Personal diaries penned by fifth-grade schoolteachers don't usually have initial print runs of 25,000 copies. But that's exactly what happened to Chicagoan Esmé Raji Codell's Educating Esmé, which was published last April by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. The title has become a handselling favorite among booksellers, particularly those who nurture a close relationship with area teachers. Joseph-Beth Booksellers initiated its Golden Apple teacher appreciation program with appearances by Codell at stores in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lexington, Ky., as well as at its four Davis-Kidd Booksellers stores in Tennessee.
The Golden Apple program allows teachers and homeschoolers in grades K“12 to receive a 15% discount on all classroom purchases. After eight days and six events, the 30-year-old Codell had signed and sold 700 copies of her book, almost entirely to schoolteachers.
"It was just a wonderful time," Codell told PW. "The events were planned very well and it was just a perfect tie-in with my book. Teachers are my favorite group to talk to."
With the success of the inaugural Golden Apple events, not surprisingly, the Joseph-Beth Group has similar outings slated for the coming months.
"Esmé was the perfect author for our first series of events," said Joseph-Beth director of marketing Tamara Crabtree. "Joseph-Beth and Davis-Kidd are all community stores and the Teacher Appreciation events are the strongest programs we have to give back and provide for the communities that support our stores daily."
Educating Esmé has become a pop culture phenomenon, garnering stories in People, Entertainment Weekly and Elle. Codell has also appeared on CNN's Talk Back Live, C-Span and CBS This Morning. The chronicle of her first year as a Windy City public school teacher has since gone back to the printer for an additional run of 10,000.
And while Codell, now married with one son, is still working at a Chicago elementary school, she is busy on another book. But she's keeping her flash cards close to her chest. While she won't divulge the specifics, she whispers that's she's working on a book of young-adult fiction.
