Olivia Blake’s fantasy dark academic novel, Atlas sixthe bestseller is at the top of the charts and is becoming more and more popular in the genre. But the book, says its author, might never have been published if it had followed the traditional path. On September 29, Blake, which is the pen name of author Alexene Farol Follmuth, spoke on a panel during the Brooklyn Book Festival, along with authors ML Rio (Cemetery shift), Margaret Killjoy (Cage for saplings) and moderator Christopher John Farley. Blake spoke of origins Atlas sixwhich was originally self-published in 2020 before being picked up by Tor Books. Atlas sixBlake said. “At that moment, [the novel] died on the exam floor, so I had the feeling that I couldn’t throw Atlas six in a way that an agent would be interested in.” “You could present it in a lot of very familiar ways, but I found the six core narrators interesting,” Blake added. “In a way that there’s no objective story. There’s no objective truth.”
‘The Atlas Six’ by Olivia Blake.
Amazon
Atlas six follows a group of magicians who compete against each other to earn a place in the prestigious, secret society of Alexandria. “It was my ninth self-published book, so at that point I thought, ‘You know what? Publishing may not care what I have to say. Maybe what I’m doing with the characters isn’t connected enough. I’m having trouble getting through goalies,’ Blake said.
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However, the book has gained popularity online, especially on BookTok, which Blake feels has helped her as well. “BookTok is generally just word of mouth,” Blake said, adding that, “Sometimes I feel like publishing as an industry doesn’t realize… how diverse the market really is.
Never miss a story — subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. “Publishing, the machine, doesn’t understand that yet, and BookTok has pushed that there to some extent,” Blake said. “I don’t think it’s a 100% perfect system, but I’ve certainly benefited a lot from the analytics. People respond to it because of the type of storytelling. It didn’t seem ordinary and I appreciate that.”
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‘The Atlas Complex’ by Olivia Blake.
Amazon
Blake wrote two more books in Atlas six trilogy, including 2022 The paradox of Atlas and in 2024 Atlas complex. The author also talked about the writing process, as well as finding her way around her six main characters.
The PEOPLE Puzzler has arrived! How fast can you solve it? Play now! “The way I structured the show wouldn’t have worked if I had a favorite character, because every character has to be equally interesting,” Blake said. “And so, this is also an exercise. It was like, when I’d finish a chapter… I’d stop and ask, ‘So, who’s the next most interesting person? What would be the most exciting thing for me to work on next?’”
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“I will say that some characters are easier or harder to write,” Blake said. “Actually, I was saying this to someone earlier, that likable characters are so hard to write. It is an exercise in craftsmanship to constantly ask yourself ‘Is this logical? Would she do that?’ It’s so boring… Callum Nova is probably the easiest character in the world to write because he didn’t have any rules.” And as for the magical powers of her characters that Blake would like to have? “Telepathy, for sure,” Blake said. “I definitely don’t want other people’s emotions. It’s very stressful for me, but I have a bit of voyeurism. I’m interested in what other people think.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education