Latest news with #SarahJ.Maas
Express Tribune
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Sarah J. Maas gives major update on 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' upcoming books
Sarah J. Maas gives major update on 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' upcoming books Sarah J. Maas has thrilled readers by confirming that she has completed the first drafts of A Court of Thorns and Roses books six to eight. In a video shared to Instagram, Maas closes a notebook labelled 'ACOTAR 6-8,' shuts her laptop, and pops a bottle of champagne. The caption simply reads: 'First drafts DONE.' The moment marks a long-awaited update for fans who have eagerly anticipated news since the 2021 release of A Court of Silver Flames. The bestselling fantasy series, often celebrated for its romance, action, and immersive world-building, has become a literary sensation and a favourite across BookTok. Maas has published five previous titles in the ACOTAR series, including A Court of Mist and Fury and the novella A Court of Frost and Starlight. The latest announcement strongly hints that books six, seven, and eight are officially in development. Fans responded with enthusiasm, flooding the comments with excitement: 'OMG IT'S HAPPENING EVERYONE DONT STAY CALM ITS HAPPENING' and 'SARAH THIS IS THE BEST SATURDAY OF MY LIFE!!!!.' Although the release window for the upcoming ACOTAR books remains uncertain, fans excitedly await further updates on the superhit series.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sarah J. Maas Inks Multiyear, Worldwide Deal With IMG Licensing (Exclusive)
Sarah J. Maas, best-selling author known for her blockbuster literary franchises including A Court of Thorns and Roses, has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with IMG Licensing. The Hollywood Reporter can reveal that, under the multiyear deal, IMG Licensing will develop and manage a robust licensing program spanning Maas's entire fictional universe with the aim of creating new touchpoints for her fervid fan base. More from The Hollywood Reporter Jafar Panahi, Nader Saeivar Collaboration Among Film Projects in KVIFF Central Stage Showcase Shonda Rhimes to Receive Inaugural Edinburgh TV Festival Fellowship Shane Meadows Teams Up With 'Adolescence' Writer Jack Thorne for Feature Film Return With over 70 million English copies sold worldwide and translations in 38 languages, Maas is one of the most influential authors of her generation with a knack for the 'romantasy' genre. Hit books of hers also include the Throne of Glass and Crescent City series. Through the new partnership, Maas and IMG Licensing will extend well-loved characters and stories beyond the pages and into apparel, beauty, lifestyle, home décor, wine and spirits, food and beverage, toys and games, collectibles, cosplay, and immersive fan experiences, THR understands. 'Representing Sarah J. Maas and her extraordinary literary worlds is an incredible honor,' said Samantha Chang, vice president at IMG Licensing. 'Together, Sarah and her fans have created a cultural phenomenon that has redefined fantasy fiction.' She continued: 'We're excited to launch a dynamic and carefully curated licensing program that offers fans meaningful new ways to celebrate the characters and stories they love.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Sydney Morning Herald
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘You're screwed', QBD's boss was told. Now he's on track to open 100th bookstore
'[Being] in a shopping centre, I think, gives us an opportunity for [customers] to come and spend 10 minutes with us, and then, if you deliver a great experience, get them to come back,' said Croydon, who is also the author of children's book series The Hyde Park Squirrels, and the coming spy thriller The Turing Protocol. The other great boon for the business has been the rise in the romantasy genre, a combination of romance and fantasy that has exploded in popularity thanks to social media influencers and the success of the wildly popular A Court of Thorns and Roses and Empyrean series. The author of the former, Sarah J. Maas, has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. Loading 'It's been going on for a good 18 months now, but it's strong and a lot of my team members love it,' said Croydon. 'You go into that section, it will be perfectly merchandised because they love that section.' The genre makes up 12 per cent of sales in the industry; at QBD, it's more than 20 per cent. Croydon said the love for the genre was so strong that QBD customers were buying duplicates of their favourite books – one to read, and one to display. 'It's almost like a collectible, which is great news for brick-and-mortar retailers like me,' said Croydon. 'The public are investing, still, in paper, which is great to see.' Women in their early 20s represent one of QBD's biggest customer bases, many of whom have flocked to the new genre. The other key groups are young mothers and middle-aged men. Prices at QBD are generally lower than other book retailers such as Dymocks and Harry Hartog, but Croydon steers clear of the 'discount store' label, as he wants the brand to be defined by the customer experience. 'It's not about the price. We make our pricing decisions, and our decision is to be competitive,' says Croydon. 'We want to surprise our customers … they come into a store like ours when they're expecting to get a decent price, but then they get the same if not better service than they would in a high-end store.' According to IBISWorld, the biggest pressure point on book retailers such as QBD and Dymocks is 'persistent competition from external retailers, including discount department stores and online-only platforms,' which limits the market share brick-and-mortar chains can maintain by selling books at wholesale price. Loading To maintain QBD's market position, the company has rolled out new training programs for staff in an attempt to encourage conversation and recommendations from booksellers to customers. They've also recently invested in a customer tracking system through Kepler Analytics — which anonymously tracks customers' mobile phones to provide data on how many visitors are purchasing and time spent in store. QBD was awarded book retailer of the year at this year's Australian Book Industry Awards.
The Age
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘You're screwed', QBD's boss was told. Now he's on track to open 100th bookstore
'[Being] in a shopping centre, I think, gives us an opportunity for [customers] to come and spend 10 minutes with us, and then, if you deliver a great experience, get them to come back,' said Croydon, who is also the author of children's book series The Hyde Park Squirrels, and the coming spy thriller The Turing Protocol. The other great boon for the business has been the rise in the romantasy genre, a combination of romance and fantasy that has exploded in popularity thanks to social media influencers and the success of the wildly popular A Court of Thorns and Roses and Empyrean series. The author of the former, Sarah J. Maas, has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. Loading 'It's been going on for a good 18 months now, but it's strong and a lot of my team members love it,' said Croydon. 'You go into that section, it will be perfectly merchandised because they love that section.' The genre makes up 12 per cent of sales in the industry; at QBD, it's more than 20 per cent. Croydon said the love for the genre was so strong that QBD customers were buying duplicates of their favourite books – one to read, and one to display. 'It's almost like a collectible, which is great news for brick-and-mortar retailers like me,' said Croydon. 'The public are investing, still, in paper, which is great to see.' Women in their early 20s represent one of QBD's biggest customer bases, many of whom have flocked to the new genre. The other key groups are young mothers and middle-aged men. Prices at QBD are generally lower than other book retailers such as Dymocks and Harry Hartog, but Croydon steers clear of the 'discount store' label, as he wants the brand to be defined by the customer experience. 'It's not about the price. We make our pricing decisions, and our decision is to be competitive,' says Croydon. 'We want to surprise our customers … they come into a store like ours when they're expecting to get a decent price, but then they get the same if not better service than they would in a high-end store.' According to IBISWorld, the biggest pressure point on book retailers such as QBD and Dymocks is 'persistent competition from external retailers, including discount department stores and online-only platforms,' which limits the market share brick-and-mortar chains can maintain by selling books at wholesale price. Loading To maintain QBD's market position, the company has rolled out new training programs for staff in an attempt to encourage conversation and recommendations from booksellers to customers. They've also recently invested in a customer tracking system through Kepler Analytics — which anonymously tracks customers' mobile phones to provide data on how many visitors are purchasing and time spent in store. QBD was awarded book retailer of the year at this year's Australian Book Industry Awards.
The Age
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
From the NRL to Bachelor to BookTok influencer and a romantasy book deal. Meet Luke Bateman
On April 22, Bateman posted his first TikTok setting himself up as a book lover who wanted to chat about his favourite genre, fantasy, and in particular, romantasy. 'I love fantasy…but I've never had anywhere to talk about it or share those things because, obviously, being a male…from the country,' he told his followers. Why has he gained a Booktok following on TikTok? If you view the comments on any of his posts, it's obvious his audience is predominantly female. In his first post, Bateman even comments 'There's a lot of females here, and you all love smut and spice…I think I may have to have a little delve into it myself and see what all the fuss is about.' The followers lapped this up and he played up to it, his greeting quickly going from 'Hello BookTok' to 'Hello besties' which has become his trademark address. His posts are almost always filmed in a truck or in the fields, the dirt and sweat from a hard day's work still visible on him, along with his well-worn Akubra. But he's not shy to show his softer side, even crying when he posted about his new book deal. Loading And he has embraced popular romantasy books, like A Court of Thorns and Roses, which decreed him somewhat of a unicorn in the BookTok community – a rugged young man who is passionate about reading genres usually embraced by young women. What is romantasy? The term is a melding of two genres: romance and fantasy. But it's the romance side of it that is central to this sub-genre. The term was added to the Urban Dictionary in 2008 but has gained particular traction in the last decade thanks to authors like Sarah J. Maas of A Court of Thorns and Roses fame – the hashtag ACOTAR has had almost nine billion views on TikTok - and Rebecca Yarros, author of Fourth Wing. Bateman is a new but enthusiastic consumer of romantasy, even donning a cap sent to him by Dymocks which reads 'romance reader'. Who has signed him up for a book deal? Bateman has been signed to a two-book deal by Atria, a brand-new imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia. In the US, where Atria has been around since 2002, it has published bestselling authors like Taylor Jenkins Reid, Colleen Hoover and Fredrik Backman. Bateman's first book will be out in early 2027 and he says it will be a coming of age story about a young boy battling hardships and set in a fantasy world. It's a story he says he has carried with him since childhood and now it's time to get it out of his head and onto the page. Why sign him if he has no book yet? While you don't have to have written an entire book to nab a book deal, Atria publisher Anthea Bariamis says the publishing house would never sign an author for fiction without seeing whether they can actually write first. '[Luke] and I had a long meeting where he went over the scope of the series he was working on, detailing the magic system and the journey of the protagonist across the series. These are the two things that, in my opinion at least, are most important for assessing fantasy submissions,' she says. 'He then submitted a writing sample, a thorough chapter outline for book one, and a synopsis for the series. In total, we had almost 10,000 words to assess his commercial and literary potential.' Why has this sparked debate? The debate was sparked by one post made on May 26 – in which Bateman announced he had been signed by Atria – and in particular one line in that post in which he said 'I can't wait to write this book'. Loading The comments section blew up. TikTokkers could not understand how someone who had not even written a book could be signed by a major publisher. 'I'm so confused – how did you get a book deal with no book written?' one asked. But angry comments soon focused on race, gender and privilege. 'This opportunity is the intersection of white privilege, male privilege, and pretty privilege,' a TikTokker wrote. Another added: 'There are so many talented and skilled authors from marginalised communities who HAVE put in the effort, who HAVE worked to refine their skills, who HAVE worked to build their platform, and yet this is what publishing prioritises. Yikes!' And from another: 'Firstly, congratulations, I'm happy for you! I also want to acknowledge that had you been a woman (especially of colour) this probably wouldn't have happened.' But for every negative comment, there was a positive one. 'Why the hate?' one user asked. 'Why is it about race? Why is it about gender? We made him famous. Now we are tearing him down? He did nothing wrong.'
