Printed Words Magazine Issue No 1 by Printed Words

printed words ISSUE NO. 1 / JULY 2016

FEATU RIN G GL ASS SWO R D / CAL A M I TY / TH E V I N Y L D ETECTI V E

Issue No. 1

ISSUE NO. JULY 2016

f r om th e editor Hello fellow lovers of fiction! We all share an interest, and possibly a passion, for the printed word. Welcome to the first issue of Printed Words Magazine. Specifically dedicated to young adult readers, bloggers, reviewers and more. It’s been a very exciting six months so far, a lot of anticipated releases (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I’m looking at you), the new Wizarding World movie comes to cinemas in November, Shadowhunters aired during January, the list goes on. And those were just a few highlights. In this first issue, you’ll find new books, new bloggers and reviewers, some familiar stories and photographs. I had a lot of fun researching and expaning on my design skills to produce this for you fellow readesrs, enjoy! Happy Reading :)

Alyssa -Come find me at -

alyssaisreading.wordpress.com

contents 6 reasons why you are in a reading slump............................................................. 12 @alyssaisreading........................................................................................................... 16 bookstagram feeds you need to follow................................................................... 26 the vinyl detective......................................................................................................... 30 discover new bloggers................................................................................................. 42 glass sword..................................................................................................................... 44 being a YA publicity manager..................................................................................... 50 calamity........................................................................................................................... 54

printed words wants your contribution! Want more publicity for your small brand? Get in touch to share your reviews, stories, recommendations and random reader rambles! The possibilities are as big as the fictional world, get more attention for your blog or extend your social media presence. Or both! -Send enquiries to: printedwordsmag@gmail.com

@printedwords @printedwordsmag

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reasons you get into

Reading Slumps

1. BINGE WATCHING Binge watching is basically the reason I fall into an anything slump. I am a huge TV person, I watch a variety of shows and it is never good when I discover a new one, especially a Netflix show (because all their episodes are released in one day, giving me no limits). I’m sure everyone has fallen into a reading slump because of a good show, and if you haven’t: you haven’t found the right show.

2. BOOKISH HEARTBREAK My longest reading slump was over a year. It was mostly because of TFIOS (The Fault In Our Stars). I wasn’t much of an avid reader back then, I only read series’ that I liked and I didn’t really explore books. Someone recommended TFIOS to me and it was the first book that made me afraid to read anything else because I didn’t want to feel all of those emotions again. When I joined the bookish community, I discovered a whole range of books that will make you feel 10000+ more emotions than TFIOS, and yup, I avoided those for a long time. Some I am still avoiding (I’m looking at you, The Last Time We Said Goodbye).

3. SCHOOL Good ol’ school.. The number one reason I usually can’t do everything I’d want to: sleep, binge watch, read, etc. Being in my last year of high school, everything gets pretty hectic. Going into senior year, the workload really hit me, it wasn’t a gradual build. I don’t think school would be a big issue if there’s a good schedule for doing school work.

@alyssaisreading

4. PROCRASTINATION I’ve split this into two sections: 1) procrastinating from something else and 2) procrastinating from a bad book. Usually when I’m putting off other work such as school or chores, I pick up a book. Though I’m not always 100% concentrating because those tasks are haunting my head, resulting me in having to read over and over again because the story isn’t sinking in. In other cases, I tend to put off reading because I am in the middle of the book that I simply can’t seem to enjoy and, for some reason, won’t put it on the DNF list.

5. TIME Sometimes, there are other things more important to do. It could be work, school, chores, social events, family events. This is a really simple, though unlikely (for me), reason. In some cases, there is no time for reading.

6. IT STARTS FEELING LIKE WORK I usually stop doing things I love to do when they start to feel like work. In some cases, when I have to finish a book by a certain time or have a blog post for it done by a certain time, I tend to put it off, for the one reason that it has a due date attached to it. I hope it’s not just me.

MEET RAINBOW ROWELL & DAVID LEVITHAN

FRIDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2016 KINOKUNIYA SYDNEY Level 2, The Galeries The Galeries, 500 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

MY FIRST YEAR ON

Bookstagram @alyssaisreading

I joined bookstagram unknowingly. I went overseas to my home country, the Philippines, for the holidays and went inside a book shop (because whenever I see one, I have to go in). The store had a number of books that I have always wanted to read and own but could never find them in Australia, so I had a massive book haul (my biggest one so far in my life). I posted the image below on my (at the time) personal Instagram.

After a few months, I started spending more time on bookstagram, I began to take my photos during the day with good natural lighting. The background would always change depending on my bedsheets. I wanted to have a consistent theme so I bought a white mat from Ikea (I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be used for the table) and I started using that as a background. Though one problem was that it was too small and it was limiting. Finally, I got white sheets for my bed. I still use them as my background for photos today. I always love how the photos turn out at the end. I use the same props for my photos; laptop, watch, jewellry, coffee. There’s only a couple types of layouts that I set out because I like shooting flatlays, though I don’t mind a different angle every once in a while. Active presence helps grow the follower count, in all social media, and a good connection with the followers. During March this year I hosted my very first monthly photo challenge, #alyssaisreadingmar16. Afterwards, I started to create the challenges with other bookstagrammers.

The power of the hashtag is mighty! I hashtagged every single book in the photo and social media being itself, it got more attention. After a while I started noticing photos of books on my Explore page and that’s how I discovered bookstagram. I didn’t realise that readers took aesthetically pleasing photos of books and had a whole Instagram account for it. I started posting along, following monthly prompts and slowly converting my personal profile to a bookstagram profile. That was my door to a variety of things like photography, blogging and design.

This not only connects you to other readers but to authors and publishing companies as well, which helps boost presence if you’re a blogger or author wanting to promote your book.

During my first few months, I didn’t care much for lighting. I would shoot photos at night where I would be using my orange light in my bedroom, with the books laid down on my bedsheets, which made the photos colourful. To this day, I still have a few of the first photos that I shot. It’s a small reminder that everyone starts out small.

I would definitely recommend trying out bookstagram to all readers out there. It can open up opportunities that you wouldn’t have heard of.

One of my favourite parts of bookstagram is the aesthetics of the bookish merchandise that’s out there. Instagarm is one of the biggest platforms for advertisements, having eye catching and amazing photos helps draw attention to a brand. It’s how I discovered Bookworm Boutique, Evie Bookish, Owl Crate and a lot more.

-Alyssa P.S. If you’re wondernig about which apps I use, they’re VSCO Cam and SKRWT. 17

@alyssaisreading Instagram

25 bookish facts about me with alyssa / alyssa is reading

@alyssaisreading

1. The book that got me into reading was The

13. I was a library monitor at school for at

Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I remember a friend recommending this book to me and she wouldn’t stop telling me to “Go read this book, you have to read this book”.

least three years.

2. I read books before watching the film. I have a lot of bookish rules for myself. And all of them have been broken, particularly this one. I say ‘film’ and not ‘film and TV’ because half the time when I watch a show, I didn’t know that it was a book/series first. Now that I think about it, the only show (I believe) that I watched after reading the books was Shadowhunters.

I don’t doggy ear my pages. I will rip of a piece of paper and use it as a bookmark if I don’t have one (which is unlikely).

14.

The first series I ever finished was A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It did kind of faded off near the end for me but that series got me so hooked, I had to finish it. Still love it to this day.

15. I do not lend anyone my books. 16. I use a lot of sticky tabs. For keeping track of quotes and/or for writing reviews. Some of them are still on the books to this day.

17. I’m a book collector. I plan to be anyway. I plan on having different editions/formats of my favourite books.

4. I don’t break the spines of books. This is

18. Whenever I read words that I don’t know

such a big pet peeve of mine. I will read weirdly if I have to, as long as that spine doesn’t break. Sometimes of course I have no choice but to, so I break it and then make a mental note to purchase the hardback copy in the future.

how to pronounce, I just skim through it and say “that word” in my head.

5.The

first series I really got into was Maximum Ride by James Patterson. I used to read it before I go to sleep, 100 pages a night and that was my rule for myself. I plan on getting the entire series in the future.

6. I have to take at least a dozen photos with different angles before finding the right one.

7. I either read a book in a few days / a few months. There is no in between.

19. I LOVE BOOK PHOTOGRAPHY! 20. Booktube and Bookstagram mainly got me into the reading community. I used to just read books. I wasn’t an avid reader, I only read books that people talked about and such.

21.

I can’t seem to recommend books to friends. I used to, and I would always fear that that person won’t love it as much as I do or would find something that would make me look at the book differently. So I just don’t recommend books to my friends.

22.

know why but I will most likely not pick up a high fantasy/fantasy book if I’m browsing at a store.

I don’t have a proper order for my bookshelf. The only things I think about are putting books by the same author together, hardbacks would be in one shelf, ARCs together. But other than that, nothing really.

9. The books that I read in high school that I

23. When I go to bookstores, I usually pick up

actually loved were To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye.

a book for at least one of these reasons: 1) the spine and/or 2) the title

10.

24. I plan on getting the hardback / special

8. I am a big contemporary person. I don’t

Sometimes I don’t use bookmarks, I record my progress on Goodreads. I don’t know why *shrugs*

11.

I usually get books at Dymocks, Kinokuniya and Book Depository.

editions of my favourite books. When I have the money and space of course.

25. I LOVE READING BECAUSE IT RESTORES MY FAITH IN HUMANITY

12. I’ve only ever listened to one audiobook in my life and that was The Fault In Our Stars. I would jump back and forth between the two.

& QA 24

How important is it for your feed to have a theme? -@ It’s not 100% important to me. I like having consistency in my photos to have an good look at the overall feed. Though if I have taken a photo that I love, yet doesn’t match my theme, I will still post it. Aside from sharing your love for books and possibly meeting new friends, do you have other reasons for joining the world of bookstagram? THE PRETTY PHOTOS! A And also the creativity. I bet most of the people who are on bookstagram not only have a love for books but also love photography. It’s so nice to just scroll through the feed and see everyone’s photos, how creative and colourful they are. Plus, it’s another method for me to find new books. It’s a great place for publicity, especially for new authors. Do you change posts according to what your followers would like to see or to what you prefer to see? I hardly ever post according to what my followers would want to see. I usually post from my monthly prompts or I found a photo I took from a while back but never posted. Do you ever feel tempted to post something that doesn’t match your feed, and how do you make sure everything matches? Not all of my photos match. Sometimes I go out to a restaurant and the food just looks so good that I like pairing it with a book and the table would be a darker colour which is a complete contrast to my white bedsheets. But it doesn’t stop me from posting it, if it’s a good photo, I will share it with everyone J

How often do you post? Do you post pictures with a certain time-frame in mind, or is it spontaneous? Always spontaneous. There’s no specific time where I post but I try to post everyday. What would you say are the top 5 elements of running a successful bookstagram account? For me, the top 5 elements are: 1. GOOD LIGHTING - all photos have good lighting, natural lighting is your friend as I’ve said many times before. 2. POST REGULARLY - if not everyday, every 2-3 days. Or explain if you will be MIA for a while. 3. INTERACTION - make sure to interact with your followers and with other bookstagrammers as well, maybe by collaborating for something or just to take about that one plot twist that you can’t stop thinking about 4. AESTHETICS - aesthetically pleasing photos are the best kinda photos, where the layout is on point, if there is a central image, it is clear what that image is, etc. 5. MAKE IT YOURS - despite number 1 and 4, make your bookstagram feed your own, post what you’d like and how you’d like. Basically be yourself J Who do you follow? Do you follow people soley on feeds and if they inspire you, irregardless of whether they follow you back? I follow accounts that I think have really good and pretty photos, yes, irregardless of whether they follow me back. Also accounts that have good interaction with their own followers. A few of my favourite accounts are @bookwormaniac, @celinereads, @sammyreadsbooks and @ourbookworlds L

LET’S TALK BOOKISH! Come find me at alyssaisreading.wordpress.com

THE ACCOUNTS EVERY

Bookstagrammer

NEEDS TO FOLLOW

@ ce l i n e rea d s

@ s ammyreads b o o k s

@ e m d awg rea d s

@ swept awayby b o o k s 27

@ l a n n i ste rsb o ok s

@ h ayais read in g 28

@ my r i a d i n k l i n g s

@yo u n g a d u l t b o oka d d i ct

the vinyl detective by andrew cartmel

l isa / whatever happ ene d to l isa

@whateverhappenedtolisa

The first time I heard about this book was in an interview with the author Andrew Cartmel in the german Doctor Who podcast ‘Whocast’. The latest work of the former Doctor Who Script Editor is called ‘The Vinyl Detective -Written in Dead Wax. It was published on May 10th this year by Titan Books. Here’s a short blurb: “He is a record collector - a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. Some end up on his turntable, some are sold at a handsome profit, and all sound a hell of a lot better than any digital recording. His business card describes him as the “Vinyl Detective” and certain people take this more literally than others. Like the mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording - on behalf of a wealthy, shadowy and somewhat sinister client. Given that he’s just about to run out of cat food, this gets our hero’s full attention. So begins a dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz records of them all...” Our nameless protagonist is sent to find a super rare jazz album in his first case. But he is not the only one looking for it and his opponents are not shy of using violence to get what they want. This record is part of a huge secret that threatens to shake the complete music industry to the chore...

This book is made very clever because it actually consists of two stories that build up on each other, like side A and B of a record if you like. There were no plotholes whatsoever and the pace of the story was never too fast or too slow. The characters off the 477 page book grew close to my heart very fast and I was suffering in each charity shop, at each record fair if they’d finally find the record. ‘Written in Dead Wax’ had this very ‘homely’ feeling for me right from the beginning; a feeling that I always get when I read or reread a favorite book (series) of mine, for example Harry Potter or Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. Speaking of Rivers of London, Cartmel is co-writing the comics that acompanion the books with his colleague Aaronovitch, who has, like Cartmel, nothing else than Doctor Who in his writing credits. I guess it’s no surprise that I’m giving 5/5 stars for this book. I’m really looking forward of the next part in this series. So, if you like jazz music, listening to music on vinyl, cats, or simply enjoy a great crime novel, this is for you. I recommend having a cup of coffee and some good jazz while reading this.

Hi, my name is Lisa, I’m 19 and I live in Germany. Besides reading, my hobbies include singing, going to concerts and traveling. I mainly write about books, but sometimes I ramble about music, movies and other stuff I like too. whateverhappenedtolisa.blogspot.de

@whateverhappenedtolisa

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@_halfbl00dprincess

bookish merchandise from Bookworm Boutique: ‘sleep less read more’ pillow case and ‘bookstagram’ pillow case - $20 (USD) and from Evie Bookish: ‘bookstagram mug’ -$15 (USD)

bookish merchandise from Bookworm Boutique: ‘some stories stay with us forever’ pillow cover - $20 | ‘book nerd’ mug - $15 (USD)

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@jessethereader

bookish merchandise from Bookworm Boutique: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;i read past my bedtimeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pillow case - $20 (USD)

1 Charlotte Street, Ashfield NSW 2131 AUS Phone: 9797 7289 and 9797 6344 39

DISCOVERING NEW

Bloggers

The Sapphire is a personal blog that I started after finishing high school. It's a medium through which I can explore different topics that I like to ponder and write about, and connect and be inspired by people with a passion for writing. Having blogged for 8 months now, I cherish how working on this personal project of mine has become a cathartic means of creating something in any way I want it to be. And it's something that I love sharing with anyone with a love for reading and writing.

Hi, I’m Jenna. I’m an Australia-based psychology PhD student, blogger, avid reader, professional procrastinator and pastry devourer. When I’m not busy conducting ‘ground-breaking’ research, I am reading books or watching Japanese dramas and TV shows. I have loved reading since I was a pre-schooler and my childhood was spent reading Enid Blyton’s children’s books. I still occasionally take out my Magic Faraway Tree books to read. My favourite genre now, as a 20-something year old, is YA contemporary but I also love fantasy and historical fiction.

I’ve always been an obsessive reader - greedy for the tales that transport me to new worlds, introduce new friends, challenge my perspective and make me feel deeply. Books are a part of my everyday – for entertainment, for experience, for education. Alexa Loves Books began in 2011 as a way for me to record what I’d read and how I felt about it. These days, the blog has transformed into something more: a safe space to share my opinions, concoct fun posts and even get a little more personal.

My name is Anissa. I’m still pretty new to the book blogging world; I started my first book review blog in 2014 but was only really active for about 6 months. I decided to close it and start fresh. At first I called this blog Anissa Reads, but in January 2016 I changed it to She Reads Too Much. This is the first blog I’ve created without an alias, so HELLO. I love browsing book review blogs, leaving random comments (don’t be alarmed, I come in peace and have cookies), and talking nonsensically about books to people. Even when they don’t want to hear it (my poor sisters).

Joséphine. I am passionate about a great many things ranging from reading to baking to sports to photography and beyond. While Word Revel primarily focuses on books, I occasionally do sneak in other personal interests. Here on Word Revel I chronicle the books I’ve read, discuss topics pertaining to books, reading and publishing. I mostly read in English, though once in a while I also read German books.

glass sword

by victoria aveyard marta / b o ok coyote

@bookcoyote

First of all, I need to mention I felt very sceptical towards Glass Sword and didn’t grab it at the same moment the second part of Red Queen was released. I needed a few months to prepare, find some time I could waste (if a book would turn out as another disappointment) until finally, I saw Glass Sword on a bookshelf in my school library and thought, why not? I don’t hide that I didn’t like Red Queen at all. It is too overrated, sounds like a mix of other dystopias, I don’t see a strong romance in it. It’s not awful, but it’s definitely not a masterpiece worth of all that worshiping it got lately. So, of course, when I started reading Glass Sword, I had a pre-opinion already, which was blown away just after the very first pages of an amazing, not repeatable and outstanding Glass Sword.

Mara is out of the jail, free from Maven, who turns out to be a real monster. She ran away with Scarlet Guard soldiers and was taken to the island, together with another one prince - Cal. Mare’s brother Shade is alive, that’s heartbreaking news, her other two brothers, also. But Mara is not that kind of girl, who more likely stays with her family, trying to be as safe as possible. You know, I’ve seen so many opinions about Mare’s selfishness and her being too self-centered, but the truth is that she is not a hero, and that is said quite clearly from the very beginning. You want to see a hero,

who always sacrifices herself over the others, but the fact that Mare doesn’t act like a hero is my favourite part about her. I would actually call her an antihero. She is cruel, she is selfless, she is self-centered, she is unstable, but just imagine yourself in her place. Not pretend to imagine, but actually imagine yourself in the middle of civil war, having a power that can kill and destroy, and being a teen girl with a lot of expectations and different look at the world. Mare is sure that the things she does are right. Mare knows that she is important and that’s obvious she actually is important. She has powers that can make a lot of great things. Those people wouldn’t have done so much without that girl. So yeah, I give Mare the complete right to feel selfless and self-centered. Of course, I don’t remember much plot from Red Queen, since it has been a half a year I read it, but while reading Glass Sword it wasn’t a problem since the sequel actually looks almost as a new story of Mare and her friends. I mean yeah, we need to know the pre-history of Mare and her powers, but if you didn’t read the first book, I don’t think it would be a huge problem to start from Glass Sword. Actually, I wish Glass Sword would be the first part of this series. As long as I can’t change it (that means forever), let’s stop talking about all the ifs and concentrate more on Mare’s character, and, of course, my dear lovebirds, Mare and Cal! As I’ve mentioned before (it seems like I've repeated it thousand times

already), Mare is selfless. That can be felt in the book really strongly. I mean, she practically forgets her family. I would be pissed because of that, but I loved the fact that Mare kind of is angry at herself, too. She knows she is selfless, self-centered, she even mentions that she actually forgets her family sometimes, and I just adore characters, who is honest with themselves. The same moment I start to think something bad about Mare, she thinks that also and I am just left there, admiring how amazing and self-critical this girl is. I guess every reader always is seeking to find the strongest protagonist. I mean, how many of them just cry the whole book. I loved Penryn from Angelfall, she was the strongest character by that time, but then I met Mare. Not in Red Queen, but in Glass Sword. She actually reveals there as a very strong protagonist. At the back of the room, the exiled prince gets to his feet. He holds my gaze, as if his eyes alone could set me on fire. A waste. There is nothing in me left to burn. At the same moment, Cal is also very strong character. I love it that he is quite cold with everyone, not reveals his true plans, and most of all, he doesn’t change his beliefs. A lot of characters I’ve met before, especially typical bad-boys, always change. At first, they say one, and then a good girl comes, talks with them, so they disavow their thoughts. I don’t know how to express what I have in my mind. I just simply liked that Cal, who was taught one thing the whole life, didn’t believe that this thing is the wrong one so quickly. Yes, he changes his opinion about Reds a little, but his people, Silvers, are still more important to him. When you think about that, it may seem like a bad thing, but still, I don’t think that Cal should join Scarlet Guard and Mare’s revolution (although he kinda joins it). At least not so quickly. He’s still a prince and the throne will always be the primary thing to him. He still thinks like a ruler in Glass Sword. Now, winter looms, and I’m the girl who stole his life. Also, Cal makes Mare look more realistic character. At the end of the second book, he kind of spits out everything all the readers thought about Mare and I just loved it. He is very rational and cold-minded, very different from what he seemed to be in Red Queen, though. I can never forget what burns beneath his skin, the rage that fuels him, and how strong they both are. Speaking of Cal and Mare together… well, that’s a bomb. A bomb which was very neutral in the first book, a bomb which was threatening to explode in the second book, and, I hope, will actually explode in the third one. Honestly, I remember liking Cal and Mare in Red Queen,

but not being very hooked up by them. When I started scrolling through this ship on Tumblr, I saw how many people were hooked up by Mare and MAVEN. I mean, yeah, Maven was a cute little monster in the first book, but, still, I’ve only seen him as a child. In Glass Sword, Cal and Mare retreated from each other a little, they didn’t talk about their relationship much, and that’s normal since they both betrayed each other, and they were betrayed by Maven, too. But their couple still is very delicate and just… amazing. They fit each other, they are both very cold and smart and they were a great team through the whole book. Maven, at the same moment, reveals as an even more cruel character, although he doesn’t show in the book much. Still, I really hate him. I kind of even tried to like him, to imagine him ending up with Mare somehow, but no. Though I really love broken characters, but Maven is just simply annoying. What more? I’m probably repeating myself, but I really really loved how realistic Glass Sword is, although, it’s about superpowers and dystopian world. Still, all the fight scenes, the reality of war, relationships… they felt real. Let’s take Cara as an example (I am not sure about her name). She has a power of making things explode. During the final fight in Glass Sword, she explodes people’s hearts and lungs. The blood and part of the bodies are everywhere. At some moment, Cara cracks. I mean, who wouldn’t? In some other books, Cara would go forward without even blinking, but in Glass Sword she states she can’t do this anymore, I think she dies because of that. Deaths, they are also very realistic in Glass Sword. But I won’t be talking about them too much. I only want to mention how I liked Mare’s dealing with her killings and her loss. It’s true that while you don’t know the name of the person you’ve killed, he is just one of tens nameless war victims. But when you learn his name, he materialises, becomes something that was alive and breathing and loving and being loved. Even the faces that haunt me, the faces of the dead, have disappeared. Funny, now that I’m dying, my ghosts decide to leave, I wish they would come back. I wish I didn’t have to feel alone. I have so many expectations for the third book now. I don’t know what I am going to do if the sequel will turn out as another crap as Red Queen was because Glass Sword definitely is in my top books list. Action, characters, descriptions, everything in this book is wellthought, well-written and just makes a great read. P.S. Glass Sword kinda reminded me of X-Men?

I am Marta, a book blogger, at the moment working with my country's biggest publishers. I love to discover new authors and their works, but the most enjoyable genre for me is dystopian one, that's why I present my review for Glass Sword. bookcoyote.tumblr.com

@bookcoyote

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@alyssaisreading

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‘Peter Pan - To Live’ wall tapestry from Evie Bookish at Society6 - $79 (USD)

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a p e e k i n s i d e t h e l i f e o f a YA / hol ly / harp er col l ins aust ral ia

Holly at the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2016

What marketing strategies do you use to promote a new author and/or new novel? There are various ways to promote a new author and/ or novel and so the methods we employ will largely depend on what type of book it is and who our audience is. For example if we are promoting a children’s picture book then our advertising and marketing should be targeted towards parents as they are the ones who will purchase the book for their children. With this in mind our strategy might include online, outdoors or with relevant parenting publications as well as sending press releases and copies of the books out to media for review. We also organise author tours and festival appearances to help build an author’s brand recognition and increase sales. How long have you been working at HarperCollins? I have been working for HarperCollins for almost 6 months now and absolutely love it. Prior to starting this role I graduated with a Bachelor of Business in Public Relations and was a Senior Account Executive at one of Australia’s top Public Relations Agencies. Do you get to read the novels first? If so, how hard is it to keep the spoilers? Luckily I do but I always love to chat about a book the moment I finish it so I do find it challenging at times. Having said that, I really love sending review copies

out to bloggers as the moment they finish a book I have another person I can chat with about it! What are the best and not-so-best parts about working as a publicity manager? The best bit by far is that you have unlimited access to books but aside from that you also get to meet so many interesting people and are always working on something different. Depending on the day I can start my morning off writing a press release and then before I know it I have answered countless emails, organised a media interview for one of my authors, ducked into a publishing meeting in the afternoon and then left the office for an event or boarded a interstate flight for an author tour. And I am not even kidding! While I love to be busy there are times when it can become a strain, particularly when travelling on tour, so that is something that you really need to look out for. Other than that, I know some Publicists don’t always enjoy the communications aspect of the role but I am a natural people person so I love it. Favourite YA novel? I would have to say that my YA book of the year would definitely have to be Carve The Mark, the first book in a new duology by Veronica Roth. This book is just amazing and I am so excited to share the series with everyone!

Children’s publicity manager michel le / novelste

Sonia at the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2016

What marketing strategies do you use to promote a new author and/or new novel? Depending on my budget, I will create advertisements (eg digital ads, print ads etc) and also Point of Sale items for bookshops (eg posters, bookmarks, postcards etc). Because Bloomsbury is a global company we use a lot of digital advertising and social media marketing, which we post all over the world at the same time for maximum effect. Eg. cover reveals, title reveals, trailers etc. How long have you been working at HarperCollins? I started at Bloomsbury on the first day we opened our Australian office in 2010. I’ve worked in book publishing since 2002.

What are the best and not-so-best parts about working as a publicity manager? The best part is working on amazing books and with amazing authors. The hardest part is managing the work load. Bloomsbury is a small office and I look after children’s and YA marketing, publicity and sales. It’s a juggling act to keep on top of everything. Favourite YA novel? Oh no, there are too many to choose from, I could never pick just one! But to narrow it down I’ll say I love everything that Sarah J Maas and Sarah Crossan have ever written. Also I am a huge fan of The Leaving which we’re publishing next month - I could not put it down!

Do you get to read the novels first? If so, how hard is it to keep the spoilers? Yes I do and yes it’s VERY hard! Sometimes I am absolutely bursting to talk, but I know that I hate it when people spoil books or movies for me, so I have to control myself.

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calamity

by brandon sanderson michel le / novelste

@novelste

*If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, this will have spoilers*

Calamity is the conclusion to Brandon Sanderson’s science fiction trilogy, the Reckoners. Normally more of an epic fantasy writer with books nearing (or exceeding) 1000 pages, the Reckoners series is a little bit of a different path for Brandon Sanderson—but, of course, he never fails to pull off a great book.

The biggest surprise in Calamity is what/who Calamity is. We already discovered in Firefight that Calamity is an epic—but what kind of epic? Why did it come to Earth? Why is it turning humans into epics? Can it be defeated? The answers at the end of the book are definitely not what you would expect.

I think what impressed me the most about this whole series in general is how Sanderson actually succeeded in writing in a young adult voice. When I first read his other “young adult” series, the Rithmatist, I thought the main character felt more 12 or 13 than the 16 years old he was supposed to be. In the Reckoners, though, Sanderson gets it right with the voice of David. He feels like a boy in his late teens/ early twenties, especially whenever he talks about the extremely hot Megan.

Also something I didn’t quite expect from this book, but that I liked a lot, was how much Sanderson revisited and resolved the relationship issues David had with his dad— particularly his dad’s belief that epics could be good, and that epics would save the human race.

In general, David has always been an excellent character. He is light-hearted and awkward, despite his dark past and desire for revenge. Running gags throughout the series are his tendency to make really bad metaphors, and his constant insistence that he is not a nerd—though Megan won’t stop calling him one. By Calamity, David and Megan are already a bonafide couple and “nerd” has become her pet name for him.

For anyone doubting whether they could read a Brandon Sanderson book because they’re so long and full of in-depth world building—I will have you know that I have felt the same. I often feel the same every time I start a new series of his: “Can I really do this? Will I really like this? It looks like work.” Most of his books actually take me a long time to get into because of how long he takes with his complicated world building—the Reckoners series is the exception to this. Because it actually takes place on our planet, there’s much less world building than normal, and you are pulled right into the action of the world. If you need help getting into Brandon Sanderson, this is the series to start with. You can thank me later.

Also in Calamity, David is now an official epic-killing expert. He not only slayed the supposedly invincible Steelheart, but got rid of Regalia too. But, now he has to worry about his once-mentor, Prof, who has succumbed to the darkness of his epic abilities and is now trying to destroy the world. When I first started reading this series, I was a little weirded out by the idea of Brandon Sanderson writing about… superheroes? Who go bad? And take over the world? It felt like he was jumping on the Marvel bandwagon. But, Sanderson proves me wrong almost every time I doubt him. He took a very different twist on the superheroes troupe, and he doesn’t disappoint in this last installment.

Michelle Garrett Bulsiewicz has a journalism degree, but has been writing novels since she was eight years old. She's obsessed with books, cats, tea, and yoga. Check her out on Instagram @ novelste.

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