Beginning to End – Mercy House: Publicist, Jes Lyons
Mercy House, Alena Dillon’s debut novel, centers on Sister Evelyn, a fierce, wise-cracking, and ultimately kind-hearted nun who helps run a small Brooklyn shelter for women fleeing from domestic violence. When Bishop Hawkins threatens to close the home, Evelyn fights to save Mercy House and protect its residents, a struggle which forces her to face abuse in her own past.
William Morrow released Mercy House on February 11. For this edition of Beginning to End, Spine follows Mercy House from author all the way through to publicity and marketing, stopping along the way to talk to Dillon’s agent and editor, as well as the book’s designer. If you missed our author, agent, editor, and cover designer pieces, click accordingly. For our last piece, publicist Jes Lyons.
Jes Lyons’ job is to love books, and to share her enthusiasm with media outlets and bloggers, influencers and journalists. Her position as associate publicist for HarperCollins requires her to connect with every book on her list, to figure out what is special about each and to let the reading world know. With Alena Dillon’s MERCY HOUSE, she connected even before she was assigned the title.
“I first heard about MERCY HOUSE when I was sitting in our winter 2020 launch meeting last year,” she told Spine. “The book instantly captured my interest. I grew up with nuns in my family (specifically my great-aunts) and I know their capacity for human kindness and amazing storytelling.”
Though she began brainstorming ideas for the title as soon as it landed on her list, Lyons began big efforts about five months before publication date, when she had the book’s galleys – pre-publication drafts of the book, often including cover art — in hand. She shipped the book out to media, accompanied by pitches for interviews, reviews and roundups (think “to read” lists), then turned to author Alena Dillon.
Readers associate favorite authors with their books, but authors often go on an article-writing spree in advance of a book’s publication, as an additional means of getting their name in front of more eyes. “I worked closely with Alena to place essays she was passionate about writing to promote the book, and we ended up placing three.”
Lyons explained that a key part of her job is staying up to date on the media landscape. With MERCY HOUSE this meant identifying columnists and influencers who might be interested in the book’s topics – the Catholic Church, nuns, domestic violence — and making sure they knew about the book.
About a month before MERCY HOUSE came out, Lyons received finished copies of the book, which she packaged up with the press kit (including glowing early reviews) and shipped to media outlets.
“And that’s where we are now!” Lyons said. The biggest efforts are past, but Lyons’ job is never done. “I will continue sharing my enthusiasm for the book in perpetuity. I’m confident that MERCY HOUSE will be a standout on bookshelves for a very long time.”
Spine Authors Editor Susanna Baird grew up inhaling paperbacks in Central Massachusetts, and now lives and works in Salem. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Boston Magazine, BANG!, Failbetter, and Publishers Weekly. She's the founder of the Salem Longform Writers' Group, and serves on the Salem Literary Festival committee. When not wrangling words, she spends time with her family, mostly trying to pry the cat's head out of the dog's mouth, and helps lead The Clothing Connection, a small Salem-based nonprofit dedicated to getting clothes to kids who need them. Online, you can find her at susannabaird.com and on Twitter @SusannaBaird.