Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series

Nerdy_Bookworm

Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series | Lani Sarem

I love the message that Lani put in the book!!! Thank you Lani for letting me live the magic in this book! ❤

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Nerdy_Bookworm

Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series | Lani Sarem

I'm so excited to be reading this! I underestimated it thinking it wouldn't be as good as I thought because of all the negative reviews, but once I started it, I was pleasantly surprised. I'm absolutely LOVING this book so far!!! The author autographed it for me, and sent me two other autographed copies for a giveaway on Instagram! Ill share a photo of the autograph. This may be one of my all-time favorite books I've read this year! ❤

13 likes

Dooplum

Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series | Lani Sarem

Thought I should post this book after being featured in the latest Annotated Book Riot podcast. Went to Wizard Con, thought it would be fun to get my picture taken with Thomas Ian Nicholas, and my husband ended up buying this too (he had no idea of the history behind this book and bought it because he knew I liked books). Both Lani and Thomas signed it and we all had an awkward conversation (to me) about the book. Weird times at Wizard Con!

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BillBlume

Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series | Lani Sarem

All right, my fellow Littens. I‘m speaking at a writers conference later this month, and the headliner...::🥁Drum Roll🥁::...is none other than Lani Sarem (seriously, not joking). This lady‘s name at a writers conference is the equivalent of a live hand grenade. I‘m not on a panel with her, but if I were to ask her just one question, what would you want it to be? Give me your best/worst. #ThisShouldBeFun

ghosthost Where do you get your ideas from? (Sorry, I‘m still working on my troll impression. That‘s the best I can do.) (edited) 6y

TheNextBook Why do you think your book is a YA novel when your protag is 25? How does it feel to get dragged through twitter for your bs shenanigans? Did you expect someone to run back to Angie Thomas with your accusations? Did you expect Angie to clapback at you on twitter for your unnecessary comment? Did you really pretend you were someone else to comment on a review in defense of yourself? 6y

TheNextBook As you can see I‘m not a fan of hers and wouldn‘t come near that book with a 10 ft pole! 6y

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ghosthost @TheNextBook I don‘t think anyone is. It‘s disappointing that a writing conference would choose controversy over command of craft when selecting a keynote. From everything I‘ve seen and heard, this is one of the most unoriginal and poorly written books ever published and writing this book is the least offensive thing she did. (edited) 6y

Linear Took me a minute to figure out where I've seen this book cover before, but then after a minute I caught up to the whole review thing. I've still never seen this book like in person or read it. But I think it's Tiffany that the real life chick on the left looks like the picture on the right so I'm going to click the heart button on your post LOL 6y

BillBlume @Linear I think your reply might be my fav so far. Gave me a definite laugh. 6y

Linear @BillBlume that's supposed to say Nifty not Tiffany... I used text to talk a lot. 6y

BillBlume @Linear no worries! Haha! I‘ve got a horde of typo demons who frequently feast on me. 6y

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LibrarianRyan

Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series | Lani Sarem

I know @MrBook normally has the question of the day, but I thought I would ask one today. Maybe even giving him a break if he so chooses. About 3 weeks ago a book no one had ever heard of hit he NYTimes Best seller list. Then it was pulled from the list for fraud. The linked article is the author explaining what she did. What are your thoughts? Is she in the right, or did she game the system? http://bit.ly/2jqFY4L

DGRachel She totally tried to cheat the system to buy her way onto the list. I think it's unethical and stunts like this one undermine the integrity of the entire system. I'm glad she got busted. 7y

MidnightBookGirl She gamed the system, but I don't have a problem so much with people buying their way into the bestsellers list if that's what they choose to do with their own $. This is repulsive bc the stores that placed the orders are never going to see that money bc the book isn't physically available and may never be- it's nothing more than a scam (the orders will just be cancelled most likely). Instead of just admitting that, she tries to play the victim. 7y

RanaElizabeth Total con artist. But even worse, the book itself was terrible. I've read pieces online and it's just bad. 7y

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CouronneDhiver Hm... It seems underhanded to me, but the author has clearly exposed a vulnerability in the way that the publishing system works. Perhaps an adjustment is in order? 🤔 7y

Lcsmcat She was gaming the system, but in her extreme gaming exposed some of the flaws of the system. I don't pay much attention to best seller lists because they show books bought, not read. (The Bible is always right on up there. Just saying 😀) I'd rather pick through reviews. 7y

LibrarianRyan @Lcsmcat I so agree. 😉 7y

Lindy Gaming the system. It seems like a short-sighted attempt, however; did she think people wouldn't notice that there was nothing behind the curtain? 7y

GlassAsDiamonds I don't tend to share much of the outrage - is it just that no one has noticed this happening before? Surely this isn't a first or isolated incident? She used the system....but clearly it's deeply flawed and highly vulnerable so perhaps it's a useful learning (BUT if she didn't actually buy & collect the books as she claimed then I'm completely with @MidnightBookGirl 's point. If the bookstores are screwed by these actions, THATS a problem). 7y

MrBook Oooh! Excellent post and question! I'll share this later if that's okay. Thank you! 😁👏🏻 7y

bookishkai She gamed the system. And trying to use that gaming to force a change in how people sell books? It just seems wrong. Because the reality is that the vast majority of book buyers still buy their books at bookstores. Selling them at cons is just catering to a really niche market. 7y

jpmcwisemorgan I think she gamed the system and I hope that improvements are made based on this incident. @bookishkris has a good point about books sold at cons - it is very much a niche market and I don't think really reflective of what the market is like unless you're talking about an already established author. 7y

AmandaL The secret formula the NYT uses to rank their bestsellers list is problematic, but she totally gamed the system. I also find it hard to believe that there would be much interest in a film starring that author. It seems like she got interest from investors for the film by promising to deliver them a NYT best selling book to base the franchise off of. The whole thing reeks of a scam. The difference between the sample I read of the book and (cont.) 7y

AmandaL Hunger Games, which she is comparing her book and move franchise to, is that Hunger Games is well written. (edited) 7y

moranadatter Hmm... Every system can be gamed so that can't be the bar for determining if it was ethical. The fact that an action is possible and legal doesn't make that action ethical. What she did bothers me. It's a method available only to people with a lot of money. I'm also troubled by some of the things people did to investigate her book. 7y

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GerardtheBookworm

Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series | Lani Sarem

bailed

A questionable piece of YA self-published trite that dared to scam and manipulate the rankings of the New York Times Bestseller list. The protagonist is an 18 year old magic user who disguises herself as a magician's assistant in Vegas. Cliche romance, bad editing, and terrible writing. Makes Fifty Shades look like a Pulitzer.

4 likes

LibrarianRyan

Handbook for Mortals: Book One of the Series | Lani Sarem

I watched this unfold yesterday. Thoughts?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lani-sarem-book-of-mortals-ya-best-seller-li...

jpmcwisemorgan It was crazy. And a little confusing at first because some many people were Tweeting about it and some weren't being clear about what was going on. It's disturbing that this can happen, though. 7y

LibrarianRyan @jpmcwisemorgan I agree it was hard to follow. I never would have thought so few copies would get a book on the best seller list. I read an article it takes sales of about 5000 in a week. 7y

Sue I have many thoughts, none of them complimentary (white chick saying you don't like me because I'm different? Please.) 7y

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jpmcwisemorgan I thought it was at least that many too! 7y

LibrarianRyan @Sue there is that. She had fame and celebrity on her side. She could have done it the proper way if the book was good. Plus, an artist put out how the book cover was a rip off of her original work. Put the two side by side and it's a compelling argument. 7y

MidnightBookGirl As a bookseller at a small #indiebookstore, who do report to the NYT bestseller list every week, this is disturbing as hell. Any chance of me seeing this movie or reading the book is gone now. 7y

LibrarianRyan @MidnightBookGirl this is just for me, how do u report to NYT. Is it just like a weekly inventory sheet? 7y

MidnightBookGirl @LibrarianRyan NYT has a website we have to log into, and yes, we go by our weekly sales. 7y

LibrarianRyan Interesting. Thanks. New info for me. But don't worry. If I was going to scam booksellers into telling NYT that I was #1, I'd do a better job. 7y

MidnightBookGirl @LibrarianRyan Well, we'd be happy to take your money of course! 🤑 7y

gibblr That's insane! 7y

laurieluna I hadn't even heard of this book until this post, and I follow both YA and comic con accounts on instagram. Bizarre! 7y

ReadingRover I saw it yesterday. Such insanity. From what I read she basically bought her way to the top of the NYT bestseller list just so she could get a movie deal and no one has even heard of the book. Smh. 7y

Sue The YA community backlash is in full swing - check out the book on Goodreads. It currently has an average rating of 1.21 and has had about 100 negative reviews added to it since I first looked at it yesterday (with a total of about 600) 7y

Graciouswarriorprincess Wow! Amazing story. Sad in so many ways. 7y

LibrarianRyan @Sue I hadn't even thought of checking it out on Goodreads. But here's the thing, the girl has gotten a ton of free publicity, and bet it sells books now. I'll read it for free, but I won't pay for it. 7y

coffeenebula Thought I might check it out, just to see what all the fuss is about but then read this excerpt: "I‘m slender, but I do not believe most would say skinny. Not ‘hot-girl skinny,‘ at least. I have long legs that are toned but I think my thighs are too large and I do not have a thigh gap. My arms are kind of flabby and while I do have an hourglass figure I have always felt my butt is a little too big and my face is a bit too round." HARD. PASS. ? 7y

LibrarianRyan @coffeenebula I so agree. Just once I want a non beautiful woman to be a heroine. Not a beautiful woman who thinks she ugly. I agree. It reads like self published drivel. 7y

moranadatter I read the first two paragraphs of the Kindle sample and counted at least 4 cliches. The writing is so bad that I doubt the author and publisher will benefit from the publicity generated by their stunt. 7y

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