Vicarious joy

I cannot remember when I started following Bonnie Ohara's Instagram feed or what originally led me there, but I was thrilled for her when she announced that she had been asked to write a book. I was even more thrilled a little while ago to discover that the book -- Bread Baking for Beginners: The Essential Guide to Baking Kneaded Breads, No-Knead Breads, and Enriched Breads -- had become a runaway success.

I loved seeing Bonnie's resting loaves crowding one another on her kitchen table, the cheery people visiting her home for bread and all the other ways in which she supported her local community and vice versa. Naturally there was also a twinge of jealousy, mostly because neither my house nor my community are suitable, although I do have an excellent group of people who buy my occasional offerings.

Bonnie's book took off after attracting an actor in the US version of The Office, a terrific local-person-makes-good story. And behind the scenes, another interesting story, about the publisher:

The company specializes in algorithm-driven book publishing, meaning they analyze data to see what people are searching and then publish books about those topics.

The book's subtitle probably reflects their algorithm-directed approach, and I wish them every success. And now, back to polishing my own book proposal.