Happy Pub Day!

**Reads one book on Galileo, feels like an expert in astronomy.**

Did you know we are currently having a Star Wars moment?

Yes, Earth currently has two moons (you read that right).

A new mini-moon, a small asteroid, has been in Earth's orbit since September 29 and will be our second moon until Nov. 25 -

Don't believe it? Here’s proof:

In all seriousness, the best way to see it is visit a professional space observatory with public access. Here’s a list of places State by State: https://www.go-astronomy.com/observatories.htm

What does this have to do with Bookum and books? Absolutely nothing! But hey, who said we can't be an astronomy/sci-fi newsletter this week?

Check out our latest Author Talks Podcast with the worldly Dr. Ariel Rosita King on her new book, Humanity Unveiled.

Dr. King tells some phenomenal and first-of-their-kind stories of her encounters meeting legends such as Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, Pope Francis, Desmond Tutu, President Nelson Mandela, and more.

I timestamped the video so you can jump to these stories.

Enjoy!

Back on this planet:

• 📚 Conversation with According to Alina

•  📺 Creator tips: Alex Aster

• 📖 Book List by Creator Maya

This Week On Bookum:

We are sitting down with one of our favorite BookTubers, According to Alina.

Over the last year, Alina has perfected the art of long-form book content, specifically when it comes to trends changing in the book space, commentary on highbrow intellectualism vs. reading for entertainment, and the overconsumption (and also the underconsumption) of books.

With a literature degree from Oxford, she takes her field studies and brings them to the modern world of BookTok and social media.

This conversation is sure to be interesting.

Join us on Bookum Thursday at 1 PM EST!

This Week in The Book World:

Just like the Earth's orbit, we always have to keep it interesting at Bookum.

This week, we wanted to try a new concept called a Creator Tips.

The goal of this Creator Tips is to examine different creators in the space, tell their stories, and see if we can find interesting creator tips through their content.

In doing so, we want to start with a creator who, although faced a lot of criticism in the beginning, has proceeded to silence the noise and build a real community.

This creator is Alex Aster.

3-Sentence Background on Alex:

1. Joined BookTok in 2021 because her book had been rejected 100 times by agents.

2. Went viral from using social media to promote her book.

3. Despite some early criticism of the book, Lightlark has spent nearly 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers List (sold 1 million copies), book #2, Nightbane, was an instant #1 on the list, and Alex has two more books in the works (book 3 out Nov 12, and her first rom-com drops next year).

What did Alex do differently?

Edits:

In old book marketing, authors often used book trailers to try to give a visual representation of their books. On TikTok, these have been modernized to edits.

Edits, according to Jules Terpak, founder of Growing Digital, “might be the most captivating and persuasive form of media there is right now.”

I'll show you one:

@alex.aster

It’s called Lightlark #booktok #bookstan #bookclub #yabooks #books

(You probably wouldn't expect such a simple video to rack up over 3.3 million views, 425K likes, and 8000+ comments.)

In short, Edits are compilation videos, often set to music that convey a certain message. (Does “Brat Summer” ring a bell?)

When done correctly and hitting on a singular emotion, the results can be huge.

If you don’t believe me, listen to creator Sofia Malik explain how powerful edits have become:

@sofia.malikk

just the truth and nothing but the truth!! #edits #fanedit #netflix #film #tv

There's a lot more to Alex's marketing that we could break down in a longer article, but I just wanted to share a concept that some might not be informed about.

Let us know if you want a full breakdown; also, Bookum has video uploading, so drop your edits on the community feed as well!

This Week in Publishing:

A few weeks ago, we had book content creator Mnmbooks (Maya) on the Creators Talk podcast (https://youtu.be/69jfNU03vps?si=YlnE-PcB_1nQE_tZ)

She shared her Creators Book List with us, so this week we are spotlighting books.

Maya focuses on sharing books by South Asian authors, so make sure to add these books to your TBR list on Bookum and shelf:

• A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

• How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

• Not About a Boy by Myah Hollis

• The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe

• Jade City by Fonda Lee

• Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

• Payal Mehta's Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber

• Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

• Daydream by Hannah Grace

• Sorry for the Inconvenience by Farah Naz Rishi

• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

• Heir by Sabaa Tahir

• All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

• If You Are Not the One by Farah Naz Rishi

• Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

• The Curious Secrets of Yesterday by Namrata Patel

• Scent of a Garden by Namrata Patel

• The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel

As always, if you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please share it with others. Every share helps and keeps us growing!

Definitely share to a book content creator friend that might enjoy our newsletter!

Share this newsletter on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or via email.

Happy Reading!

Download Bookum on Apple or Android Here!

See you next week!

Footnotes (Aka other articles we are reading and Bookum content):

Content Creator and Librarian Mychal is hosting “Freedom to Read: Day of Action Saturday October 19th with The New York Public Library- https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/day-of-action/

Author Jason Reynolds tackles romance writing in new book - https://www.cbsnews.com/video/author-jason-reynolds-tackles-romance-writing-in-new-book/

Lion Lionsgate TV Options ‘Yellowface’ by R.F. Kuang - https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/yellowface-rf-kuang-tv-serues-karyn-kusama-constance-wu-lionsgate-1236167053/