By Leah Murphy, Amy Greensmith, Emily Lavin, Georgia Rees and Annamária Rátki
Holly Jackson has been making waves in the literary scene since 2019, with her bestselling Young Adult murder mystery trilogy, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Now, the author is back with her sixth novel, the standalone thriller The Reappearance of Rachel Price.
The novel follows Bel, whose life has been rocked by the disappearance of her mother, Rachel Price, over sixteen years ago. After vanishing without a trace, and with the very young Bel as the only witness, all hope of finding Rachel Price had diminished. But when her mother reappears during the filming of a true crime documentary about her case, Bel’s life will never be the same.
With enthusiastic praise from reviewers, including The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent and numerous booksellers, as well as an extensive marketing campaign, it is safe to say fans will not be disappointed.
Social Media
The marketing team for Jackson's widely anticipated sixth novel created an excellent social media campaign. Across all social media accounts, Electric Monkey, a publishing imprint of HarperCollins, consistently promoted Jackson’s novel. To drive engagement, Electric Monkey organised a number of giveaways, offering readers the chance to win proof copies and special editions of the novel. To create early buzz for the novel, advance reading copies of The Reappearance of Rachel Price were made available on NetGalley. This acted as a great way to get readers excited about the new release and to garner early reviews. What’s more, many readers who receive advance copies share their reviews on social media, allowing news of the novel’s release to spread to an even wider audience. To top off their incredible campaign, Electric Monkey made the first chapter of The Reappearance of Rachel Price available months before publication day. This is a fantastic way to get readers hooked on a novel and encourage them to buy a copy.
To bolster Electric Monkey’s social media campaign, Holly Jackson actively promoted her new novel on her personal Instagram account. In August of last year, Jackson not only announced her new book, but also revealed its stunning cover - much to the excitement of her dedicated fans. After this, Jackson kept readers up to date on all things related to the novel’s release, from revealing the US cover to documenting her book tour.
Events
To complement Electric Monkey’s extensive social media campaign, Jackson embarked on a North American book tour, travelling across the US and Canada. With twelve stops at both Barnes and Noble and indie bookstores, Jackson was joined by some incredible interview partners. Some notable mentions are: Stephanie Garber, the author of Caraval, who joined Holly in Roseville, California, Alexandra Bracken, author of The Darkest Minds, who interviewed Holly in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Nita Prose, author of crime thriller, The Maid, who joined for the Canadian stop.
Although there is currently no UK tour planned, Jackson is visiting St James Church in London – an event hosted by Waterstones Piccadilly on May 1st. Jackson will be in conversation with the bestselling author of Ace of Spades, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. As part of the Waterstones event, there was, of course, exclusive merch, with an A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder pin badge available with each book purchased on the night. Later on in the month, Jackson will be at the Hay Festival, where she will be speaking with TikToker Samantha Soar about her writing process and how she crafts the perfect thriller. She will also be appearing as part of the Oxford Literary Festival in conversation with children’s author, Katherine Webber.
Bookshops
“Lights. Camera. Lies” is the tagline of Holly Jackson’s newest novel, and its promotion featured a lot of creepy-looking polaroid photos as the clues to the unsolved mystery at the heart of this thriller. Electric Monkey took this one step further, setting up a photobooth at the Kingston upon Thames Waterstones. The booth matched the blue and white aesthetic of the cover and readers could go in to take their own polaroid-style photos branded with the book’s iconic clapperboard.
Besides this, a dedicated shelf was set up in the shop for Holly Jackson’s other books. Next to her newest book they featured her previous novels and some decorative cut-outs , bringing back the polaroids and the clapperboard from the cover. And, as always, Waterstones has delivered gorgeous special editions with sprayed edges designed to look like film and a hardcover which is creepy and mysterious – just like the book itself. It’s safe to say no one can leave the Kingston upon Thames Waterstones without checking this book out and maybe even taking a copy home.