Sales and Market Bullets

• The author’s experiments in voluntary self-exile have been ongoing for 15 years, and include yoga, meditation, and writing retreats. She outlines specific contemporary ways of retreat, such as hiking the Camino, spending time in nature, and temporary hermitages.


• MacLeod draws on her personal experiences as well as the wisdom of hermits, scientists, solitary thinkers, independent spirits, writers, and artists to write about how to step back and disconnect from the world, and then reconnect with purpose.


• While there are many books on the market about how to “unplug” from the modern world, MacLeod takes a broadspectrum approach that other texts do not. She keeps her research outside of a religious framework and focuses on many different ways of using solitude, and the magic, enrichment and transformation that result when we retreat and take time to connect with ourselves and nature.


• This book explains how to use retreat to meaningfully reconnect

Audience

• For readers of disconnecting type books such as The End of Absence by Michael Harris, Unplug by Suze Yalof Schwartz and The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russel


• For readers of Places in Between by Rory Stewart


• Women 30-50 interested in yoga, non-religious spirituality and self-care

Promotional Plans

• Extensive social media promotion and targeting related social channels and readers


• Advance reading copies to key influencers through ECW Insiders, NetGalley, LibraryThing, and Edelweiss


• Outreach to health and wellness bloggers


• Outreach to lifestyle and book bloggers and Instagram influencers


• Targeted email marketing campaign based on consumer browsing and category interests


• Regional virtual author tour and yoga class


• Feature at trade shows, including ARC giveaways


• Library marketing and galley mailing


• National print and broadcast media campaign


• Early ARCs to booksellers through Shelf Awareness’s GLOW (Galley Love of the Week) campaign

Kirsteen MacLeod is a writer and yoga teacher. Her debut collection of short stories, The Animal Game, was published in 2016. Her fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction have appeared in prominent literary journals, including The New Quarterly and The Malahat Review; scores of her articles have been featured in leading Canadian magazines; and her work has been a finalist for the CBC Literary Award in creative non-fiction, among other awards. She divides her time between Kingston, Ontario, and a riverside cabin in the woods near Bancroft.

“Anyone looking for a respite from everyday busyness or struggling through quarantine will be inspired by MacLeod’s fresh perspective on the benefits of solitude.” — Publishers Weekly

“Narrated with a touch of warmth that is balanced with the detachment that comes from self-awareness and solitude, the book’s pace is smooth, and its diction is beautiful … In Praise of Retreat issues a deep, thoughtful, and experienced invitation to one’s mind, body, and spirit.” — Foreword Reviews

“MacLeod’s writing is clear, and her love for quiet, green spaces shines through in lyrical passages about life at her cabin. Her curiosity and passion make for engaging reading throughout the historical sections of each chapter … It’s a book worth reading, one that would make a solid addition to a cottage bookshelf, to be pulled down and riffled through by lamplight on quiet summer nights.” — Quill & Quire

“At first glance a peaceful read that might yet be useful in helping us make the most of this unexpected alone time.” — Toronto Star

“In Praise of Retreat — part memoir, part nature essay, part guidebook — is thoughtful, thoroughly researched and often refreshingly wry.” — Shelf Awareness