keeping up with the singular wellington
a little bit of THEIR VICIOUS GAMES news that i've already talked about on twitter and ig but it should also live here too!
in the world of joelle, there’s been a lot happening and so i’ve neglected this newsletter quite a bit—i promise to rectify that, i swear. i’m already working on future newsletters! some topics of conversation on the horizon:
a post-mortem on lorde’s melodrama, and how it is an excellent piece of storytelling worth looking at through that sort of lens
the need to read but unfortunately not with any sort of speed
the importance of literary criticism (aka sometimes i read my goodreads reviews and even the ones calling me mid make me smile)
to draft on deadline (a most hellish experience).
anyway, lets catch up on some THEIR VICIOUS GAMES news, of which there is a lot!
UK COVER
first, it has truly been months and months BUT, here is my UK cover!
it is stunning and i had an immediate giddy reaction when i first saw it in january. i was just so pleased. the neon pink ring, the reddish pink font, the tagline. the gold foil snake.
this is the second time that i’ve received a cover that i adored immediately. there weren’t any real revisions, just like with the first one. i hadn’t really known what kind of cover THEIR VICIOUS GAMES would have so i’m so glad that both of my teams have such a clear vision.
it’s all just very exciting and i can’t wait for this finished version to be right on my bookshelf next to my US copies.
ARCs
also, in the past few months, my US ARCs have been released on NetGalley and in print, and we’ve started to send them out to the masses!
the first US batch came out in these fabulous wooden boxes with personalized invitations and i got to do two really cool intimate book clubs with a few early readers. my publisher has been steadily sending more copies out, and i know they have a few more cool packaging ideas that i got to see when i went to visit them for a meeting!
i also got my UK arcs (pictured below)!!
my UK arcs are a brand new exclusive colorway and come in this super cool packaging that i’ll get around to tweeting/throwing up on ig again. i can’t wait until these arcs start going out in the UK and hearing more thoughts as we get closer to release day!
Indies Introduce
a few weeks ago, i got a very daunting text message that began with ‘this is not a solicitation’. about twenty minutes later, a very lovely bookseller told me that i was going to be a summer/fall 2023 indies introduce title!!
it was very exciting news and was met with a lot of pacing and nervous giggling my way through a short phone interview. i am so so pleased and honored and i can’t wait to meet some booksellers at the children’s institute in milwaukee which i’ll be attending!!
maybe i’ll see some of you there!
Launch
and…finally, i have a launch date! for all that are in the nyc area (or not far from), i’m doing an in-person launch at books of wonder on july 25 at 6pm! i’ll be in conversation with the fabulous victoria lee, and you can rsvp here!
this is also where i’ll be doing personalized preorders and if you preorder from books of wonder you’ll get a super cool gift!
…if you’ve preorder from elsewhere, there is also a cool gift but i can’t talk about it yet so shhh!
now, that’s a wrap on the news that i can disclose in this newsletter. there are still a lot of big, big, BIG things to come so stay tuned!
FURTHER CONSUMPTION
READING
Kieran Culkin Confides in Taika Waititi About the End of Succession
What Was (and Is) the ‘It’ Girl? by Matthew Schneier
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Y/N by Esther Yi
WATCHING
Succession (HBO)
Scream VI (2023)
The Other Two (HBO)
LISTENING
The Horror and the Wild by The Amazing Devil
Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain
This Is Why by Paramore
Dance Fever by Florence + the Machine
“High Brow”, a podcast by Mina Le