Happy Birthday, Left Bank Books!
Left Bank Books in St. Louis, MO, is celebrating 45 years in business, and they’ve created a unique event to celebrate.
Writers Under Glass.
Beginning at 5:00 p.m. tonight, authors Mark Tiedemann, Ann Leckie, Kevin Killeen, and Scott Phillips will collaborate on a short story… live… in the store window.
Here are the rules given to the authors:
- Each writer gets two turns at bat; the order they go is selected at random.
- Writers cannot change a word of what another has written.
- Anyone can submit a suggestion to the authors, and authors MUST use selected curveballs or face the wrath of the MC! Submitting a curveball enters you into a free raffle to win a fabulous Left Bank Books prize!
- When your turn’s up, your turn’s up! The next writer will finish the sentence.
- There are no rules! (Except, of course, those listed above.)
And the storyline:
Phil, a time traveling private investigator, has come back to stop the theft of a rare first edition. He knows the book was in Left Bank Books. He doesn’t know the title, doesn’t know the author – but it has a red cover.
In an email to customers and on their website, Left Bank Books wrote:
Come inside for cake and beverages, to submit curveballs, and chat with special guest Heather Brewer! Follow #WritersUnderGlass on Twitter for live updates!
From a marketing perspective, there are so many things about this event that I love.
I love that they are celebrating with local authors.
I love that Left Bank Books customers are encouraged to participate in the writing activity by submitting curveballs, and by doing so are rewarded with a chance to win a door prize.
I love that Left Bank Books created a unique hashtag (#WritersUnderGlass) and are posting live updates on Twitter.
I love that anyone can watch the writing event through a live-stream video on the Left-Bank Books website. And also featured on the page are the books (with buy buttons) by the participating authors.
And I love cake.
Happy birthday, Left Bank Books!
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To learn more about the history of Left Bank Books, Jarek Steele wrote this nice piece on their blog.