become a social media sensation. Readers from around the globe have been flocking to social media by the dozens to post selfies of themselves with the book, which was neither requested nor expected. And the author never saw this coming. So please allow me to introduce the author of Careful-ish: A Ridiculous Romp Through COVID Living As Seen Through The Eyes Of Ridiculous People. Here she is, the fabulous Honey Parker.,
Honey (01:56):
Good morning and thank you for having me.
Blaine (02:00):
Okay. But before we get into this book at all, we do need to ask the question, [PHONE RINGS] why is your phone not off? Just get rid of that. That's an area code I don't even recognize. If it were somebody in Hollywood, we'd have to answer it.
Honey:
It actually was LA.
Blaine:
No it wasn't. It was three one two
Honey:
Two one three.
Blaine:
Oh, okay. Dyslexia.
Honey:
Welcome to my world.
Blaine:
So what that is the lesson in all this for a CoupleCo right off the bat, we're starting there. Just ‘cause this is CoupleCo, what are people going to learn from this?
Honey:
Oh my gosh.
Blaine:
It’s a cautionary tale, right?
Honey (02:42):
Cautionary? I don't know. I think the lesson for a CoupleCo is even if you think that a project is of one of you, it's of both of you.
Blaine:
You're saying that your husband has been involved in this?
Honey:
My husband has been, um, I'd say hip deep, but probably shoulder deep in this.
Blaine (03:02):
Okay. Well, we will get to that. So here is the question that really is on everybody's mind, especially anybody who knows you, you have been an advertising copywriter for your entire career. You have written screenplays, you have done standup comedy. Why on earth did you write a novel?
Honey (03:24):
Because my husband told me to. Why on earth would he do that? I thought he loved me.
Blaine (03:32):
No, apparently not, no. Have to a talk with him after this is over.
Honey (03:35):
Well, what had happened was I actually originally wrote Careful-ish as, uh, a sitcom pilot.
Blaine:
Really, as a sitcom pilot?
Honey:
Absolutely. Well, it, you know, it's much more of my background. Um, I had written sitcoms. I was in NBC New Voices Program and I had written screenplays. So that format made sense to me.
Blaine (04:00):
But nobody gets a sit-com produced unless they're actually in the loop. Why would you even bother?
Honey (04:06):
Well, I've been completely out of the loop for some time, but I have a friend who is at a network…
Blaine (04:17):
A big network, a big, a three-letter network?
Honey (04:21):
A major, may-zhar, a network may-zhar, and, uh, and said that they would hand it to someone for me. So I thought on the, off of off chance that this one person would hand it to one person who would actually do something with it, I would write a sitcom. So I did. And, that one person handed it to one person and nothing happened.
Blaine (04:47):
I know doesn't happen in Hollywood. Crazy!
Honey (04:50):
Um…
Blaine (04:51):
Anyone who doesn't know Hollywood, it’s like the collecting ground for the most orphaned written works in the history of mankind.
Honey (05:03):
I mean, having sold multiple screenplays and having none of the made, I mean, got paid for them, but nothing ever got to the screen. So that wasn't really a surprise. But then my husband who, you know, bastard, said, you need to write a novel. And I said, why?
Blaine
Good question.
Honey:
Yeah. And he said, because if you, if you write a novel, you will actually have something, it will exist in space. Uh, you don't have to wait for somebody else to, uh, then pick up the ball and run with it and produce it and turn it into something. It is something when you finish, it will be something you will have something for your effort. And, I don't know why, but I said, okay. Hmm. And then he said, by the way, it's got to be at a trilogy.
Blaine (05:59):
Well, that makes sense. You know, publishers like to see efforts that have multiple volumes.
Honey (06:05):
Yeah. So, as of the recording of this, I'm not quite a third of the way through writing the sequel.
Blaine (06:13):
All right. The book is called Careful-ish, a ridiculous romp through COVID living as seen through the eyes of ridiculous people, but what is the name of the sequel?
Honey (06:21):
Uh, the name of the sequel is Daughter Of Careful-ish. Okay. So it's a family affair. Yes. And the, and the subhead on that is, “What have we learned? Nothing.”
Blaine (06:33):
So what is Careful-ish about?
Honey (06:36):
Oh my God. Well, ultimately it's about all of us. Uh, you know, we're all in the book, all of us, except for you.
Blaine:
I feel better.
Honey:
Cause I have to live with you and putting you in the book would be a problem. No, it's about all of us because it's such a strange time for so many reasons. But one of the reasons is that we are all going through this very similar experience together. You know, all of us at the same time, not just across the country, but around the globe are dealing with this and amidst all of the heaviness, there's also a fair amount of silliness and ridiculousness that, uh, we've all gone through. Um, except you. And the, I think the, the heaviest thing that I explore in the book is really just people trying to figure out what is their new purpose?
Blaine:
Hold it. I thought this was a comedy.
Honey:
Well, it is a comedy, but it's a comedy with heart.
Blaine:
Heart. I've heard of that. Yes. Only heard of it. Being from New England. I wouldn't know much about it personally. So it's, it's about six friends who are in COVID quarantine in New York.
Honey:
Yes.
Blaine:
So that means they don't interact in person a lot. I hope.
Honey (07:55):
Uh, no. Uh, the bulk of the book is, is in their individual apartments. I mean, we have the opening scene, if you will, is in a bar, they have a weekly cocktail get together, which is their ritual and they're in the bar together. Um, and pretty much the bartender says, everybody, you, you have to go,
Blaine (08:23):
You know, I've read that part of the book. And that bartender, I think she is every dive bar bartender I have ever met. Yeah. I love her. She's great.
Honey (08:34):
Got a very small part in this whole thing,
Blaine (08:36):
But I love her. Don't mess with her. I want, I want see a novella just with that character.
Honey (08:40):
Well, you know, uh, I'll put that on the list. The prequel, the prequel goes back to high school. So she won't be in that. Well, I'm writing this, knowing that at some point I will write a prequel um, about all of the, these people are friends in New York. Um, and when you meet them, it might not be obvious why they're friends, because they're all quite different, but they all went to high school together. Not that they were all necessarily friends in high school, but they all went to my high school.
Blaine (09:11):
Went to your high school?
Honey:
They did.
Blaine:
Wow. Did you know, these people are? No, they're younger than you. They are quite a bit younger than you. You said they're all different. Now we're talking like diversity here?
Honey (09:22):
Well, we definitely have ethnic diversity. Um, we have diversity in that some of these people were popular and some of them were not, uh, there's a diversity in their jobs. I wanted to show a real spread of economic levels and types of jobs, just, you know, what are the jobs that were really impacted by COVID? I mean, somebody is in finance. Somebody is in the news media. Somebody is in the restaurant industry because I felt like that had to be covered. We have a hairdresser, a florist, uh, you know, it's so it affected everybody's industry differently. And I wanted to cover that.
Blaine (10:05):
Okay, I'm going to ask this question just because we need to move on to the business of the book, because this is a business podcast, but why should I read this?
Honey (10:15):
Why would somebody want to read this? Because gosh, don't, we all need a laugh?
Blaine (10:21):
You know? I mean, [LAUGHS]
Honey (10:23):
That was, that was good. Uh, what I do not hit in this book as politics, because I want people
Blaine (10:30):
To be able to laugh, so a politics-free zone.
Honey (10:32):
It is a politics-free zone, which was quite a high wire act man, and is even more a high wire act in the sequel.
Blaine:
Fantastic.
Honey:
But it's just a moment to laugh. All right. So some nice people
Blaine (10:48):
Who can argue with laughter, especially in a time like this, we can all use a laugh right now in times like this in times like these anyway. So that's what the book is about and why I should read it. How is it doing?
Honey:
It's doing well.
Blaine:
You sound surprised.
Honey (11:06):
I am surprised because I mean, an unknown author with a book that nobody wants to read.
Blaine (11:11):
Right. Okay. Right. Why should that sell?
Honey (11:15):
Part of our time right now means not seeing people. So for the most part, I'm writing and hiking and writing and hiking and shoving things in my face.
Blaine (11:27):
You're not eating and drinking.
Honey (11:29):
Oh, I'm, I'm definitely doing those.
Blaine (11:32):
Are you drinking? As much as the characters in this book?
Honey (11:37):
There is a lot of drinking in the book. Am I drinking as much as them? I will say that as I look at my liquor collection, a lot of, a lot of the bottles have handles and I'm thinking wheels would be nice, but yeah, it's a little surprising, cause I'm so isolated from everybody. And so hearing from people, you know, like in Germany is kind of surprising,
Blaine (12:08):
You know? Okay. It's you, you use the word isolating.
Honey:
Yeah.
Blaine:
And I know that there's something going on with this book that's kind of fascinating that no one was expecting. It's the whole idea that this has become a social media phenomenon that people are photographing themselves, doing selfies with the book.
Honey (12:31):
Yeah, that was a big surprise.
Blaine (12:32):
And I'm wondering, is this the result of all this isolation that's going on?
Honey (12:36):
I don't know. I've thought about it. Um, I didn't know if you know, to that point, if it lets people feel like they're a part of something, even though we're all so separated. I don't know if they've just enjoyed the laugh. I mean, the book cover itself is pretty graphic.
Blaine (12:56):
I have a copy of it right here, by the way. Here's what this book sounds like. [RIFFLES PAGES] Well, it's a good book. All 300 pages of it. Should we describe the cover? It is a black face mask with a martini in the middle of it. So a lot of people are taking pictures of themselves behind the cover of the book.
Honey (13:17):
Yeah. Holding the mask in front of their face. But they've taken pictures, you know, under hairdryers and in bathtubs and um, doing yard work.
Blaine:
It's the yard work photo. That's great.
Honey:
Yeah. It's, it's been a lot of fun. I mean, it's a lot of fun. Every time I, I get online and I see a new picture or somebody texts me a picture. And then, you know, because this is a business podcast. If you want to talk about business for a moment, uh, someone I know had a genius idea that because, you know, I obviously I can't do book signings right now. There are no big group get togethers. So anybody who sends me their picture holding the book, I then put that picture in a five by seven format and sign it and send it back to them. So I'm kind of doing a virtual book signing.
Blaine (14:10):
Here's okay. This is crazy. We did not discuss this previously, but I'm going to throw this out there. Should we make that offer to the CoupleCo listener? Sure. Alright. So if you want to take advantage of the digital autograph by the author, reach out to the author, Honey Parker at www.HoneyParkerBooks.com. There's a contact form there and she will engineer it for you. Read the book. You can do it, you can read it on Kindle. You can read the hard copy. Just somehow take a selfie of yourself with this book. The more creative, the better, but any selfie people do. Reach out to the author, Honey Parker at Honey Parker books dot com use, the contact form and we will engineer you an autographed, a digitally autographed copy of your selfie. Yes. All right. So can we call it a runaway success or are we calling it a sleeper hit?
Honey:
I'd say right now it's a sleeper hit and it's going to be a runaway success. That would be nice.
Blaine:
A runaway sleeper hit.
Honey (15:08):
Asleep running.
Blaine (15:09):
So how are you marketing this? I mean, you've never been an author before. You've never marketed books before. You've never written a novel before. And how's this happening? Spontaneous combustion.
Honey (15:22):
Yes. It just burst into flames. Um, Facebook, LinkedIn, little bit of Instagram. Uh, it's up on GoodReads. It's up on Amazon. I created a website which is Honey Parker books.
Blaine (15:40):
So you're building a proper author platform by the rules of good author marketing. Yeah.
Honey (15:46):
That's exactly it. It's, it's figuring out how to build an author platform.
Blaine (15:50):
I got to tell you, just listening to you name everything you're doing here. I'm already exhausted.
Honey (15:53):
You know, I don't know how somebody does it who has no background in marketing. I mean, I've been an art director and a writer I've built websites and been trying to get interviews. I've been trying to get on people's podcasts. I've been written up in a few local newspapers. I'm going to be on local radio. And then just reaching out beyond that. I mean, I've done, I've done some pie in the sky swing for the fences. Um, have not heard anything back yet, but whatever it is who have book clubs, uh, yes, I will be reaching out to those, um, high profile book club. Oh. And speaking of book clubs, uh, one of the things that I am offering, and four book clubs have taken me up on it so far, is if your book club is reading Careful-ish, I will sit in via Zoom if you'd like, and you can talk to the author and ask me questions and kind of get a sense of where the next book might go.
Blaine (16:52):
How should people reach out to you if they want to take advantage of your book club,
Honey (16:56):
If you want to do the Careful-ish book club, uh, what you do is go to my website, which is Honey Parker books dot com, and on the homepage and on the contact page are really simple forms you can fill out that will let me know how to get in touch with you. And we can schedule a book club.
Blaine (17:15):
All right. I got to ask this question. It's the controversial question. Have you been accused of trying to cash in on COVID?
Honey (17:25):
Oh, cashing on COVID no, actually, uh, I was, I was worried that somebody might think that, you know, Oh, I was trying to monetize the situation. No one has said that what I'm trying to cash in on is giving people a break, because I feel like if we can laugh, if we can get to that place where we can laugh, then that means we have hope
Blaine (17:52):
Pretty good. Well, you know, it's funny. I, I hadn't thought about this, but I'm going back to one of the dust jacket blurbs here, uh, from Pamela Wallace, who is an Oscar winning screenwriter and a novelist. And she says is something I really didn't anticipate here. “Loved, loved, loved it. Perfect. I laughed was surprised and deeply touched. The characters are incredible. They seem shallow at first and gradually deepen. We really care about them. I could gush forever.” That's a lot of stuff for what seems to be an ensemble comedy. There's a lot of pathos going on.
Honey (18:36):
Yeah. You know, when I wrote it and you, and you hope that you're achieving something and you're not sure you did. And so at least for, for Pam Wallace, I did. Um, and I, I call them ridiculous people. And in the beginning, what we see of them is their ridiculous side. But my hope was as, as you continue reading and you get to know them and you start to understand them, their motivations for some of the seemingly silly things that they do, um, you start to care about them more and we get a little more gravity and, and they become fully formed people. I mean, I'm hoping that everybody is got lots of dimension and nobody is pat.
Blaine (19:22):
I'm a ridiculous person. Am I pat?
Honey:
No.
Blaine:
Hmm. Okay. The author is Honey Parker. The book is Careful-ish, subtitled: A ridiculous romp through COVID living is seen through the eyes of ridiculous people. You can find out more on Amazon where it is doing gangbusters, or you can go to Honey Parker books dot com and find out more about it.
Honey (19:50):
I'm also on good reads.
Blaine (19:52):
You can also find out more about the book at goodreads.com, and maybe at a bookstore near you, but it probably not.
Honey:
I’m working on that. Yes, this is, this has all been happening very backwards.
Blaine:
It sounds like it, absolutely. You're supposed to start marketing a book six months before it comes out.
Honey (20:09):
Yes. And six months before it came out, I had no designs of writing a book. So that was impossible.
Blaine (20:16):
Well, Honey Parker, thank you very much for sitting down with us. It's nice to have an actual author on this show for a change. And I hope that next week when Honey Parker, the co-host is back, she will really feel sorry that she has missed this one.
Honey (20:33):
Well, I'm sorry I missed her, but thank you very much for having me.
Blaine (20:36):
Thank you for listening. CoupleCo is a production of Slow Burn Marketing LLC, copyright 2020, all rights reserved. CoupleCo out.
Blaine (00:02):
You have to learn to be uncomfortable for your art.
Honey
I am.
Blaine
All right. We are doing it things a little differently today. This is a very special CoupleCo ironically, I do not have a cohost, but do not worry, Honey Parker is okay. Contrary to what you might think. She has not been overindulging in Smokin’ Mary Smoked Bloody Mary Mix. But yes, she does love it because it is made from fresh whole tomatoes. Only no reconstituted tomato juice, and it is available in hundreds of stores across the U S including select Whole Foods and Total Wine And More stores. And to find a location near you, or to order online, visit smokin mary.com. That is Smokin’ Mary Smoked Bloody Mary Mix. Hey, nice tomatoes. Now today, I'm interviewing an author who is taking the rarefied world of COVID comedy by storm. Her new novel Careful-ish is a laugh out loud comedy about six ridiculous friends who are living through quarantine in Manhattan.
Blaine (01:09):
And let's forget for a moment that this story has a five star average rating on Amazon and has been called a “welcome antidote to the current plague” by David Sheffield, a former Saturday Night Live writer and the co screenwriter of Eddie Murphy's Coming To America movie and the forthcoming sequel. Let's forget all of that. Careful-ish the book has become a social media sensation. Readers from around the globe have been flocking to social media by the dozens to post selfies of themselves with the book, which was neither requested nor expected. And the author never saw this coming. So please allow me to introduce the author of Careful-ish: A Ridiculous Romp Through COVID Living As Seen Through The Eyes Of Ridiculous People. Here she is, the fabulous Honey Parker.,
Honey (01:56):
Good morning and thank you for having me.
Blaine (02:00):
Okay. But before we get into this book at all, we do need to ask the question, [PHONE RINGS] why is your phone not off? Just get rid of that. That's an area code I don't even recognize. If it were somebody in Hollywood, we'd have to answer it.
Honey:
It actually was LA.
Blaine:
No it wasn't. It was three one two
Honey:
Two one three.
Blaine:
Oh, okay. Dyslexia.
Honey:
Welcome to my world.
Blaine:
So what that is the lesson in all this for a CoupleCo right off the bat, we're starting there. Just ‘cause this is CoupleCo, what are people going to learn from this?
Honey:
Oh my gosh.
Blaine:
It’s a cautionary tale, right?
Honey (02:42):
Cautionary? I don't know. I think the lesson for a CoupleCo is even if you think that a project is of one of you, it's of both of you.
Blaine:
You're saying that your husband has been involved in this?
Honey:
My husband has been, um, I'd say hip deep, but probably shoulder deep in this.
Blaine (03:02):
Okay. Well, we will get to that. So here is the question that really is on everybody's mind, especially anybody who knows you, you have been an advertising copywriter for your entire career. You have written screenplays, you have done standup comedy. Why on earth did you write a novel?
Honey (03:24):
Because my husband told me to. Why on earth would he do that? I thought he loved me.
Blaine (03:32):
No, apparently not, no. Have to a talk with him after this is over.
Honey (03:35):
Well, what had happened was I actually originally wrote Careful-ish as, uh, a sitcom pilot.
Blaine:
Really, as a sitcom pilot?
Honey:
Absolutely. Well, it, you know, it's much more of my background. Um, I had written sitcoms. I was in NBC New Voices Program and I had written screenplays. So that format made sense to me.
Blaine (04:00):
But nobody gets a sit-com produced unless they're actually in the loop. Why would you even bother?
Honey (04:06):
Well, I've been completely out of the loop for some time, but I have a friend who is at a network…
Blaine (04:17):
A big network, a big, a three-letter network?
Honey (04:21):
A major, may-zhar, a network may-zhar, and, uh, and said that they would hand it to someone for me. So I thought on the, off of off chance that this one person would hand it to one person who would actually do something with it, I would write a sitcom. So I did. And, that one person handed it to one person and nothing happened.
Blaine (04:47):
I know doesn't happen in Hollywood. Crazy!
Honey (04:50):
Um…
Blaine (04:51):
Anyone who doesn't know Hollywood, it’s like the collecting ground for the most orphaned written works in the history of mankind.
Honey (05:03):
I mean, having sold multiple screenplays and having none of the made, I mean, got paid for them, but nothing ever got to the screen. So that wasn't really a surprise. But then my husband who, you know, bastard, said, you need to write a novel. And I said, why?
Blaine
Good question.
Honey:
Yeah. And he said, because if you, if you write a novel, you will actually have something, it will exist in space. Uh, you don't have to wait for somebody else to, uh, then pick up the ball and run with it and produce it and turn it into something. It is something when you finish, it will be something you will have something for your effort. And, I don't know why, but I said, okay. Hmm. And then he said, by the way, it's got to be at a trilogy.
Blaine (05:59):
Well, that makes sense. You know, publishers like to see efforts that have multiple volumes.
Honey (06:05):
Yeah. So, as of the recording of this, I'm not quite a third of the way through writing the sequel.
Blaine (06:13):
All right. The book is called Careful-ish, a ridiculous romp through COVID living as seen through the eyes of ridiculous people, but what is the name of the sequel?
Honey (06:21):
Uh, the name of the sequel is Daughter Of Careful-ish. Okay. So it's a family affair. Yes. And the, and the subhead on that is, “What have we learned? Nothing.”
Blaine (06:33):
So what is Careful-ish about?
Honey (06:36):
Oh my God. Well, ultimately it's about all of us. Uh, you know, we're all in the book, all of us, except for you.
Blaine:
I feel better.
Honey:
Cause I have to live with you and putting you in the book would be a problem. No, it's about all of us because it's such a strange time for so many reasons. But one of the reasons is that we are all going through this very similar experience together. You know, all of us at the same time, not just across the country, but around the globe are dealing with this and amidst all of the heaviness, there's also a fair amount of silliness and ridiculousness that, uh, we've all gone through. Um, except you. And the, I think the, the heaviest thing that I explore in the book is really just people trying to figure out what is their new purpose?
Blaine:
Hold it. I thought this was a comedy.
Honey:
Well, it is a comedy, but it's a comedy with heart.
Blaine:
Heart. I've heard of that. Yes. Only heard of it. Being from New England. I wouldn't know much about it personally. So it's, it's about six friends who are in COVID quarantine in New York.
Honey:
Yes.
Blaine:
So that means they don't interact in person a lot. I hope.
Honey (07:55):
Uh, no. Uh, the bulk of the book is, is in their individual apartments. I mean, we have the opening scene, if you will, is in a bar, they have a weekly cocktail get together, which is their ritual and they're in the bar together. Um, and pretty much the bartender says, everybody, you, you have to go,
Blaine (08:23):
You know, I've read that part of the book. And that bartender, I think she is every dive bar bartender I have ever met. Yeah. I love her. She's great.
Honey (08:34):
Got a very small part in this whole thing,
Blaine (08:36):
But I love her. Don't mess with her. I want, I want see a novella just with that character.
Honey (08:40):
Well, you know, uh, I'll put that on the list. The prequel, the prequel goes back to high school. So she won't be in that. Well, I'm writing this, knowing that at some point I will write a prequel um, about all of the, these people are friends in New York. Um, and when you meet them, it might not be obvious why they're friends, because they're all quite different, but they all went to high school together. Not that they were all necessarily friends in high school, but they all went to my high school.
Blaine (09:11):
Went to your high school?
Honey:
They did.
Blaine:
Wow. Did you know, these people are? No, they're younger than you. They are quite a bit younger than you. You said they're all different. Now we're talking like diversity here?
Honey (09:22):
Well, we definitely have ethnic diversity. Um, we have diversity in that some of these people were popular and some of them were not, uh, there's a diversity in their jobs. I wanted to show a real spread of economic levels and types of jobs, just, you know, what are the jobs that were really impacted by COVID? I mean, somebody is in finance. Somebody is in the news media. Somebody is in the restaurant industry because I felt like that had to be covered. We have a hairdresser, a florist, uh, you know, it's so it affected everybody's industry differently. And I wanted to cover that.
Blaine (10:05):
Okay, I'm going to ask this question just because we need to move on to the business of the book, because this is a business podcast, but why should I read this?
Honey (10:15):
Why would somebody want to read this? Because gosh, don't, we all need a laugh?
Blaine (10:21):
You know? I mean, [LAUGHS]
Honey (10:23):
That was, that was good. Uh, what I do not hit in this book as politics, because I want people
Blaine (10:30):
To be able to laugh, so a politics-free zone.
Honey (10:32):
It is a politics-free zone, which was quite a high wire act man, and is even more a high wire act in the sequel.
Blaine:
Fantastic.
Honey:
But it's just a moment to laugh. All right. So some nice people
Blaine (10:48):
Who can argue with laughter, especially in a time like this, we can all use a laugh right now in times like this in times like these anyway. So that's what the book is about and why I should read it. How is it doing?
Honey:
It's doing well.
Blaine:
You sound surprised.
Honey (11:06):
I am surprised because I mean, an unknown author with a book that nobody wants to read.
Blaine (11:11):
Right. Okay. Right. Why should that sell?
Honey (11:15):
Part of our time right now means not seeing people. So for the most part, I'm writing and hiking and writing and hiking and shoving things in my face.
Blaine (11:27):
You're not eating and drinking.
Honey (11:29):
Oh, I'm, I'm definitely doing those.
Blaine (11:32):
Are you drinking? As much as the characters in this book?
Honey (11:37):
There is a lot of drinking in the book. Am I drinking as much as them? I will say that as I look at my liquor collection, a lot of, a lot of the bottles have handles and I'm thinking wheels would be nice, but yeah, it's a little surprising, cause I'm so isolated from everybody. And so hearing from people, you know, like in Germany is kind of surprising,
Blaine (12:08):
You know? Okay. It's you, you use the word isolating.
Honey:
Yeah.
Blaine:
And I know that there's something going on with this book that's kind of fascinating that no one was expecting. It's the whole idea that this has become a social media phenomenon that people are photographing themselves, doing selfies with the book.
Honey (12:31):
Yeah, that was a big surprise.
Blaine (12:32):
And I'm wondering, is this the result of all this isolation that's going on?
Honey (12:36):
I don't know. I've thought about it. Um, I didn't know if you know, to that point, if it lets people feel like they're a part of something, even though we're all so separated. I don't know if they've just enjoyed the laugh. I mean, the book cover itself is pretty graphic.
Blaine (12:56):
I have a copy of it right here, by the way. Here's what this book sounds like. [RIFFLES PAGES] Well, it's a good book. All 300 pages of it. Should we describe the cover? It is a black face mask with a martini in the middle of it. So a lot of people are taking pictures of themselves behind the cover of the book.
Honey (13:17):
Yeah. Holding the mask in front of their face. But they've taken pictures, you know, under hairdryers and in bathtubs and um, doing yard work.
Blaine:
It's the yard work photo. That's great.
Honey:
Yeah. It's, it's been a lot of fun. I mean, it's a lot of fun. Every time I, I get online and I see a new picture or somebody texts me a picture. And then, you know, because this is a business podcast. If you want to talk about business for a moment, uh, someone I know had a genius idea that because, you know, I obviously I can't do book signings right now. There are no big group get togethers. So anybody who sends me their picture holding the book, I then put that picture in a five by seven format and sign it and send it back to them. So I'm kind of doing a virtual book signing.
Blaine (14:10):
Here's okay. This is crazy. We did not discuss this previously, but I'm going to throw this out there. Should we make that offer to the CoupleCo listener? Sure. Alright. So if you want to take advantage of the digital autograph by the author, reach out to the author, Honey Parker at www.HoneyParkerBooks.com. There's a contact form there and she will engineer it for you. Read the book. You can do it, you can read it on Kindle. You can read the hard copy. Just somehow take a selfie of yourself with this book. The more creative, the better, but any selfie people do. Reach out to the author, Honey Parker at Honey Parker books dot com use, the contact form and we will engineer you an autographed, a digitally autographed copy of your selfie. Yes. All right. So can we call it a runaway success or are we calling it a sleeper hit?
Honey:
I'd say right now it's a sleeper hit and it's going to be a runaway success. That would be nice.
Blaine:
A runaway sleeper hit.
Honey (15:08):
Asleep running.
Blaine (15:09):
So how are you marketing this? I mean, you've never been an author before. You've never marketed books before. You've never written a novel before. And how's this happening? Spontaneous combustion.
Honey (15:22):
Yes. It just burst into flames. Um, Facebook, LinkedIn, little bit of Instagram. Uh, it's up on GoodReads. It's up on Amazon. I created a website which is Honey Parker books.
Blaine (15:40):
So you're building a proper author platform by the rules of good author marketing. Yeah.
Honey (15:46):
That's exactly it. It's, it's figuring out how to build an author platform.
Blaine (15:50):
I got to tell you, just listening to you name everything you're doing here. I'm already exhausted.
Honey (15:53):
You know, I don't know how somebody does it who has no background in marketing. I mean, I've been an art director and a writer I've built websites and been trying to get interviews. I've been trying to get on people's podcasts. I've been written up in a few local newspapers. I'm going to be on local radio. And then just reaching out beyond that. I mean, I've done, I've done some pie in the sky swing for the fences. Um, have not heard anything back yet, but whatever it is who have book clubs, uh, yes, I will be reaching out to those, um, high profile book club. Oh. And speaking of book clubs, uh, one of the things that I am offering, and four book clubs have taken me up on it so far, is if your book club is reading Careful-ish, I will sit in via Zoom if you'd like, and you can talk to the author and ask me questions and kind of get a sense of where the next book might go.
Blaine (16:52):
How should people reach out to you if they want to take advantage of your book club,
Honey (16:56):
If you want to do the Careful-ish book club, uh, what you do is go to my website, which is Honey Parker books dot com, and on the homepage and on the contact page are really simple forms you can fill out that will let me know how to get in touch with you. And we can schedule a book club.
Blaine (17:15):
All right. I got to ask this question. It's the controversial question. Have you been accused of trying to cash in on COVID?
Honey (17:25):
Oh, cashing on COVID no, actually, uh, I was, I was worried that somebody might think that, you know, Oh, I was trying to monetize the situation. No one has said that what I'm trying to cash in on is giving people a break, because I feel like if we can laugh, if we can get to that place where we can laugh, then that means we have hope
Blaine (17:52):
Pretty good. Well, you know, it's funny. I, I hadn't thought about this, but I'm going back to one of the dust jacket blurbs here, uh, from Pamela Wallace, who is an Oscar winning screenwriter and a novelist. And she says is something I really didn't anticipate here. “Loved, loved, loved it. Perfect. I laughed was surprised and deeply touched. The characters are incredible. They seem shallow at first and gradually deepen. We really care about them. I could gush forever.” That's a lot of stuff for what seems to be an ensemble comedy. There's a lot of pathos going on.
Honey (18:36):
Yeah. You know, when I wrote it and you, and you hope that you're achieving something and you're not sure you did. And so at least for, for Pam Wallace, I did. Um, and I, I call them ridiculous people. And in the beginning, what we see of them is their ridiculous side. But my hope was as, as you continue reading and you get to know them and you start to understand them, their motivations for some of the seemingly silly things that they do, um, you start to care about them more and we get a little more gravity and, and they become fully formed people. I mean, I'm hoping that everybody is got lots of dimension and nobody is pat.
Blaine (19:22):
I'm a ridiculous person. Am I pat?
Honey:
No.
Blaine:
Hmm. Okay. The author is Honey Parker. The book is Careful-ish, subtitled: A ridiculous romp through COVID living is seen through the eyes of ridiculous people. You can find out more on Amazon where it is doing gangbusters, or you can go to Honey Parker books dot com and find out more about it.
Honey (19:50):
I'm also on good reads.
Blaine (19:52):
You can also find out more about the book at goodreads.com, and maybe at a bookstore near you, but it probably not.
Honey:
I’m working on that. Yes, this is, this has all been happening very backwards.
Blaine:
It sounds like it, absolutely. You're supposed to start marketing a book six months before it comes out.
Honey (20:09):
Yes. And six months before it came out, I had no designs of writing a book. So that was impossible.
Blaine (20:16):
Well, Honey Parker, thank you very much for sitting down with us. It's nice to have an actual author on this show for a change. And I hope that next week when Honey Parker, the co-host is back, she will really feel sorry that she has missed this one.
Honey (20:33):
Well, I'm sorry I missed her, but thank you very much for having me.
Blaine (20:36):
Thank you for listening. CoupleCo is a production of Slow Burn Marketing LLC, copyright 2020, all rights reserved. CoupleCo out.
