I’ve had the great fortune to work with a few “famous people” in the arts and entertainment world, but Mary Janet MacDonald is in a universe all of her own.
As a 73 years-young wife and mother of seven, Mary Janet lives in Port Hood on beautiful Cape Breton Island with her husband, Cecil, surrounded by family and friends. She first gained fame during the pandemic for her Facebook live show, Tunes and Wooden Spoons, and has since amassed more than 80,000 followers online.
With the popularity of her show taking off, Mary Janet published two best selling cookbooks, Recipes from a Cape Breton Kitchen in 2021 and Love Without Measure in 2022, backed by her Nova Scotian publishing company, MacIntyre Purcell.
Earlier this year, I received a cold call from Jeff Cox, the owner of MacIntyre Purcell. He asked if I would be interested in doing a Maritime publicity campaign for Mary Janet’s third cookbook, Come In, the Kettle’s On!, and I’m SO GLAD he did.
From July to October 1, the book’s publication date, I created a media list, wrote the press release, distributed it and followed up on the abundance of requests for interviews. Mary Janet and her daughter and co-author, Margie MacDonald (pictured below), were a hit on television, radio, in newspapers, magazines, and digital media. See the media roundup on the Tunes and Wooden Spoons website.
This fall, Mary Janet brought back her Facebook live show with special guests, including her niece Natalie MacMaster and fiddler Ashley MacIsaac, and has done more than a dozen book signings with live music and long line-ups. As of today, her calendar is chock-full with events, special appearances, and scheduled family time until the holidays.
Working as Mary Janet’s publicist has been one of the biggest highlights in my career. I’m excited to continue following her on socials and trying new recipes from my autographed copy of Come In, the Kettle’s On!