It takes a village . . . to get a book promoted~

July 24th, 2012

Bess Wyrick of NYC-based Celadon & Celery created this gorgeous bouquet and delivered it as a gift from me to Lara Spencer of Good Morning America.

My publisher actually asked me if I could get Martha Stewart to write an endorsement “blurb” for my new book, slow flowers.

I know he thinks I’m superwoman, but really? That’s a tall order!

So then I started thinking…who can I ask for a word of endorsement?

And Lara Spencer came to mind. Lara is the gorgeous, talented and funny “lifestyle anchor” for ABC’s Good Morning America.

Even as Lara is dressed in designer gowns covering red carpet events and interviewing celebrities, she is at heart a passionate design maven, a bargain-hunting thrift-store gal.

When I met Lara in 2009, I was working for the LA Times. I visited her mid-century-era Beverly Hills home to report on the incredibly beautiful makeover she had conjured up. It was a la Hollywood regency, but the best part of our story included Lara’s secret sources. Ebay, Craig’s List, Pasadena Rose Bowl – she has the nose for the bargain to be sure!

You can read that story here:

Now Lara has left her LA gig as host of “The Insider” to join Good Morning America. Oh, and did I mention? She’s also the host of the “Good Afternoon America,” ABC’s new daily show?

In order to let Lara know about my new book project, I knew I needed to make a big splash. So here’s what I did:

1. I put together a package that included a copy of The 50 Mile Bouquet, as well as all the great press stories we’ve received from major newspapers like the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Better Homes & Gardens, Garden Design and more.

2. I shipped it to my floral designer friend Bess Wyrick, of Celadon & Celery. “Bess,” I wrote. “Can you make a LOCAL floral arrangement and deliver it to ABC Studios with my package?”

3. Bess did not disappoint. She created this yummy bouquet of locally-grown hydrangeas and delivered it to Lara Spencer a few weeks ago with my package of clips and the book. Since then, Lara and I exchanged messages on Twitter – she LOVED Bess’s flowers – and The 50 Mile Bouquet.

4. That was followed by a series of calls and emails to Lara’s talented producers -Sabrina and Kelly. These women did the legwork to make sure ABC’s legal department could “sign off” on Lara contributing a blurb to support my new book. Today, I got the YES! the Green Light!

Here’s Lara’s blurb:

“Debra Prinzing inspires us to slow down and smell the flowers, especially those grown in our own backyards or by local flower farmers.”

—Lara Spencer, ABC’s Good Morning America lifestyle anchor and New York Times best-selling author of “I Brake For Yard Sales.” 

And so, I owe a HUGE thanks, not just to Lara, whose kindness and friendship is incredibly sweet, but also to Bess, floral designer extraordinaire, for all her legwork! And to Lara’s producers, Sabrina and Kelly.

See? It really does take a village of women – supportive, encouraging friends – to make things happen.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 at 10:47 pm and is filed under Creativity, floral design, General, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.