Less than a week from today …
Less than one week from today … my new book launches! Farm-Raised Kids: Parenting Strategies for Balancing Family Life with Running a Small Farm or Homestead comes out from Storey Publishing on October 29.
I will be honest: it’s hard to believe this moment is finally here. I started working on this book in a serious way three years ago this fall. Three years is a long journey. During that time, there have been periods when I’m thinking about the book almost constantly. I would say I thought about it “every waking hour,” but I’m pretty sure I was thinking about it while asleep too — how else would I wake up with so many ideas ready to go down on paper? (Like many writers and artists, I keep a notebook by my bed for just this reason.)
Inevitably with such a large project, there have also been periods when I’ve barely thought about the book at all. These were moments of waiting usually — waiting for someone else to respond with input or to do some kind of magic on the book. Many people have contributed along the way. We finally wrapped up the last design and editing decisions early this year, so 2024 has mostly been one of the seasons of waiting. It takes time to have a book printed and to get in line for all the distribution and marketing channels. I’ve had fun talking about the book on podcasts (see links below) and sending advance copies to farmers.
Part of me feels like surely the book already exists in the world! And yet, it also still feels surprising to me every time I remember I have a book coming out next week!
Yet, finally, here we are — the moment when the book launches! I’m filled with so much gratitude for everyone who helped make this book a reality. When I started this project, I wanted to make a valuable resource for other people like Casey and me — people who are overwhelmed by both the joys and the challenges of balancing raising kids with the work of farming. My deepest hope is that it’s a book that farmer-parents share with other farmer-parents. That it becomes a favorite baby shower gift and that people talk about it over lunch at farming conferences for years to come. If that happens, let me know.
(If you enjoy the book, I’d of course also love it if you could share on your social media and/or leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads! Those really help people find the book!)
Thanks in advance for celebrating the book launch with me, friends!
Help me celebrate! …
And, now, it’s also time to celebrate! I’m having a book launch event here in McMinnville: 6 pm November 9th at the McMinnville Public Library. One of my old friends (and awesome farmer-parent), Christine Anderson of Cast Iron Farm, will join me to talk about all things related to the book: the big topic of farming and parenting, but also my experiences with publishing. Third Street Books will be selling books too — and I will be signing! I hope you can join us too!
6 pm November 9
McMinnville Public Library
225 NE Adams St
Find us in the Carnegie Room, which is accessible from the covered courtyard, across the way from the library’s main entrance.
Buy a book …
Not available to come to my event but want to buy a book? You can order Farm-Raised Kids anywhere you buy books. Here are my recommendations:
Bookshop — Ordering from here will support local independent bookstores, and this is an affiliate link so I will get a small extra commission for the sale!
Third Street Books in McMinnville, Oregon — My favorite local book store! If you live local to me, this is a great place to order and I’ll be signing all the pre-ordered copies.
The Book Bin in Salem, Oregon — My other favorite local book store! Also a great choice!
Growing For Market magazine’s online store — GFM subscribers get a 20% discount off of all book orders! (Make sure you are logged into your account for the discount)
Your local independent bookstore can likely order it for you too!
Amazon — Yep, the big jungle folks also have it!
Want to listen? …
I’ve had so many good juicy conversations on the Growing for Market podcast lately. See above for a sneak peek of some of the fascinating guests on recent episodes. AND, since I’ve been promoting Farm-Raised Kids, I’ve also gotten to be a guest on other farming podcasts! Here are three recent interviews with me talking about Farm-Raised Kids:
Barnyard Language — An awesome podcast dedicated to just talking about farming and parenting! Not a surprise, the two co-hosts and I got along great and had tons to talk about.
Not Only Farmers — My longtime farming friend Chris Jagger’s podcast. It was great to reconnect with him and talk about the book and how lives can be long and full of interesting surprises.
Growing For Market — Oh, yeah! Our new GFM co-host Rebecca Kutzer-Rice also interviewed ME to talk more about the book! So Fun!
Thinking about gifts … ?
While I’m reaching out, I thought I’d remind you that I still have all kinds of fun seasonal vegetable mugs and t-shirts available for sale on my website! I’ve received orders this fall from farmers buying end-of-season gifts for their crew — brilliant! Highly recommended! And, of course, the holidays are sort of kind of approaching. I know it’s early. I don’t want to rush through October at all, as it is truly the most beautiful month. But, I wanted to remind you as you start making your lists that I have lots of seasonal and vegetable-themed gift options for you here.
In parting …
As we’ve established already, it’s less than one week until my book comes out, but then another week until an event of profoundly more magnitude for all of us. If your inbox is anything like mine, you’re already getting way more election-related email than you could ever need. I can’t add much than hasn’t been said before, but I also can’t imagine sending this note without at least observing the moment we’re in. So, here we go: I’m going to just leave you with a poem and a reminder to VOTE!
With hope,
Katie
