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Oh, the excitement when you’re invited to an event related to books and stories. And oh, the perks of subscribing to the publisher’s e-newsletter. The best part? The event is available to audiences worldwide (Thank you, livestreaming technology). Well, that’s what happened on the morning of 9 April 2024, MYT. The paid event, which was to celebrate Simon & Schuster’s 100 years in the world of storytelling and publishing, saw names including one of the Clintons, Lisa Jewell, Fredrik Backman, Jerry Seinfeld and, Judy Blume and John Carr.

The portion that I did catch, post-intermission, turned out to be the most relatable and human. From one who spoke about impostor syndrome to another who emphasized on how history informs the stories we tell ourselves and others to another who was kind and humourous enough to share his routine as an author.

The event was held and livestreamed from the Town Hall, New York City. Overland Entertainment produced the programme, curated by a certain Mr Goldstein. All in all, it was a lit evening, which showed different sides and perspectives to being best-selling authors, regardless whether these personalities started off in the industry or not.

Tickets are worth USD15 plus an additional USD2.68 for the facility fee. From what has been disseminated, a small portion from the total proceeds will go to the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation, the only US-based non-profit dedicated to helping booksellers and workers in comic shops across the country.

A video-on-demand recording will be available at a date yet to be announced. There’s also a programme booklet available for download.

As an extension of this special occasion, avid readers with postcodes in the US will also enjoy a 40% discount of selected trade paperbacks and hardcovers, along with standard free shipping rates. The promotion is valid till the end of April 2024.