The Great Unraveling (and you should join me)

Four months ago, my debut novel, The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair, came out. The launch was a wild night at Tulsa's Magic City Books, and was the largest in-store event they've ever had in their 8-year history (do not tell the fire marshal).

Not only that, Busy Philipps happened to be shopping that night (she was in town filming a movie) and I was able to meet her, give her a copy of the book, give her a friendship bracelet my daughter had made for attendees, and take a selfie with her (it's on her phone and made her Instagram grid, no biggie).

Numerous people crossed state lines to come to the event; two even got on planes to be there. My parents, my sister, my college roommate (who had to drive six hours), former students, current students, and even my high school humorous duet partner (we were state finalists, thankyouverymuch) showed up.

And though each of these amazing aspects (record attendance, meeting a celebrity, people navigating the TSA) are overwhelmingly amazing on their own, there was one thing that was even bigger than all of those remarkable moments combined:

The Unravelers

You see, back in May I put out a call (on Instagram. Do you follow me? You should.) for people to sign up to be on my Book Launch Team. I was hoping for 10 people.

But 80 people (hotties?) signed up in one day.

Some of these 80 people were former students, high school and college classmates, or long-time friends. And around half of the group were people who had never met me personally but had heard me speak on stage or who had read my other books and had been following me since. This group spanned the entire U.S. (across 8 states, one in California, one in Maine) and one in Europe. And while it was almost fully comprised of women, there were four (brave, wonderful, loving) men who joined in.

With the team assembled, my assistant Katie and I got to work putting them to work.

Joining The Unravelers meant they agreed to read the advance copy I’d provide for them and leave a review. They’d also agree to read weekly emails from Katie in which she would give the Unravelers an optional challenge—post a selfie with the book, send the pre-order link to three friends, mark the book “to be read” on Goodreads,” etc. Behind the scenes, I made a “Close Friends” Instagram list of everyone on the Unravelers so I could share the book updates like the cover art or early critic reviews on private stories.

During our weekly meetings, Katie would tell me how the Unravelers were responding to her emails with lines from the book they liked or compliments to the reading playlist she put together. I shared how the Unravelers flooded my DMs with their thoughts on the book, which I would then screen shot and share back to the private group. Feeling so loved by them, Katie and I came up with a plan to reward their hard work. We had hats made and spent a day driving around (to those Unravelers who are local) delivering hats.

Funny side note here: that Lululemon bag had bows in it. At each stop, we got the box for the recipient (Katie packed them in the car in order of our stops), then put a bow on the box before dropping it off. I had forgotten scissors, but I discovered I had a dermaplaner in my purse. So we were sawing bows with a dermaplaner in front of many a front door. They work on peach fuzz AND nylon ribbon!

And for all those Unravelers who don't live locally, Katie boxed up theirs and shipped them out. This means Katie learned to use a thermal label printer. Ask her about it! She's (rightly) very proud of this newfound skill!

We got feedback that members were bumping into mutual friends and trying to find a way to ask if they were also an Unraveler. That resulted in a request for friendship bracelets to wear to signal their support to others (and later, to Busy Philipps). My daughter spent two solid months making 100 book-themed bracelets that perfectly matched the colors of the book's cover.

Numerous Unravelers convinced their book clubs to read it, some called independent bookstores in other cities, and many put me in touch with various libraries to give readings.

I thought the goal was to get this small but mighty group of people to help me launch the book. To get others excited about it. To propel my book dreams.

And boy did they. But then the dream I thought I was chasing was not the dream I ended up with.

Wait, let me clarify. The Unravelers absolutely brought my dream to life. The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair went to #1 on New Fiction Releases on Amazon. It spent 7 weeks on the Oklahoma Bestsellers list, 4 of those weeks at the #1 spot. It got several extremely strong literary critics' reviews, and currently has a 4.5 average star rating on Goodreads.

However, while chasing all those writerly dreams with The Unravelers, a larger dream started happening. The Unravelers were the dream.

And so I must keep the dream alive. To build on the momentum, and love, and fun, and humor that came from The Unravelers and expand it to others. Bring others into what became a place of community where we were pulling at the threads of what holds us back.

So what does this mean for you?

My darling, it means everything.

It means that you, too, can become an Unraveler. Can you imagine? Passing a stranger in the airport who is impeccably dressed and wondering if she, too, is an Unraveler. And finding out later when you bump into her in the bathroom that she has the iconic Unravelers tattoo on her wrist. Or looking across a crowded restaurant to lock eyes with someone who instantly makes your heart beat faster and before you get your hopes up you mouth, "Unraveler?" The corners of their mouth rise in a slight smile as they nod slowly and then you see your future unfold, including your newborn son you name "Ravel." In fact, "Are you an Unraveler?" will become the ultimate filter question on a dating profile (following "Are you a smoker?" and "What is your political affiliation?").

Because what it means to be an Unraveler is simply that you're open to untangling the harder knots in life. Identity, self-worth, relationships, time management, ambition. While also tackling the more crucial questions in life, like what's the best loungewear (Aritzia) and who serves the best Diet Coke (McDonald's)?

But to be less dramatic about it (which is neither easy nor natural for me), it's really just a place where I'm tackling a topic each month.

As an Unraveler, each week of the month you'll receive content in your inbox to engage with the topic. The first week of the month, you'll get a long-form essay from me. The second week, you'll be invited to join the live Unravelers Group Chat, a monthly Zoom call in which our community gathers and I walk us through a presentation and a discussion around that month's topic. The third week, you'll receive a Recommendations and Resources Guide, which will include monthly book picks (fiction and nonfiction), resources I've curated (for example, my time blocking templates), writing prompts to help you dig deeper into the monthly topic, and a smattering of fun recommendations (the socks I swear by, my favorite coffee mug, a podcast episode I insist you listen to). And the final week of each month, you'll receive an edited version of the presentation I gave during the Unravelers Group Chat so you can watch it again (or for the first time if you couldn't make the live call during week two). You will also be able to access all of this on The Unravelers platform (using your login creditials).

The Unravelers changed my life. They helped make my dream come true. They are the dream come true. To honor that, I'm donating 10% of all subscription revenue to 501(c)3 organizations that support women's reproductive health and rights; women's financial empowerment; and women in the arts. Those organizations will be continually vetted by The Unravelers Advisory Board, a group made up of a handful of OG Unravlers who helped launch the book.

So, if you are a fan of my work (maybe you've seen me speak, or read my books, or can't get over my shoe collection), or if you are open to a funny, fun community of people seeking to understand themselves better, or if you just want some recommendations on the best cozy winter socks, you'll love this platform.

And I'd love to have you in our community.

Now, let's unravel....

Join The Unravelers!