Listen — you will instantly grab me if there’s a cult as part of the plot. Every single time. And Tenderness by Rowan Beaird was no exception. We loved helping Flatiron Books reach mystery readers, summer reading enthusiasts, and more for this slow-burn literary mystery that will captivate readers.
Tenderness is Rowan Beaird’s second novel (following The Divorcées), and it’s set in 1976 on a remote Virginia island, where guests are gathering for Shay O’Connor’s wedding. But instead of toasting the happy couple, everyone’s whispering about the cult Shay recently left (enter the cult subplot.) Told through multiple POVs, the book hits hard on family drama, romantic regrets, and what happens when the truth comes to light. Megan Abbott calls it “sly, elegant, and menacing,” and Chicago Magazine says it’s “a lush, atmospheric look at privilege, love, and the things we do for inner peace.”
The campaign included banners reaching fiction, literary fiction, and mystery/thriller/suspense readers and book buyers. We also layered in audience traits like summer reading enthusiasts, BookTok and Goodreads users, book club members, and readers with a strong interest in literary awards and historical fiction. Comp titles included similar authors like Emma Cline, Tana French, Celeste Ng, Gillian Flynn, and Donna Tartt, and keywords focused on phrases like literary fiction bestsellers, 1970s fiction, and books that take place in the 1970s.
The campaign wrapped up with a 0.20% CTR — 1.45x our banners benchmark — and ran across top sites including Literary Hub, The New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, Parade, and Elle. It wasn’t too surprising to see the campaign perform best with our exclusive genre read-alikes, which tied for the top spot at a 0.53% CTR alongside fiction/mystery/thriller/suspense readers interested in literary awards.
Other top-performing audiences included summer reading enthusiasts browsing premium sites like NPR, The New York Times, Huffington Post, and Variety (0.24% CTR), American literature readers (0.23% CTR), and BookTok users who read fiction and suspense titles (0.22% CTR).
If you’re looking for your next slow-burn drama, you can get your copy of Tenderness here. And if you’re ready for your next campaign, you can find me at marybeth@adbiblio.com!
