WE DID IT!
- Lara O'Brien Howth Writing Workshops
- May 8
- 3 min read
We did it! We made the best seller list. This title is bigger than my wildest dreams.
The Power of the Prompt IS live on the Irish Times Best Seller list!
I just opened the a bottle of bubbles that's been sitting in the fridge for 'a special and miraculous happening'. I've been waiting and pacing. It's midnight, most of you are asleep and dreaming. Me? I'm crying and laughing at the same time.
Thank you Howth, you delivered! So how did we do that?
Howth Writing Workshops gathered: to write our stories, to continue developing our craft, and to get those stories out into the world. The writing workshops grew into Hooks & Reels events, where I soon discovered that the draw, the community vibe and attraction to stories and songs were having a positive effect on our wider community. People of all ages came and listened, and left uplifted and excited for our stories and their own. There wasn't an event night that went by without the most kind and positive feedback from the audience.
I wrote about it, for two years, and with thirty writers from Howth Writing Workshops and guests. They submitted their stories and micro-memoirs. Why? To inspire other writers, writing groups, creatives and community builders and to provide a model of how our small but mighty town can write, gather, and share our stories to build on the modern day, Irish age-old ritural, of gathering over songs and words.
So after 17 events and so much good will, it was time to launch my debut non-fiction book, The Power of the Prompt - growing a writing community.
The community newletter made a headline about the event that read - Howth Writers Target the Best Seller List. It was scary, there are a lot of variables and possible disappointments. But there was goodwill too for our non-profit work and the town of Howth rallied to support us.
On the night of the launch we had a full house, of nearly 170 people in the Abbey Tavern, home of Hooks & Reels. People from throughout the peninsula bought books, were welcomed by the national gem that is broadcaster, documentary maker and good friend, Dearbhail McDonald. The crowd were captivated by the music of Saltaire. The energy was electric, Buythebooks.ie were busy taking in sales to ensure our sales were recorded.
Maybe it was the full moon but together - books, music, people of our town, coming out to support - there was magic at play, and somewhere along the way the community gave a nod that said 'keep going'.
I waited all week, like a mother waiting to hear her child got their first job, or baby, or happy result. The imagining was daunting, maybe we would be placed, then again, maybe we were crazy to think we could. We are an Indie published book, not supported by the traditional publishing world. There was no big write ups in national papers for the whole country to see or discover the book but we gave it a shot.
All week, it felt like the whole town of Howth was waiting for the best seller list to be announced. I got texts, “How are we doing?” or, "did we make it?” from people who have never written in the workshops but are reading the book and understand that WE is our community, writers and readers and people who attend our events and people who give us 'the nod.'
I took my time to reply and say we may be in the running.
That on Friday at midnight the list is revealed in the Irish Times.
The bubbles are still bubbling, the work is done, the book is launched, reviews are coming in to buythebook.ie, and I’m hoping our little story of how a mighty group of devoted writers put our town of Howth on the map as a model for community building and a celebration of one creative Irish town. We have 30 brand new best-selling authors.
Looking for book reviews for national papers.
Join me for a book talk in Dahā Wellness May 27th
for orders and reviews.
Book for workshops, book talks, retreats Laraobrienbooks@gmail.com
Please excuse all errors, it's late! Good night! So happy!
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