Serendib Kitchen

GIVEAWAY! A fortnight to launch day, and we’re launching daily giveaways for the next two weeks! Every day, I’ll be giving away three (3!) gorgeous eBooks of Feast, perfect for referring to while cooking, using a tablet stand in the kitchen, or just browsing curled up on the couch. ($24.99 value!)

So that’s 42 chances to win! 42, the perfect number, the answer to life, the universe, and everything. How could you not enter? And if you already have a copy, think what a lovely and unique gift it would make….

I’ll post at 8 a.m., and you just have to comment on the post by midnight CST to be entered to win. I will try to make it slightly fun, if I can, by coming up with a prompt, although if you really can’t think of anything relevant, you can just comment something random, and you’ll still be entered. 🙂

Head over to my Facebook wall to comment!

(If you feel motivated to share, I’ll be grateful. Right now, it’s all about building visibility for the cookbook; people can’t buy it if they don’t know it exists…)

Ready for your question for today? Here it is, a classic:

QUESTION #1: If you were trapped on a deserted island, and could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Remember, you have to go to Facebook!

My answer in the comments… Stephanie will be tracking, and will pick and announce a winner the following day.

Quick note — I realized this morning that 6 people are already signed up for the new $10 / month subscription tier on Patreon (US-only, edible treats and such), and I want to be sure that it stays manageable for me, so we don’t run into fulfillment problems. So I’m capping it at max 25 subscribers for now!

Assuming that goes well, I’ll likely open it up more in a few months. I expect the first batch to go out in March (and will definitely have Neapolitan chocolates; let me know if you have other requests for particular confectionery, and I’ll think about it), for those who sign up in February. After that, they’ll ship out every three months for the rest of 2020.

15 days ’til launch. Eep. I was thinking maybe for the last two weeks, I do ebook giveaways here? How would people feel about 3 ebooks / day, starting tomorrow, posted on my Facebook wall, comment to enter? Exciting, yes? 🙂 Tell me if you want me to do it!

Chicago folks — anyone know what happened to Read It & Eat, our cookbook store? I stopped by yesterday, hoping to schedule an event with them, but there was a ‘for rent’ sign in the window! The website looks completely normal still, very confusing.

Scheduling a book tour isn’t as easy as you’d think…

Four quick things, folks, as we countdown to our March 6 launch (just 16 days away! Eep!): GIVEAWAY, REVIEWS, TREAT SUBSCRIPTION, SAN FRANCISCO

1) Woot! I’m running a hardcover cookbook giveaway on GoodReads for US folks — enter to win (look for the Enter Giveaway link, a little down the page). An international ebook giveaway will follow shortly.

https://www.goodreads.com/…/sh…/51332647-a-feast-of-serendib

2) If you’ve already gotten a copy and are inclined to review Feast (reviews are WILDLY helpful for helping to make the book visible; a simple sentence or two is plenty, and would be MUCH appreciated), you can do that here:

a) GoodReads (link above)

b) Books-a-Million review page is also now live, we think. https://www.booksamillion.com/…/Mary-Anne-Mo…/9781645432753…

c) Amazon will be live on launch day March 6, so please set your calendar reminders. And if you’re planning to buy a book and haven’t yet, buying on March 6 would be VERY much appreciated — if a bunch of people buy (or review) on the same day, it bumps a book’s visibility dramatically

3) I’ve added a subscription option to my Patreon (US-only, sorry), where you can sign up to get edible treats and other goodies mailed to you once a quarter for $30 (sign up at the $10 / month level). Details at Patreon here (which is also where you can join the cookbook club): https://www.patreon.com/mohanraj

4) I’m delighted to note that I’m coming to San Francisco, to cookbook store Omnivore, 3885 Cesar Chavez, to talk about A Feast of Serendib! Tues, March 24, 6:30-7:30pm. Expect me to do a 20-minute talk about Sri Lankan history and cuisine, plus Q&A & signing. 🙂 Save the date!

I’m trying to schedule some more Bay Area events in March, so do watch this space; when the full schedule is finalized, I’ll let y’all know!

Whew! I think that’s it for now. More soon…

Hey, it looks like people can post reviews on the Books-a-Million site now? Maybe? If someone is kindly inclined and wants to get the ball rolling (and let us know if it works), that would be GREAT.

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Feast-Serendib/Mary-Anne-Mohanraj/9781645432753

Adding another SF event on 3/24! (Starting to finally feel like a book tour…)

12:30 – 1:30, lunch with me at The Writers’ Grotto. (This event is for Grotto members only — join the Grotto at their website.) https://www.sfgrotto.org.

 

Hey, folks. Quick check — we’re setting up a Patreon subscription, so that people can get treats from me reliably. (Sadly, food treats can only be shipped in the U.S. right now — anything else is beyond my capacity!)

Here’s the current description — how does it look? Any thoughts?

$10 / month tier:
“Once each quarter, I’ll mail a present to you in the mail! A selection of homemade edible treats, a piece of domestic creative writing, and a tiny extra surprise.”

So it ends up being $30 / quarter, which includes shipping. Does that seem reasonable, pricing wise?

I’m being super unspecific about what the edible treats will be, because I don’t know yet, and as we’re figuring this out, it gives me the flexibility I need. Down the road, we might offer other tiers, and more specificity, but I think that’s more than I can mange at the moment. Thoughts?

I’m not sure how to manage allergies and food preferences — I think I can reasonably easily do nut-free / vegan / gluten-free on request, with the provision that I can’t guarantee a completely nut / gluten-free environment in the kitchen overall.