Community

“Readers are often fans of authors, but I, myself, am a fan of readers. They are the ones who breathe life into the pages that we give birth to, after all.”

― Janae Mitchell

Let’s connect!

One of the greatest joys I experience as a writer is connecting with my readers. Even before the boom of social media, I enjoyed hearing from so many people by email and meeting so many readers and booksellers in person as I traveled around the U.S. (Read my letter to independent booksellers below to find out why I think their important work makes them heroes!)

These days, it’s even easier to connect! I hope you’ll follow me on my social channels and join my mailing list, too, so I can keep you updated on news, events, and future releases, plus giveaways and other opportunities!

As a member of my community, you will receive:

  • News: Upcoming events, book availability, and more.

  • Ellen’s Reads: A quarterly round-up of what I'm reading and loving lately.

  • Book club resources: Recommended book club reads, recipes and other tips; plus, select THE HIDDEN LIFE OF CECILY LARSON for your book club meeting and I'll join your discussion via Zoom!

  • Surprises and delights: Chances to win signed copies and/or advance copies, opportunities to connect with author friends of mine, chances (for aspiring fiction writers) to win critiques of your work, and other surprises and delights that come up along the way! 

Just sign up below to join now!

Don’t want to receive emails? Follow me on Bookbub, Goodreads, Instagram, or Facebook! :)

My letter to independent booksellers

Dear Indie Bookseller:

Here’s what I know in my bones, because once upon a time I was a bookseller, too: You wake up excited to get to work, you get excited by the arrival of the UPS man (not for the cliched reasons), you love the slicing open of the endless boxes to get to the good stuff inside. You love the smell of new books, the stacks of them in the back room. It’s hard to choose what to read next – there’s soooo much that looks sooooo good! You love discovering something new; most of all, you love discovering something new that you think your customers will love.

These days, as an author, I’m also keenly aware of this: Thanks to you, authors like me have a chance for our books to get discovered – by you, thanks to your ongoing enthusiastic hunt for the next book to fall in love with, and then by the readers whose hands you put them into, usually with a fervent, “You just have to read this!” I am more grateful than I can express for this, as well as for the fact that, as long as you’re in business, the business of independent thought goes on, too. (Why I think you’re a hero, to be honest.)

I’ve visited independent bookstores in at least 21 states – sometimes as an author, sometimes just browsing the stacks – and, as wonderfully unique (and expressive of that uniqueness) as all these stores have been, the common thread they’ve shared is a passion that underlies everything and shines through. A passion for books, yes, but also for the magic that books help create – a magic of imagination, freedom, empathy and community.

My favorite kind! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping that magic alive and for giving my novel a chance (among all the thousands of books you’ll encounter this year!). My hope is that The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson contributes to the particular kind of magic that the world of books offers to the world-at-large. Your passion and support truly mean everything.

Warmest wishes,

Ellen Baker