Introducing the Book Ambassador Program by Zibby Books!
Featuring Zibby Books’ own marketing manager Sherri Puzey
With the launch of Zibby Books last year, our team seeks to reimagine the business of books as an entirely new kind of partnership between writers, editors, publishers, booksellers, influencers, and readers. The plan is to find new ways to launch and discover the stories that shape our world.
One of these new initiatives is the Book Ambassadors Program — a community of readers who love books and bookstores and wish to help promote and sell titles through word-of-mouth outreach and special opportunities.
We’re giving our Book Ambassadors exclusive access to our books and authors as well as an inside look at Zibby Books. By meeting regularly to discuss books, share ideas, and brainstorm new ways to shake up the publishing industry, we’re leveraging existing relationships in communities big and small to canvas the independent bookstore market while forming a true community among book lovers all over the country.
Now that we’ve introduced you to the program, we want you to meet one of the driving forces behind it: Sherri Puzey, marketing manager at Zibby Books, a dedicated reader, writer, and editor who is moving mountains to ensure that the right books reach the right people.
Read our short Q&A with Sherri below. (And become a member of the Books Ambassadors Program by signing up here.)
How would you describe your role at Zibby Books in a few words?
I’m on the marketing team, and one of my responsibilities is heading up the Book Ambassadors Program. There are a ton of publisher influencer programs out there, but we really want to go beyond free books and establish a community of book lovers excited to change the way literary content moves and connects us.
What books are on your nightstand?
Find Your Unicorn Space by Eve Rodsky, Intimacies by Katie Kitamura, Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades, Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief by Claire Bidwell Smith, Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez, and half a dozen others.
It might be time to stop calling it a nightstand — at this point, it’s just another bookshelf.
What’s the last book you couldn’t put down?
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. I love how she writes — every sentence is perfect. And reading personal essays is something I’ve really grown to love over the past year.
What’s a bookstore you love?
Island Books on Mercer Island is my favorite local shop. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and my daughters can spend forever exploring the kids’ room in the back.
I’m currently finding inspiration…
In the start of a new year! I love fresh beginnings and always feel so energized by all of the possibilities and unknowns that lie ahead.
Favorite place to write/edit?
In an overstuffed chair near all of my books. My husband built me bookshelves that line a wall of our home, and I love looking at them!
People might be surprised to know that…
I spent part of my childhood living in China. There are several years’ worth of pop culture references from the early aughts I still don’t get, but it was more than worth it to learn Mandarin and experience life as an ex-pat in a vastly different country.
What do you like to do for fun?
Travel! We were in Australia for a month at the very end of 2019, and I’ve really missed being able to travel and explore new places over the past two years. I also love cooking, kayaking with my husband and kids, and playing games.
The best praise/feedback you’ve ever received?
Leigh Newman recently told me she was impressed by what I read, which I felt was a huge compliment coming from her! It also really makes my day when my kids tell me they loved the dinner I made.
What’s the most fulfilling part of your work?
Helping to launch incredible books out into the world. I’ve been a lifelong reader and am so grateful for the way authors and books have impacted my life. It’s a gift to be able to have a small role in doing the same for others.
