This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
All this week we've been taking you behind the scenes at Novelicious with guest posts from Team Novelicious. Finally, we hear from our dynamic editor Kerry McKay.
I started lurking around these Novelicious parts years ago. It was always such a wonderfully chipper and madly addictive site full of awesome bookish news and reviews. What wasn’t to like? The team behind it were so unashamedly nerdy when it came to all things literary, too – my type of folk, I reckoned.
In 2013, when I read that Novelicious was starting its own imprint, I thought I’d try my luck and offer my services as a publicity type person. My subject line read: A Very Hopeful Email. I was hopeful. What an awesome job that would be, I thought. Working alongside the fabulously talented Kirsty Greenwood and Co while promoting beautiful and hilarious books.
Lo, Kirsty replied! We emailed back and forth for a while before I was welcomed into the lovely team that is Novelicious. I was thrilled! Over time, my role as a publicist grew to that of an editor of the site. Needless to say, I love starting work every morning and getting to dedicate a chunk of my day to promoting women writers and their work.
A typical day for me starts here, at my desk, which is in the kitchen of our historic little cottage on America’s east coast. Don’t mind those books. Despite every nook and cranny of this old house being crammed with them, I can’t stop acquiring new ones, and they’re having to make a temporary home here. I know you understand my book space woes, right?
My tasks include editing and scheduling most of the content you see on the site (except for Alternative Thursdays, which is looked after by the awesome Debs). I collaborate with lots of lovely authors, publishing houses, literary agents and pr folk on a daily basis to bring you inspiring author interviews, writing rooms, book deal moments and other exciting features. I keep the brilliant and supernaturally fast speed-reading review team well stocked with the latest, fresh-from-the-printers books so they can keep you posted about the hottest novels hitting the shelves every week. I write news stories and fun or informative features, scheme with editor-in-chief Kirsty – who oversees and directs the site as a whole – and the rest of Team Novelicious about TOP SECRET new content, drink copious amounts of coffee, organise lovely competitions, google pictures of Ryan Gosling, and send a lot of emails. A lot. On Wednesdays, approximately 27 minutes of my day is spent looking at the cake pictures in Helen’s Feasting column. Occasionally I’ll spend the same amount of time looking at Cesca’s hair and wondering how she gets it so shiny. Does she use coconut oil? Fairy dust? What?
Between Kirsty and I, we wo(?)-man Novelicious on Twitter and Facebook, where I absolutely love chatting with our awesome readers about all things bookish every day. It is, without a doubt, one of my favourite parts of the job because our community is brimming with funny, smart, talented people, who always have interesting things to say. You guys make my day with your creative tweets and occasional nonsensical fun and geekery. Seriously.
Aside from the fact I can live and breathe books on a day-to-day basis (so, so lucky), I am extremely grateful that I get to call all of the funny, inspiring and talented members of Team Novelicious workmates. Always fun, always supportive and always willing to partake in a bit of book banter, I’m so fortunate to be contributing to the promotion of brilliant women’s fiction while having such a blast in the process.
Best job in the world? I think so.