32 days till mangoes: 5 ways you can help

It takes a Substack village to raise a mango tree, and we've got 32 days y'all.

In 32 days, on April 2, on 4/2/24, “The Mango Tree” will be out in the world. It will be in people’s hands and on their e-readers and, for those who prefer audiobooks read by yours truly, in their headphones and earbuds. This book will officially exist apart from me.

That is mind boggling.

In the lead-up to publication, so many of you have asked what you can do to help. I find this outpouring of generosity equally amazing, and I am grateful for it in ways words cannot explain. My answer has always been: pre-order a book. As I explained in August, when “The Mango Tree” got a cover and became available for pre-order, pre-orders matter a lot. In the seven months since, if I’ve convinced you to pre-order, then THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you have pre-ordered and are looking for more ways to help, then guess who I love the most? You. (Sorry kids, dogs, Buddy.) For you, the people I love the very most, here are more ways you can give “The Mango Tree” the sweetest start possible …

• Check if it’s available at your local library. If it is, go ahead and reserve a copy! If it’s not, message your library to request it. The Lee County Library System has 14 copies on order (and 11 already on reserve!), but I am sure there’s room for more.

• Mark “The Mango Tree” as a book you want to read on Goodreads (here’s her page), and while you’re there, you can follow me, because that’s what folks do on there, I think.

• Post about “The Mango Tree” on whatever social-media platforms you enjoy/tolerate, and encourage more people to pre-order their mangoes! Maybe you have a million TikTok followers or 77 Facebook friends; a post is a post, and I will love you more and more, ad nauseam, for all of them.

• Consider “The Mango Tree” for your book club. Book clubs, I have learned, come in all shapes and sizes, from those led by multinational businesses and their employee resource groups, to those hosted by neighborhoods, schools, bookshops, friends. If you know of a book club, any book club, let them know “The Mango Tree” is out there just waiting to be plucked.

• Got a contact in the media? Tell them about the book. Or maybe you yourself have a platform (a podcast, blog, newsletter)? Consider using it to talk about “The Mango Tree.”

Back in August, I vowed you’d be sick of me by now. I feel like I have failed on that vow. BUT THERE IS STILL TIME. This newsletter will be going out more frequently in the next 32 days. I’ll post my book tour schedule here soon, and I’ll be linking to more (and more, and more) ways you can help, if you’re so inclined.

You’ll be sick of me in no time. And my work will be done.