Penguin Random House: PRH Education Hosts 2021 Common Reading Virtual Author Event
A report from Penguin Random House Education: Live author events are integral to our success within the highly competitive common reading market as they showcase the authors’ stage presence and speaking ability, qualities which are often just as important as the book itself for schools that include an author event as a component of their programming.
During COVID, the PRH Education team has been challenged to develop innovative strategies to showcase our wonderful authors and their titles. The success of this well-attended event will propel us forward as we continue to develop meaningful relationships with key decision makers, identify market opportunities, and create new programming based on audience demand and need.
Last month, Penguin Random House Education hosted the inaugural PRH Common Reading Virtual Author Event. While PRH has had a significant presence both at the annual First-Year Experience® Conference and within the common reading market for many years, this is the first common reading author event to be held outside of the FYE® conference.
Utilizing our internal list of contacts, we invited common reading chairs from colleges and universities across the country. Moderated by Spenser Stevens, PRH Education Marketing Manager, the event attracted 175 registrants, with over 80 in attendance who joined us to hear the following authors speak: Michael Sayman, author of APP KID; Mazie K. Hirono, author of HEART OF FIRE; Heather McGhee, author of THE SUM OF US; and Judith Heumann, author of BEING HEUMANN.
“We’ve had extraordinary success establishing authors in this Higher Education space by hosting in-person events at the FYE® conference,” says Alan Walker, Vice President, Higher Education Marketing, PRH Education. “With so much of the world going virtual in the last two years, this was an opportunity to try something new, without the backdrop of the convention, knowing that a successful event would open up new opportunities for us in the future to promote our authors and drive sales in this market.”