Stephen Henderson, author of
The 24-Hour Soup Kitchen: Soul-Stirring Lessons in Gastrophilanthropy
Stephen Henderson was ready to give up. A gifted cook, travel writer/editor, and all-around foodie, he had discovered a passion for feeding the homeless that took him to soup kitchens around the world. But when it came time to tell his story right, publishing plans kept falling through.
Finally, Henderson turned to Radius for a fresh start and one final shot at serious publishing. Together, we were able to produce the book Henderson set out to make, the way he wanted to make it, while reaching his intended audience with a message of encouragement.
Audience of Everyone
Rather than aiming to capitalize on a personal brand, Henderson was that rare author whose main mission was to spread a message of kindness. His stories were meant to inspire readers to leverage their passion and gifts to make a positive impact in their world.
With fabulous media contacts and an ad agency background, Henderson decided to handle his own promotion and took to marketing and publicizing his book like a pro. The campaign aimed to kick off on the pub date of April 7, 2020, with media events, a book launch party, and a nation-wide soup kitchen tour on tap. But COVID-19 showed up uninvited, which threw a wrench into the plans. Not to worry, though, versatile Stephen pivoted to virtual and online events, postponed the soup kitchen tour until the all clear from COVID-19, and turned a marketing and publicity nightmare into a publishing success. What better story to read during a pandemic than one where we transform despair into hope—a story about offering people something as basic as a nourishing, sumptuous, free meal, prepared with love. From a marketing perspective, this meant adopting a cost-effective strategy to reach a general audience in search of a feel-good story.
Soul-Stirring Success
In the end, Radius Book Group helped Henderson create a book he could be proud of, propelling it into the hands of as many people as possible while spreading goodwill.
The 24-Hour Soup Kitchen typifies the positive message we at Radius Book Group are eager to amplify, and it embodies the unexpected success that sometimes finds those who set out with selfless intentions.
