Campaign Spotlight: Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

By Leah Murphy, Emily Lavin, Georgia Rees, Chante-Marie Dante and Annamaria Rakti 

Melding classical history with a comic cast of characters, Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon stormed a win at the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize ceremony.

Raised in Dublin, and holding degrees in both History & Classics and Prose Fiction, Lennon first entered onto the literary scene with the publication of his short stories in The Irish Times before writing Glorious Exploits, his first novel published by Penguin’s Fig Tree on 18 January 2024. The story is set in 412 BCE and follows two potters who start visiting the local quarry in their spare time, where they discover that the Athenian prisoners held there will recite the plays of Euripides. And so they decide that the men will put on a performance of Medea – but it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between friends and enemies.

This week, we take a look at the marketing campaign for Glorious Exploits, touching on social media promotion, publicity and the marketing that comes with being a prize winner.

Social Media

On the day of its publication, Ferdia Lennon announced on his Instagram that he had taken his book to one of his favourite spots in Norwich – Plantation Garden, a beautiful site filled with plants and historical structures. He also made a great deal of celebrating the different translations of Glorious Exploits, making sure to include a personal story of his own to showcase how important this is to him. For example, for the French edition, he talked about how he wrote the book while living in Paris and during lockdown. 

He ended his post on an optimistic note, mentioning that “fortunately for [him], given the novel’s setting, [their] home was right beside the Parc des Buttes Chaumont which was fashioned from an old limestone quarry.” Then, for the Spanish edition, titled Deus Ex, he briefly talked about stepping foot into the writing world while living in Granada, Spain, a decade ago, and made sure to thank those that supported this edition: “Huge thanks to Impedimenta for putting together this beautiful edition and to Jon Bilbao for his translation. Also thanks to Literature Ireland for their support.” Additionally, he recorded an audiobook with Penguin Audio, showing his dedication and love to his readership, the companies that support him and his book.

Events

The amazing publicity team at Fig Tree made sure Ferdia Lennon had a busy schedule for the summer. First, Lennon started on his home turf at the International Literature Festival in Dublin in May. Here he did a panel with Colin Barrett, author of Wild House. The two debut authors discussed coming of age, navigating the nuances of masculinity, and capturing authentic Irish voices and dialects on the page. Then came the nomination for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, where he talked at a panel with his fellow shortlisted authors (spoilers, Glorious Exploits won!). 

Recently, he visited the Edinburgh Book Festival, where he chatted to Sasha de Buyl about humour, friendship and what happens when you fuse contemporary Irish dialect with ancient Syracuse. And the fun is not over yet – soon, Lennon is going to the Wimbledon Bookfest where he will talk to Ingrid Persaud and Sinéad Gleeson at a panel called “Stories from around the World.” The publicity team did a great job of combining the renewed interest in Glorious Exploits coming from the nomination with the onslaught of amazing book festivals across the UK and Ireland, creating an exciting line-up of events and gathering new readers wherever they go. 

Bookshops

If you found yourself walking past a Waterstones, it’s likely you saw Glorious Exploits as part of the window display. After being crowned the winner of Waterstones’ Debut Fiction Prize for 2024, Waterstones made sure everyone passing knew. Some stores, such as Waterstones Altrincham, included the novel in their Books of the Month for August window display, ensuring it was surrounded by placards showcasing the author’s accomplishment. 

Independent bookstores, including Rossiter Books and The Weybridge Bookshop, also joined in with celebrating the publication. Rossiter Books arranged copies of the books alongside vases resembling Ancient Greek busts and marble statues. The book was also surrounded by artefact-like vases, replicating displays you would find at the British Museum. 

The award for best and most creative display most definitely goes to Waterstones East Grinstead. The bookshop created a shrine, with a large illustration of Greek caricatures from the book cover, featuring a quote and review from one of the booksellers. That said, the hypnotising multi-copy display at Waterstones’ Forestside in Belfast is certainly a close second.