Love in the air in New York
Love, walking & poetry trending as New York poet publishes book of love poetry
Did you know? Brand new studies say New York is now a top LOVE capitol of America? And most walkable too!
And poetry is red hot in 2024.
Lucky accident! Serendipity! What better time for a New York poet to release a brand new collection of love poetry than during a national love fest for New York?
Oh yes indeed, here are some great trends to hop on for getting the word out about my new book of love poems, HOLD ME TIGHT: 36 stories in short poetic rhymes about love and loss in modern times (blog post about writing and making the book).
More below about how to jump on a trend.
(What about you? Are you working on a project that’s related to any current trends?)
Walkability, Romance Trending in New York
According to one study, New York City is the #1 most walkable city in America, and according to another one New York is the second most romantic state in America.
Walkability
At first, I was surprised to see the Big Apple ranked #1 most walkable city in America*. But think about it. You don't need a car to get around town. There are sidewalks, parks and bike paths everywhere. The walking grid of streets is easy and always interesting. Lovers can easily stroll up and down the town. And what a big, big town it is.
Walkability is a growing smart trend connecting some key groups of people including families, young adults, Gen Z, price-conscious people, millennials, seniors, visitors, tourists, workers, and New York locals — basically for everyone. Walking can help keep us healthy and fit. Owning cars has become too expensive and too much of a hassle. Even public transportation can be too expensive. Walking and biking are better for the environment. A nice stroll is a good activity for getting out of the house for our mental health.
Here are the top 10 walkable metro areas according to the study:
Most walkable cities in America are:
New York City
Boston
Washington, D.C.
Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Chicago
Los Angeles
Pittsburgh
Philadelphia
* Study by Smart Growth America
I Love NY — the Romance
According to another new study**, New York is the second (2nd) most romantic state in the nation as measured by Valentine's enthusiasm (and spending) data. Wow! Gotta love New York.
Only second place? We try harder! LOL.
From the study here are America's top 10 most romantic states:
Most romantic states
Massachusetts
New York
New Jersey
Virginia
North Carolina
Maryland
Florida
Georgia
Connecticut
Colorado
**Study by JeffBett
But hey, no need to spend the most. The moon and the stars are free. Go for a romantic stroll.
Enter new book of love poems by New York poet
Love is in the air in New York!
I caught wind of it last summer when the sky was yellow and out of the blue wrote a book of 36 love poems. I self published the collection, and I'm slowly getting it out into the big old world. (Blog post about making the book.)
(Thanks so much for your encouragement. You know who you are! XO)
Poetry is trending, too.
All kinds of poetry — the good, the bad, and everything in between. I’ve done some market research, and poetry is hot right now. I don’t know how long it will last, but hopefully forever. It is also all over social media.
Poetry is a powerful, elegant, fun and expressive way to describe the world. This first book of poetry was fun to write, edit, format and self publish.
In Hold Me Tight, I tried many kinds of poetry formats from traditional rhyming poems to limerick and haiku, rap to free verse. The nature of the poem’s message and tone was a key piece of which kind of poem I used.
In the poems, I talk about the blind elation of falling in love, the wedding, the lovers spat, the love for children, the courtship dates, the building of a life together, the love of neighbors, artificial intelligence and good friends — and more. And toward the end, I indulge in some strident poetic justice type of topics which may or may not have anything to do with love.
Each of the 26 poems is formatted in a two-page spread with a black and white photo collage illustration. The style is minimalist and modern.
The type is large, and the poems are short. Brevity is a superpower IMHO.
Example of Using Trends
It's good to always be looking for trends to latch onto for key words and searchability and relevance. These NY headlines could be a godsend. It’s worth a try at least.
How to use all this lovely New York news about romance and walking in an announcement about the release of HOLD ME TIGHT (global bookstore links)? Maybe something like:
"As New York strolls in as the smart new cosmopolitan capital of romance and walkability, contemporary New York poet NG Swett gives voice to the moment with a collection of fresh new love poems."
(Too long; needs editing, I know.)
"Love is in the air as New York poet releases collection of new poems..."
or
"New York poet captures a moment with love poetry collection..."
I'll sleep on it.
Maybe I’ll make a blog post about it and make some social media posts... Haha
February 1st*** Update:
Sample New York love video with love poem
Doing my own stunts over here haha! Sharing with you in case it helps.
In an attempt to pull the above trends together and tie them to my new book of love poems, I made the vertical mobile video below.
I made it in Canva and uploaded it to the 4seasonshelf YouTube channel.
And I’m uploading the video as a pin on Pinterest.
So far, all this is done on my desktop.
Uploading to social media next, I’ll use my phone. First I’ll get the video onto my phone and upload it to other social media channels: Instagram, Threads, TikTok. That shouldn’t take more than an hour. I’ll compose the description starting with what I used on YouTube, adapting for each platform, and adding hashtags and audio soundtrack of some kind, like city sounds.
This video runs for a minute. In the next one, I’ll probably add in an analogue
clock showing one minute elapsing along with the hashtag #newyorkminute which might give people a sense of time being more spacious than we think and also to highlight the fact that the poems in HOLD ME TIGHT are short and accessible. I have at least three more similar designs lined up and ready to roll.
*** February 1 is too late to try to start ranking on search engines for anything. On the other hand, maybe we’ll show up in searches as we get closer to St. Valentine’s Day, spring romance, weddings, anniversaries, and who knows maybe even more good news about New York!
Book of love poetry as a gift?
HOLD ME TIGHT is available internationally in hard cover and ebook. Each of the 36 love poems in this new collection of love poetry by New York poet NG Swett is short and is illustrated with a black and white photo collage in a modern minimalist aesthetic.
A book of love poetry is a romantic gift for any occasion — a lovers stroll, Valentine’s Day, springtime romance, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and engagements.
Treat yourself to some poetic inspiration! It’s perfect reading for coffee cafe lounging and people watching.
The poems are about love, relationships, falling in love, everyday love, long term love, love of children, self love, reflections on the world at large, declarations, city life and country life.