By Kerri Sullivan | Jersey Collective | November 25, 2014
From time to time, we hear exciting news about our past participants. Some of them are involved in some really cool things, and sometimes we squeeze those into our Friday Photo Links. But occasionally someone will be doing something so neat that we will need to share it in a more formal way. Here’s the first (of what we hope are many!) piece of “alumni news” we have for you. If you’ve been a part of Jersey Collective and received good news (school-related things, awards, gallery shows, magazine features, exciting projects, something you did “went viral,” etc.) let us know! We’d love to promote you and share what you’re up to with our community.
You may remember Alicia Cook from when she took over our account in April. She treated us to some images shot all over North and Central New Jersey, as well as some blackout poetry. (You can refresh your memory or get acquainted by reading her interview here.) Last week, she emailed us with some good news: she has a book deal!
Alicia was born and raised in New Jersey, where when she was a child she “begged my parents for a typewriter and I never looked back.” So it’s no surprise that she went on to major in English, write for her university paper, and edit the literary magazine. And it’s not a surprise, either, that she is now in the process of publishing her first book, Entranced, which will be out in February.
What is surprising, though, is how she landed this book deal: through Instagram. Alicia says, “I was motivated to start sharing my daily writing on my Instagram page, which has since cultivated a following. Being virtual pen pals with people who share the same interests and aspirations as you do is really a breath of fresh air. I connected with my publishing company, Underwater Mountains, on Instagram.”
Underwater Mountains even allowed her to use her own artwork for the cover art of her book, which Alicia says makes her book “very true to my own voice and style and image.” She says that “nothing is contrived. It’s all Alicia Cook.”
As far as what Alicia strives to do with her work, she says: “I want to captivate my readers. I want my words to resonate with them. Because that’s what matters. Connecting with people. Helping them find the words to explain what they are going through when they cannot find the words themselves. I always say that I write for ME first, but I do so in a way that hopefully other people will take something away from it too. It means so much to me when someone comments on something I’ve written: ‘I needed to see this today.’ It just means everything.”
Join us in congratulating Alicia by stopping by her Instagram page and showing some support!
You can pre-order her book here, and if you choose to do so before December 1st, you can use the discount code “jerseystrong” to get 20% off your purchase.