SOON COME Out Now!
Release Day
At the SOON COME Book Launch Party
Since our agency has four book agents, there are a great many book publication days for our authors every year. They are all happy days, of course, and of course, all are equal - yet some are more equal than others. This is my way of admitting that the publication on September 25th of Kuba Shand-Baptiste’s debut novel, SOON COME, was an especially powerful emotional moment. It's been six years since Kuba and I first talked about the idea for this novel. She wanted to make real the lives of British Caribbeans in the generations after Windrush. She wanted to show how the only defence against resentment and racism is loyalty and empathy to your people, your friends. She has written a story involving three characters whose fates are very different. There are tough moments in the read, yet the book is also filled with laughs, warmth, and joy. Love does not conquer all, but it can give you the strength to stay in the fight. Well done, Kuba. Your book is a beautiful thing.
For publishers, the book launch party is largely a thing of the past. They have - correctly in most cases - realised that the money spent on an event could more usefully be invested in publicity and marketing the book to potential readers. Instead of a launch party, the day is usually marked by the publisher hosting a lovely lunch with the author. And indeed, Kuba's publisher, Hachette, did take Kuba and me, her agent, to a cracking lunch in Soho.
But Kuba also wanted to mark the publication with a big celebration that included her whole family and their friends. Since SOON COME tells the story of the past fifty years of the British Jamaican community of Northwest London, it made absolute sense that she gathered one hundred people at the All-Stars Gym on the Harrow Road last Saturday night. It was a joyous blast.
