1. As bloggers/readers, we only know our side of it - the part involving ARCs. Could you please tell us more about your role as a publicist for books and what it involves?
Actually, I don’t work specifically as a publicist here at Kensington. I am the Digital Content/Marketing Manager—which basically means that I oversee most of our digital publishing and marketing. Since the online space has so many dedicated bloggers, I’m lucky enough to interact with them, provide early copies (ARCs), and help them create buzz for the books they love most (and the ones we love most too!) We have an amazing publicity department here as well, that does a great job reaching out to dozens of different channels—both online and in print.
2. How did you get into the publishing industry? Is it as glamorous as it seems to us bibliophiles?
I always loved to read—and I started writing “books” when I was just about 5 years old, so you could say I was destined for this. It’s not an easy industry to break into, and I spent a long time trying, but I finally got my “big break” when Steven Zacharius (CEO, Kensington) and Laurie Parkin (VP & Publisher, Kensington) hired me. My husband thinks it’s very glamorous, but to me it’s just the job I’ve always wanted with the chance to not only read more books than I could ever finish while working with the amazing authors who create them, but also to share my excitement with the blogosphere and online retailers—so that they might love these books and authors too.
3. What’s a typical day at work like?
Every day has something new in store—new books, new authors, new ways to interact with readers online. It keeps my job very fresh…and very busy! Between working with online retailers, managing our social media and eBook production, and developing digital marketing strategies, every day is hectic—but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
4. Tell us your top 3 favorite books.
This is a hard question, because much like my three favorite Beatles songs, they change all the time. But the first three that come to mind are:
1) The Stand by Stephen King
2) Persuasion by Jane Austen
3) The Hungry Season by T. Greenwood
I couldn’t possibly have a list where I didn’t include the entire Harry Potter series, which I also love more than I can describe. In fact, my bridal bouquet and wedding party flowers were made from the pages of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
<<< Omg how epic is that?
5. Could you tell us about a few exciting upcoming titles from Kensington Teen?
We have a great deal of exciting books that are coming up, but right now, I’m really happy to be working on KTeen and many of the new and continuing series that we publish. I’m a huge fan of Brigid Kemmerer’s Elemental Series, and the new book, Spark, will be coming in September. In addition, Nina Berry’s first book, Otherkin, will be on sale in August…so there is a lot happening in our YA program that I’m looking forward to reading and sharing with our amazing group of fans.
Also, some current and upcoming Kensington Teen titles include: