Introducing Parea's First Book: The Hours Before Dusk
This week may be the coolest week of my life, to date. I launched the pre-order of Parea’s very first book, and the resounding support and initial success of the pre-order has been incredibly rewarding. THANK YOU.
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I used to wake up each morning and activate autopilot mode. I’d immediately check my phone, respond to texts that came in overnight, walk to the kitchen and make tea, and let my dogs out in the yard. I’d open my computer and sit inside my house, despite it being 70-something and sunny outside, and spend hours on Zoom and answering emails. Then I started editing The Hours Before Dusk.
This book, which launched for pre-sale on Tuesday and is the first Parea book to ever be published, is special in many, many ways but I believe its true uniqueness is in its ability to bring out the best in each place, situation, conversation, and person. It doesn’t prescribe positivity, it simply inspires it.
I started working on this book with Jenna in January, and the process of developing and editing it prompted several changes in my own life. I reflected back on the superb dirty Chai lattes I enjoyed in Mexico City and I started making my own version at home. I thought about the friend I admired for the way she started and bootstrapped what is now a very successful brand, and I reached out to tell her how much I look up to her. I started having a glass of wine outside in the yard to mark the end of the work day. I made a habit of taking my dogs for a hike early in the morning as often as possible. I took non-Zoom calls outside and I made a commitment to walk to the park near my house and put my feet in the grass every day. And despite the world falling apart around all of us, I was able to find moments of joy. For the first time, I craved my morning routine while traveling and was excited to come home and live the life I’d consciously created.
Candidly, I was also quite nervous while editing this book. I felt way out of my league, as I had never edited a book before. And this isn’t your typical book—it’s a combination of genres and I can’t seem to find another book like it. There wasn’t a blueprint for me to work from. Plus, I felt a deep obligation to do right by Jenna. She trusted a first-time publisher with her book, and I wanted to exceed her expectations (why yes, I am a people-pleasing Virgo with exceptionally high standards for myself!) and make this book as successful as it possibly could be.
Since Parea is the first publishing house that’s truly built for its readers, I wanted to involve people in the editorial process. I gathered a group of people in New York and Los Angeles and gave them a week to read a PDF of a near-final draft, and then spent an evening talking about how the book made them feel. I asked them which parts really worked, which parts were confusing, who they’d recommend the book to, how they’d recommend reading it. I was nervous going into these groups too, since the readers were all pretty serious literary nerds (sorry, everyone). The first session was with my New York crew, a group of people who are not easily impressed. It included someone who has worked in publishing for her entire career, someone who is a Goodreads power user and almost never leaves a five star review of a book, and someone who works in editorial and content and has published a book herself. The second session was in LA, and was comprised of a very diverse group of people including a couple of lawyers with very specific taste in books, a wellness coach and chef, a Spanish film & TV exec, a French-Moroccan artist, a product engineer with the most Zen-like approach to life, and a whip smart clothing buyer who I went to university with but hadn’t seen in ten years.
The feedback was unanimous: this is a book that inspires a sense of wonder, makes you appreciate the little things around you in a new way, gets you daydreaming about places you’ve never been and want to go, and triggers (in a positive way!) feelings of nostalgia. People commented that it’s the perfect book for every mood—it lifts you up when you’re sad, it grounds you when you’re anxious, it inspires you when you’re feeling great. One person said it’s a book they want to carry with them at all times, and the others agreed. It comes at a perfect time, too, as it takes you to many different cities around the world but more importantly it shows you that the special experiences that you can have in destinations around the world are the same as the experiences you can have at home—you just need a few great people to connect with and an ability to truly see the beauty and details in your own environment (the tree outside your window, the leaves inside your teabag, the craftsmanship of the coffee mug you drink out of each day, the color of the sky in those hours before dusk).
And, by the way, there were a few things that didn’t work for some of the readers. So, we changed them. For the first time, readers actually edited a book alongside the editor. Without readers, I wouldn’t have a publishing company. Why wouldn’t I work with the readers to publish a book they really wanted to read?
All of this is to say: I am so, so excited for you to read this book. Read it on a plane, on a train, on a beach, in the mountains, on your comfortable couch at home, with a friend in the park. Read it when you want to feel inspired, when you’re stuck in a rut, when you’re overflowing with energy and need to channel it somewhere, when you’re feeling wistful for the past. Read it all at once, or read a little bit each day. And read it again, whenever you want the same rush of heartwarming feelings.
I remember the first time I got off of an official publisher phone call with Jenna. I was in Rome, wrapping up the winter holidays, and I thought to myself, “if I get to do this every single day for the rest of my life, I’ll be the happiest version of myself.” Thank you for letting me share this with you, and for supporting the Parea journey. I absolutely can’t wait for you to have this book in your hands and to experience the magic we felt creating it.