About Project

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Situation:
An Agency Serves Beloved Authors Through Its “Ask the Author” Series
In March of 2020, as the pandemic unfolded, the impact on bars, restaurants and hotels was immediate and devastating, with mandated closures and furloughs across the country. Hanna Lee Communications, which serves the hospitality and travel sectors, saw its revenues decline by 90%. Rather than retreat, the agency began brainstorming ways it could help the hospitality & travel community. We were especially moved by the plight of book authors, many of whom are our friends and colleagues, whose book tours to promote their worthy works were immediately canceled due to travel restrictions, and their books languishing as a result.

To help these authors at this critical time, HLC Book Media, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the agency, embarked on the “Ask the Author” series, where we interview top authors and promote them on the agency’s social media channels and website. Each book’s cover photo is linked to the writer’s preferred website to spur e-commerce sales.

Authors to date have included:
Aaron Goldfarb, “Hacking Whiskey”
Adam Platt, “The Book of Eating”
Adrienne Stillman, “Spirited”
Alia Akkam, “Behind the Bar: 50 Cocktail Recipes from the World’s Most Iconic Hotels.”⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
Amanda Schuster, “New York Cocktails”
Amy Zavatto, “Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails.”
Anthony Sullivan, “You Get What You Pitch For: Control Any Situation, Create Fierce Agreement, and Get What You Want In Life.”⁣
Aleksandra Crapanzano, “Eat. Cook. L.A.”
Ben Branson, “Seedlip The Cocktail Book”
Beverly Stephen & Barbara Mathias, “On the Road with Flavor Forays”
Blair Bowman “The Pocket Guide To Whisky”
Brad Thomas Parsons, “Last Call”
Brian Bartels, “The Bloody Mary”
Brian Bartels, “The United States of Cocktails”
Carey Jones, “Be Your Own Bartender”
Clay Risen, “Single Malt”
Chris Vola, “Pour One Out”
Chloe Frechette, “Easy Tiki”
Dale DeGroff, “The Craft of the Cocktail”
David Lebovitz, “Drinking French”
David Wondrich, “Imbibe”
Davin de Kergommeaux & Blair Phillips, “The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distilleries”
Derek Brown, “Spirits, Sugar, Water, Bitters”
Derek Sandhaus, “Drunk in China”
Emma Janzen, “Mezcal”
Eric Alperin, “Unvarnished: A Gimlet-eyed Look at Life Behind the Bar.”
Erin Gardner, “Procrastibaking: 100 Recipes for Getting Nothing Done in the Most Delicious Way Possible.”⁣⁣
Felipe Shrieberg, “London Cocktails”
Fever-Tree “The Art of Mixing”
Frank Caiafa, “The Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book”
Georgette Moger-Petraske, “Regarding Cocktails”
Hilary Sheinbaum, “The Dry Challenge: How to Lose the Booze for Dry January, Sober October, and Any Other Alcohol-Free Month”
Hoda Kotb, “I Really Needed This Today”
Ivy Mix, “Spirits of Latin America”
Jason Feifer & Jennifer Miller, “Mr. Nice Guy”
Jason Littrell, “Bartender as Business”
Jeff Cioletti, “Sakepedia”
Jeff Gordinier, “Hungry”
Jeff Morgenthaler, “Drinking Distilled”
Jeremy Umansky, “Koji Alchemy”
Jim Meehan, “Meehan’s Bartender Manual”
Jim Joseph, “The Conscious Marketer: Inspiring a Deeper and More Conscious Brand Experience”⁣
Joe Russo, “The Russo Family & Friends Cookbook”
John deBary, “Drink What You Want”
John McCarthy, “The Modern Gentleman”
Joshua M. Bernstein, “Drink Better Beer”
Julia Bainbridge, “Good Drinks”
Kara Newman, “Shake. Stir. Sip.”
Kara Newman, “Cocktails with a Twist”
Kara Newman, “Cocktails for a Crowd”
Kara Newman, “Nightcap”
Karen MacNeil, “The Wine Bible”
Kat Odell, “Day Drinking”
Kerry Diamond, “Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook”
Larry Olmsted, “Real Food, Fake Food”
Lauren Shockey, “Hangover Helper: Delicious Cures from Around the World.”
Lucinda Scala, “Mad Hungry Family”
Masahiro Urushido & Michael Anstendig, “The Japanese Art of the Cocktail”
Maggie Hoffman, “Batch Cocktails”
Matthew Wendel, “Recipes from the President’s Kitchen”
Maura O’Connell Foley, “My Wild Atlantic Kitchen”
Melissa Clark, “Dinner in French: My Recipes by Way of France”
Mike Wolf, “Garden to Glass”
Misty Kalkofen, “Drinking Like Ladies”
Natalie Migliarini & James Stevenson, “Beautiful Booze”
Noah Rothbaum, “The Art of American Whiskey”
Patrice Tanaka, “Becoming Ginger Rogers”
Paul Clarke, “The Cocktail Chronicles”
Pavia Rosati, “Travel Anywhere”
Philip Greene, “A Drinkable Feast”
Pippa Guy, “Let’s Get Fizzical”
Richard Carleton Hacker, “The Connoisseur’s Guide to Worldwide Spirits”
Robert Simonson, “The Martini Cocktail”
Robert Simonson, “Mezcal and Tequila Cocktails”
Robin Robinson, “Complete Whisky Course”
Rosie Schaap, “Becoming a Sommelier”
Salvatore Calabrese, “Classic Cocktails”
Sam Slaughter, “Are You Afraid of the Dark Rum?”
Scott Hass, “Why Be Happy? The Japanese Way of Acceptance”
Shawn Soole, “Great Northern Cocktails”
Shannon Mustipher, “Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails”⁣
Sother Teague, “I’m Just Here for the Drinks”
Sean Muldoon, Jack McGarry, Jillian Vose & Tim Herlihy, “From Barley to Blarney”
Thea Engst & Lauren Vidgor, “Drink Like a Bartender”
Traci Des Jardins, “Impossible: The Cookbook”
Victoria James, “Wine Girl”
Yasmin Fahr, “Keeping It Simple: Easy Weeknight One-Pot Recipes”⁣
Warren Bobrow, “Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics”
Wayne Curtis, “And a Bottle of Rum, Revised and Updated: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails”

Strategies:
Promote on Hanna Lee Communications’ social media channels with eye-catching galleries, including author photos and book cover shots, that let viewers swipe left to read all of the interview questions and answers

Objectives:
Maximize the success of the “Ask the Author” series
Position the “Ask the Author” series as a giving back to the community initiative by Hanna Lee Communications to help promote authors who write about spirits, cocktails, wine, food and other related topics
Reinforce the positioning of Hanna Lee Communications as an innovative agency that cares about the hospitality & travel community and supports it in innovative ways, like its pioneering “Ask the Author” series on social media

Execution:
The agency is continuing to interview notable authors for its “Ask the Author” series

Results:
The “Ask the Author” series has raised the visibility of close to 90 authors and their worthy works