I wanted to do something unique to promote my new book. Something fun. Something free.
My novel, Gimme a Call (on sale April 27, 2010), is the story of Devi Banks, a high school senior who accidentally drops her cell phone in a fountain. When she fishes it out, she discovers the only call she can make is to herself--as a high school freshman, at age 14, when anything seemed possible. But will Devi listen to her own advice?
I decided to ask fellow authors what they'd tell their younger selves and then tweet their responses. But even though I knew my way around Facebook, Twitter terrified me. RT? OH? Hootsuite? Huh? My Twitter-savvy friends attempted to explain what a hashtag was, but, still mystified, I signed up for an online Twitter 101 class. Yes. I'm geeky like that.
With pub day fast approaching, and finally feeling vaguely confident in my Twitter skills (I knew how to retweet! I was unstoppable!), I decided it was time to launch my promotion. I collected fourteen author quotes and planned to post two a day during the week leading up to the launch. On Monday night I wrote, "Ever wonder what YA authors would tell their high school selves? (If they had magic cell phones that could call the past?) #gimmeacall." On Tuesday I posted on Twitter: "What @sarazarr would tell her high school self: You are NOT FAT. You will be, but you're not now, so enjoy it. #gimmeacall." Sara Zarr retweeted it to her followers. Her followers responded. And retweeted to their followers. And so on and so on and so on. Somewhere along the twitterline, Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself), who has 1.4 million followers, joined in, adding: "Dear 15-year-old-self, those comics you feel guilty for spending your barmitzvah money on each week will save your life one day. #gimmeacall." A hundred and fifty people retweeted his tweet and suddenly it was one a.m. in the morning and there were new #gimmeacalls popping up every few seconds.
True, most people had no clue what #gimmeacall meant. (See @howardtayler's "It should have had #DearHSSelf as a hash-tag. As it stands, the tag is #GimmeACall, which is kind of dumb.") I probably should have used a more specific hashtag, but I doubt #pleasecheckoutthebookgimmeacallbysarahmlynowski would have gone viral.
Five of my favorite #gimmeacall tweets:
@dncallahan: "Dear High School Self: Stay away from any guy named Jeff, Joe, Will, Sean, Joshua, Jason, Tommy, Johnny, Mark, Billy, Ed, etc."
@Laurenmyracle: "Don't go on a pot run with Steve Campo. You will get arrested, and he will still take Leslie Prat to prom."
@SmashComic: "Dear High School Self: Enjoy hair. It won't last."
@realjohngreen: Dear HS self: There are two reasons you have no girlfriend: 1. no confidence. 2. poor hygiene. #startwithnumbertwo
@juliadevillers: Facebook will be invented. Are you sure you want your friend to take that picture?
What would I tell my high school self?
1. Do not kiss two boys in one day. You will get mono.
2. I know you like to read but there is a thing called SPORTS and playing one would be good for you. No, Tetris is not a sport.
3. Appreciate the full fridge, laundry service and allowance.
4. You will get over the D in Calculus, your parents' divorce and Kirk Cameron. Eventually. Promise.
5. Keep better diaries. One day you'll write teen fiction and need more material.
If you have something you'd like to mention to your high school self, go to #gimmeacall. You might want to tell her to invent Twitter.
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Gimme a Call, by Sarah Mlynowski | Facebook
Following Phoebe Prince Suicide YA Authors Unite to Combat Bullying
1) Please abandon your staunch loyalty to your (original) family: they are not worth it now, and never will be..
2) Realize, also, that the information you have received from these people is not reliable: follow your intuition: it will lead to the right place.
3) The dire need for your own freedom will expand as you age; not contract. Act accordingly..
4) You will merry the woman of your dreams, be deliriously happy and will have incredible children, but your mother will not care. Know NOW that her input nor involvement is NOT important.
2. Pursue all avenues in your quest for spiritual happiness, and you will find the one right for you!
3. NEVER regret any romantic entanglements! learn from them,grow from them! ALWAYS LOOK FOR YOUR ONE TRUE LOVE, AND WHEN YOU FIND THEM, ALWAYS KEEP THEM CLOSE AND SAFE.
4. Learn to find joy in the little things in life, as well as the big things!
5. Bet all the money you can on the minnesota twins in the `87 World Series
2. You a smart, eloquent and beautiful girl. If you speak with confidence, then people will listen.
3. Everyone who wasn't awkward in high school still lives in the small town from which you always wanted to get away.
4. The right guy will come along from an unexpected corner, and he'll everything you never realized you wanted.
5. Don't listen to people who think you aren't strong enough - you'll do more in your life than they could ever imagine.
6. I'm proud of the girl you were, and the woman you've become.
2. You can easily be impersonated on any instant-messager computer program, so don't ever get involved with it because it's the source of the aforementioned college misery.
3. You only want to fly for the Navy because you want an F-18 of your very own to play with. It's not worth the 11 years of indentured servitude to Uncle Sugar required to do so especially since DESERT STORM was the last chance anyone really got to dogfight a MiG.
4. Get a pair of steel-toed work boots by the summer of 1994. You will most assuredly need them by that point.
5. Do not take the sailing instructor job with town park & rec. It's not worth the hassle.
6. Tell your prom date you love her, preferably by August 2009. Make sure she gets a full-body MRI in July 2009 but before August 15, 2009, too.
7. Pretty much everybody who was rotten to you in school grows up to become a loser.