Laura Pedersen's latest novel isn't about faith but, rather, a teenage card shark and horse handicapper named Hallie Palmer. That fact makes it all the more unlikely that the author is preaching to crowds at Unitarian Universalist churches about the new YA book, Best Bet.
Best Bet is the fourth entry in Pedersen's Hallie Palmer series, and the first one she's self-published. The first three Palmer titles were published by Ballantine and, Pedersen said, have sold more than 100,000 copies in total. Although the author had a four-book deal with Ballantine, she wound up going a different way with her fourth title for the Random House division, writing a stand-alone chick lit-ish novel called Last Call at her editor's request. Still wanting to publish the planned fourth book in the Palmer series, Pedersen signed with iUniverse and now has about 10,000 copies of the title in print. Pedersen said she also wanted to wrap up her heroine's story for "movie/TV option purposes."
Pedersen, who's been working with publishing consultant (and former Bantam publicity staffer) Chris Artis on Best Bet, wanted to do something more than the traditional bookstore tour to promote the novel. With that in mind, she thought about a way to connect the book to her past--she was active in the Unitarian Universalist church when she was younger--as well as a new audience. That Unitarian Universalists, who are known for being among the more liberal factions of Christianity, are as Pedersen put it "big readers and and book buyers," was also an impetus.
Intending to meld the themes of the book with overarching topics that would work in church discussions, Pedersen looked for direct connections between the book and her faith. The parallels were not hard to find. "The Hallie Palmer series has a humanist message and UUs really embrace that," Pedersen explained. "Also, I wanted to discuss with young UU women that it's not only okay to be different but you can turn it to your advantage."
Pedersen, who has a colorful and varied background (she was the youngest person to get a seat on the New York Stock Exchange), also talks about her own experiences when she addresses churchgoers. Combining the themes of the book with stories about her own achievements was, Artis said, key to making the church appearances work and not feel overly promotional. Although neither Artis nor Pedersen could quantify a sales bump from the church outreach--so far the author has spoken at 12 different churches in the Midwest (where the book is set) and is scheduled to deliver a sermon at the Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church in Cincinnati on July 25--both believe the books are finding new readers.
