"When I saw 'Penguin Random House' in my inbox for the first time, I thought they might be suing me," recalled Mary Laura Philpott, social media director of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn., editor of Parnassus Books' online literary magazine, Musing, and the author of the upcoming book Penguins with People Problems. Due out on June 2 from Perigee, the book is a collection of illustrations from Philpott's tumblr "The Random Penguins" mixed with new illustrations done for the book. The project began in 2013, shortly after the merger between Penguin and Random House was announced.
"It started with a goofy little one-time post on my blog," explained Philpott. As everyone in the book world wondered what the new company would be called, Philpott thought it would be funny if the company became Random Penguin, and she included drawings of penguins doing random things in the pages of their books. "Once I started making those little penguin doodles, I just kept going."
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Soon Philpott created her tumblr, and through the rest of 2013, the project gained a bigger and bigger following. Philpott's drawings were featured on several blogs, including Refinery29, Go Fug Yourself and The Toast, and for a time Philpott was even selling a line of Random Penguin greeting cards.
"Every time I started to think, well, that's probably it for these little birds, something else would happen, and the audience would grow again," said Philpott. Then, in early 2014, came big news from Penguin Random House.
"I found a few of the Random Penguins on The Toast and immediately fell in love," said editor Meg Leder, who acquired the book for Perigee. She sent her colleagues at Perigee an e-mail about the Random Penguins, and recalled hearing laughter from the offices around her shortly afterward. "I always think that's a good sign!"
Before the acquisition, Philpott worked on the Random Penguins in her free time. "Some days I'll think of three penguin ideas," said Philpott, who draws all of the illustrations on her iPad using her fingers. "Some weeks I won't think of any. I'm used to sticking to an editorial calendar because of the work I do, but it did feel a bit odd to have this wacky little hobby I'd been doing on my own whim suddenly be put on a schedule."
In advance of the book's release in early June, Philpott has drawn a "Penguins with Parent Problems" mini-series that will run exclusively on the New York Times parenting blog Motherlode. The series, which started on April 23, features six new cartoons that all deal with parenting problems. She'll be doing live drawings at BookExpo America. The book's official launch party will be held on Monday, June 1, at Parnassus Books. From there, Philpott will visit some indie bookstores and book festivals throughout the summer and early fall. Already on the schedule are appearances at Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe in Asheville, N.C., and the Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis, Tenn.
At these events, Philpott plans to share the true stories that inspired some of the penguin illustrations, and she'll be drawing new penguins based on the audience's suggested problems. Said Philpott: "I can't wait to see what situations people come up with for me to turn into penguins." --Alex Mutter