Natasha Wing was born in Connecticut and now lives in Colorado. After graduating from Arizona State University, she worked in advertising for a number of years. It wasn’t until 1991 that she decided to write children’s books. Luckily she sold her first book within six months and has been writing children’s books and articles ever since. Some of her books—including the wildly popular The Night Before series, which now includes 38 books—have even ended up on bestseller lists. She also writes under the pen name Hester Applebee.
In The Night before Kindergarten, tomorrow is the first day of kindergarten. But what can the kids expect when they first arrive? Join the children as they prepare for school: packing supplies, posing for pictures, and—the hardest part of all—saying goodbye to Mom and Dad. But maybe it won’t be so hard once they discover just how much fun kindergarten really is. Colorful illustrations by Julie Durrell illuminate this encouraging story, perfect for introducing little ones to a big milestone.
When asked what contributed to the book landing on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list, Wing said: “Having a new set of readers every school year keeps the audience fresh and the title in demand. The fact that the story is based on a popular story, The Night before Christmas, makes my story familiar to parents.”
The seasonal theme of the book creates an opportunity for refreshed sales each year as a new set of kindergartners gets ready for the big day. Wing credited high sales to word of mouth and teachers who read the book on the first day of school or even gift it to their new students. Wing and her publisher are proactive to boost the book’s success as back-to-school season arrives. “I have a newsletter that has about 200 educators on the mailing list, so I send that out as a reminder. My publisher also sends out emails to educators about back-to-school books.”
Thus, the book has a cyclical pattern of rising onto bestseller lists leading up to the start of the school year, then dropping off again after the school year starts. Wing also has seen a pattern of increased sales at the end of the school year, when the book becomes a popular gift to preschoolers who will be going to kindergarten in the fall. She has seen similar cyclical success with other books that are related to holidays, and she continues to seek opportunities to add other holiday-themed books to the series for this reason.
Wing credits her bestseller success to the thematic tie-ins and extensive series: “When you have a series, the books cross-promote each other, which gives the other titles a better chance at being discovered by readers and buyers.”
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.
