London Writers' Salon

#183: Curtis Chin — Landing National Press, Running 300+ Book Events, Booking Venues With Cold Emails, Making Book Tours Pay, Building Book Buzz Without a Marketing Team

Episode Summary

Memoirist and filmmaker Curtis Chin on pitching for national press, booking venues through cold emails, and making a high-volume book events strategy financially sustainable.  

Episode Notes

Memoirist and filmmaker Curtis Chin on pitching for national press, booking venues through cold emails, and making a high-volume book events strategy financially sustainable.   

You’ll learn:

• Why Curtis booked readings before his memoir released to drive pre-orders, and what that early push unlocked. 
• How he found venues by researching programs and series online, then sending cold outreach without overcomplicating it. 
• A practical way to define your “audience” so your outreach targets the right communities and institutions. 
• How to write a venue email that creates urgency (a “hook” and a reason to say yes now), without sounding gimmicky. 
• A press pitching approach that starts local, builds credibility, and then moves toward national outlets. 
• What his spreadsheets are (and aren’t) for, and a lightweight way to track outreach and payments without building a complicated system. 
• How he initially used a publisher budget, then supplemented it with community funding when the budget wasn’t enough. 
• Why momentum compounds (your growing “resume” of events and media makes the next invitations easier), and how to lean into that effect. 
• How he structures his day to keep writing, business logistics, and book marketing moving at the same time. 
• How getting paid for talks changed the economics of touring, and why nonfiction subject expertise can create more paid speaking opportunities. 
   

Resources & Links:

• 📑 Interview Transcript
• Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
• Asian American Writers’ Workshop
• Curtis’ NYT article
• Curtis’ Website

About Curtis Chin:

Curtis Chin is the author of the award-winning memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. A co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Curtis Chin served as the non-profit’s first Executive Director. He went on to write comedy for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in twenty countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appétit, The Detroit Free Press and The Emancipator. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His essay in Bon Appétit was selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023 and his short doc, Dear Corky premiered on American Masters. He is currently working on a new docuseries on the history of Chinese restaurants in America.