Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Books for Younger Readers)
Genre: YA fantasy
Formats: $20.99 hardcover | $11.99 ebook | $27 audiobook
Released: Feb. 20, 2024
Hafsah Faizal is the number-one New York Times and international bestselling, award-winning author of We Hunt the Flame, We Free the Stars, and A Tempest of Tea. A Forbes 30 under 30 honoree, she resides in North Carolina with her husband and a library of books waiting to be devoured.
In A Tempest of Tea, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets on the streets of White Roaring. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by night, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—she can’t do the job alone. Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side.
When asked what contributed to the book landing on The New York Times bestseller list, Faizal said: “A Tempest of Tea’s success is most certainly a result of my debut, We Hunt the Flame—and social media. Though my debut released in 2019, I’d been building an audience long before that, starting with a book review blog and social media presence in late 2010. It was a long, steady journey, one I dedicated many hours and hard work toward, from networking with strangers to putting myself out there. When it came time to promoting my debut, I put everything I had into it: creative promotion on Instagram and Twitter, collaborating with influencers, organizing a street team, designing and producing merch. I put so much effort into the book that I remember thinking to myself, if this doesn’t hit the list, I don’t know what more I can do.”
The efforts paid off, and Faizal’s debut was an instant New York Times bestseller. But even with the prior success, Faizal noted that launching A Tempest of Tea felt “a little scary,” as it was the start of a new duology—her first release in years—and she had taken a hiatus from regular social media posting. The publisher gave the book a robust marketing and publicity campaign focused on independent bookstores. Meanwhile, Faizal focused her own efforts on social media content, such as video posts for TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Faizal advises other authors, “Don’t be afraid to utilize new tools to grow your audience—whether it’s embracing video trends or trying new platforms—but more than anything else, have fun. Burnout is a real and horrible thing, and at the end of the day, you wrote and published a book. That’s a feat worth celebrating!”
Emily Wenstrom is a freelance writer and platforming expert and writes award-winning speculative fiction for teens and adults as E. J. Wenstrom.
E. J. Wenstrom believes in complicated heroes, horrifying monsters, purple hair dye and standing to the right on escalators so the left side can walk. She writes dark speculative fiction for adults and teens, including her new release, a young adult dystopian novel titled Departures (August 10, 2021). When she isn’t writing fiction, E. J. Wenstrom is a regular contributor to DIY MFA and BookRiot, and co-hosts the Fantasy+Girl Podcast. Learn more at her website.
