The Amazing World of Books

Table of Contents

Meet the Editors!, Page 1

“The Printing Process” by Cale Acker, Page 7

“The History of Books and their Printing” by Cale Acker, Page 3

“The Changing World of Books” by Juliet Auby, Page 11

“The Books Before Us” by Juliet Auby, Page 9

“Authors: Behind the Pen and Ink” by Ling Thang, Page 15

“How Much Do You Know Quiz!” by Ling Thang, Page 19

“Genres and Quality, Is There a Correlation?” by Jack Powers, Page 21

“Fun facts about authors” by Ling Thang, Page 20

“From Novel to Film” by Stephanie Tsoi, Page 27

“Book Quiz-Matching You With Your Next Read” by Jack Powers, Page 25

“Top 10 Literature to Film Adapotations” by Stephanie Tsoi, Page 31

ABOUT THE

Juliet Auby (She/her)

By: Stephine Tsoi

Juliet Auby is a Norwegian freshman at LASA high school. Some of her hobbies include hiking and backpacking, and she enjoys doing these things because it’s a great way to exercise and you get to see some beautiful nature along the way. In fact, this summer she went on a 12-day backpacking trip in New Mexico with the Philmont boy scout camp. Juliet loves learning and memorizing strings of letters and numbers. “I really, really like writing in codes, like morse

Ling Thang (He/him)

By: Jack Powers

Ling Thang is unapologetically straightforward. He says that if he thinks of something to say, good or bad, he’ll say it to you. He says that this is something you should know about him. He has done sports since he could walk and often plays soccer, and works out to stay in shape for the game. He says he’s excited to work on his group’s magazine and to write about the life of an author, and even he himself has dabbled in fantasy writing. He hopes for a career in computer science, and has worked in it for about a year. “I’ve always enjoyed computer science… especially because it would make a lot of money.”

Jack Powers (He/him)

By: Juliet Auby

Jack Powers was born in Austin, Texas. He is very passionate about theater and would like to be an actor one day. Powers came to LASA to be with friends and for educational classes. Jack is writing about book recommendations for his E-Zine project. Jack also enjoys creating music and playing video games. Some of his favorite movies include Star Wars and Inception. He really enjoys Rick Riordan’s books.

AUTHORS

Stephine Tsoi (She/her)

By: Ling Thang

Stephanie Tsoi is an adrenaline junkie who, with no regard to safety, loves doing exciting things. She’s stood on the ledges of canyons and hiked the rocky mountains, and says it’s a hobby she likes to indulge in whenever she gets the chance to. She wants to become an FBI agent who specializes in solving crimes because of her love for mystery. What’s never changed about her is her love for books, specifically action-based ones, as it itches her inner adrenaline junkie. She imagines scenes in books as movies in her head.

Cale Acker (They/them)

By: Cale Acker

Cale Acker is a book and game-loving LASA freshman born and raised here in Austin, Texas. They love playing video games and hope to pursue a career in Computer Science. They express great interest in the history of books and their publication, so of course, their favorite book is the Odyssey. Their only goal after high school is to go to a college that they can afford. They came to LASA because their parents made them and they would prefer not to go to McCallum. They have released one game in the last year and are considered a “sadistic monster” when it comes to design.

By Cale Acker

ooks go back thousands of years. As long as any of us can remember, we have received information from books. But, how much do we know about books themselves? How many people can say they know how books are made? The history of books and their making is a complicated topic. Not much can be said about when people started writing.

Examples of rudimentary information storage systems known as “proto-writing” date as far back as 5000 years ago. However, the first real written documents originated with the Egyptians in the form of papyrus scrolls. The Egyptians would record information for legal and financial purposes. However, there was very little in the way of written stories because papyrus was expensive and stories were mainly spread by word of mouth. As centuries passed, writing spread

to Europe and Asia. Many people were too poor to

“Ink is made with the tree. The tree creates around a place where an insect has damaged the tree. People used to collect those, mix them with iron, and make ink from them.”- Mary Baughman, an Austin bookbinder

afford paper or books because they were extremely expensive because, unlike today, printers had to either go out and gather materials to produce ink and paper or pay an exorbitant price to have it delivered. The ink was produced through a difficult process. According to Mary Baughman, an ex-

A photo of old texts, demonstraing the durability of old books, photo by Petr Kratochvil

pert bookbinder in Austin, Texas, “Ink is made with the tree. The tree creates around a place where an insect has damaged the tree. People used to collect those, mix them with iron, and make ink from them.” By paper, I am referring to animal skin parchment or papyrus, in those times it was very difficult to make what we think of when we hear paper in this day and age. According to Anne Veerkamp, a bookbinder in Georgetown, Texas, one thing extremely important to bookbinding is, “the grain of the paper, which way the fibers are going in any given paper.” To explain, if you look closely at most types of paper you’ll see very tiny grains. These grains are essential to the book opening and closing properly. If the fibers are misaligned or go in the wrong direction, it could damage the book and prevent it from closing. The same is true with paper from animal skin often

in the form of small furs. After the bookmakers gathered materials, they would painstakingly copy an original text, letter for letter, and if there was a mistake, you had to start over. As you can imagine, this process was slow, expensive, and difficult, and prices reflected that. Then, came the rigorous task of binding. With early binding methods, leather was sown around the pages, but in some cases, they used boards as a sort of hardcover. The first real books (non-legal/financial documents) were religious texts such as the Bible or the Torah. People in those days were very religious

and if they owned a book at all, it would be a sacred text that they would proudly pass down for generations. To illustrate how important religion was to the development of books Aaron Pratt, a researcher at The Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas stated, “The spread of the codex form we rely on today-with individual leaves held together at one edge, allowing them to be turned--is connected to the rise of Christianity and the Christian Bible.” In 1436, a man named Hans Gutenberg invented a world-changing de

Aaron Pratt, Photo by Aaron Pratt

Illustration of printing press, Image by

Linnaea Mallete

vice, the printing press. The original printing press process starts with the printer creating a reverse image of the type for the entire book, usually out of wood. Then the negative would be coated with ink, and aligned with a giant sheet of paper before being pressed down to print the words on paper. The paper would then be cut or folded into individual pages, before being bound. With this new device, books were more readily available than ever and authors started writing more books. The printing press, though revolutionary, was still highly inefficient, because although it was made for cheap books, the press itself was not. As a result, many shops could only afford one. According to Aaron T. Pratt at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, “More ‘middling’ people start[ed] owning and reading books in the later 16th and 17th centuries, but I think most scholars would say that

“More ‘middling’ people start[ed] owning and reading books in the later 16th and 17th centuries, but I think most scholars would say that the most significant demographic expansion of book ownership happened in the 18th century.”-Aaron Pratt

the most significant demographic expansion of book ownership happened in the 18th century.” The reason? The Industrial Revolution. People discovered ways to mass produce products, not just ink and paper, but thread and leather (for binding). Additionally, new printing methods were discovered such as adjustable typefaces. Printers would now line up reusable blocks in different sizes and fonts instead of using massive one-time-use plates. The development has continued to the modern day with plates being etched out of metal with precision lasers. This made books a lot cheaper, lead-

ing to literacy rates skyrocketing as books and materials became more affordable. In fact, in our current modern time, you can now go to workshops, and print and bind books yourself for a low price. The new printing methods led to the creation of genres as authors had more freedom to experiment. According to Pratt, “There had been considerable experimentation with fiction writing in the later medieval world and in the 16th and early 17th centuries, too, but there was a real crescendo in the 18th.” To elaborate, in the beginning, books were expensive and if things failed it would be hard to bounce back, so

Anne Veerkamp,

Photo by Anne Veerkamp

this made the book industry capitalistic with authors and publishers doing whatever they could to make their books sell the best. The experimentation resulted from writers trying to appeal to the public’s interest to see what would make the most money. To this day, book technology has continued to develop, making materials cheaper than ever and opening up new possibilities with digital books. However, the increase in books being made has caused the quality of most printed works to plummet. In the early days of books, they were bound with leather and strong thread with strong paper,

but now most books are held together with thin cardboard and cheap glue around a sheaf of thin, translucent paper. Paperbacks in particular have short life spans due to having no hard binding, just glue, and paper. Even hardcover books have suffered. Gone are the days of strong thread and leather, now hardcovers are much more

fragile, often more so than paperbacks, despite higher prices. With modern technology, we can make paper and ink at high speeds without considering how they are made. We must acknowledge how one of

humanity’s most important resources is produced and how they’ve changed. It’s also important to speculate on the future of books. As more and more books go digital with the proliferation of e-readers. The physical book market has taken a hit. E-readers can hold hundreds, if not thousands, of books in one handheld device, and these books can be produced at no cost. Additionally, e-readers never change in physical size no matter how many books they have loaded onto them. These factors make them far more convenient than print books. This poses an ominous threat, the rarification of printed books. While this wouldn’t be the end of the world it would result in Book Printing as a lost art. As I said before, it is important that we acknowledge the origin of our source of knowledge. This is because books, like everything, must be respected.

Mary Baughman, Photo by Anthony Maddalloni

“It’s not meant to las very long. And that’s kind of reflective in our society about things being more disposable and temporary.”

-Anne Veerkamp

The Book Printing Process

Step 1.

The first step in the printing process is to lay out the design of how you want the book to look when it’s done.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

Step 2.

The second step is to make the printing plates(Photonegatives that will be coated with ink to print the pages). Since accuracy is of the utmost importance the printing plates are often made using lasers to etch the words into the metal.

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Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp

volutpat.

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quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorp Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation

Step 3.

The third and most important step is to print the book. Large sheets of paper are fed into the press, stamped by the plates and cut into individual pages. A secondprinter uses thicker materials to print the book’s cover.

Step 4. Throught very sophisticated process of thread and glue the pages and cover come together as one and become the ultimate final form: The Book!!!

The Art of Book Printing

The Art of Book Printing

Step 5.

And now the book is complete, once it has been binded and the glue dries, the books are shipped out to their readers.

Author:Behind The Ink and Paper

Ling Thang

As an enjoyer of the literary works in this world, you have the privilege of having many ways to satisfy the craving for entertainment. From the dragons of fantasy to the spaceships of sci-fi, or the nerve-wracking, teeth-clattering anticipation of thriller books. Whatever genre is consumed, worldwide acknowledgment goes to the creators of these fantastic series, but they also receive many questions.

The consumption of the multiple amazing works of the world causes many to become curious about how the authors of these worlds are able to imagine, and articulate them so well within a small catalyst in the form of a book. Many become excited, wanting to spread their ideas and imagination in the form of papers for many to enjoy just as they had. How? How does one even become an author? Is writing thrilling and exciting stories the only thing that entails becoming an author? “When I hear the word

‘writer’, I think of someone that

good your idea is, or how great the characters you create are, if you cannot properly humanize them in a way that seems natural, it’ll be hard for the reader to keep on reading if they cannot make connections or understand the text.

“When I sit down and can’t see anything besides a blank piece of paper, no matter how hard I try to see differently, I close my eyes. I make myself coffee, and relax in peace, away from all the frustration. It’s best not to try again from the situation that was previously failed from.” says Jeol Beck

creates fiction,” said Mr. Deberry, an enjoyer of the works of literature. How does one even manage to distribute their writings as books to the real physical world? Writing is fun, but how much work is it?

One important thing to get down as an author is grammar and sentence structure. No matter how

“The sentences that have to flow together as if they’re using it with purpose, I don’t want to read something that sounds janky. Like there was no thought, like why was this word placed here or why this column was placed here. So long as the words flow together nicely, even if the story is bad, I’ll read it. Like music.” Mr. Deberry says, after being asked what his standard of a good book was.

The most dreaded part for amateur authors is to make something up that is engaging for the readers. A common term for when authors are stuck like this is called writer’s block. It is a deadly killer that tears away at the confidence of these aspiring authors, “Every time I sit down, I get a blank page. I get intimidated. I step away in intimidation,” says Mr. Deberry, avid reader and aspiring author. Writer’s block is common even for the best authors, and it isn’t a sign that you are not creative, not original, or any other such negative connotations. Authors like to use various techniques to try and get past such obstacles, “When I sit down and can’t see anything

besides a blank piece of paper, no matter how hard I try to see differently, I close my eyes. I make myself coffee, and relax in peace, away from all the frustration. It’s best not to try again from the situation that was previously failed from.” says Jeol Beck, an author for the online website Webnovel.

Coming up with original or

due to never overcoming it and growing lazy. “Laziness, procrastination with no motivation, during the COVID time I told myself to write a book. I never did so now my time is taken up because of the intimidation of just drawing blanks,” Mr. Deberry confessed.

captivating ideas is hard, given how there have been millions of precedents to you, who have most likely thought of the same ideas as you. It is exactly this difficulty that publishers look for captivating plots/ideas the most when considering which transcripts are chosen. Because of this bottleneck, many aspiring authors quit

“When looking at authors or the transcripts they submit, we look at their creativity, on how engaging the concept of it is. Not so much on grammar,” stated Greenleaf Publishing.

As said by someone from Greenleaf: “The process is a little different at every publisher, but at Greenleaf, it starts with an author submitting their manuscript and being accepted. After that, they’ll be matched with a team: a project

manager, an editor, a designer, one or more marketing reps, and an account executive who handles distribution.”

Throughout the process, the author will first receive an editorial diagnosis, which is essentially an overview of all the editorial work that will be required to get

Reader Copies printed, which are soft paperback versions of their books that can be sent out to bookstores for advance reviews, awards, and advertising. Marketing continues even after the book is officially published.

their book in ship shape. Authors collaborate closely with editors to make these changes, and they may even be paired with a ghostwriter to write on their behalf. Because some books require more editing than others, this process can take anywhere from a month or two to more than a year. Following that, a designer will solicit input from the author on how they want the cover to look and present several options to choose from. Around the same time, marketing and distribution will begin to work to ensure that consumers and bookstores are aware of the book and have orders placed prior to its release. Authors frequently have Advance

The revenue of this is dependent on the popularity of the author, and also how well the book is received by the publisher,

The life of an author is a long and rigorous process, and may take several years of patience to see progress from. From the learning of writing styles, harsh demands of creativity from publishers, and the paltry sum received in the end, the feeling of the hardcover of your hard work may be the rea-

“Self-published authors receive more in regards to royalties, about 50% more compared to the 10-15% traditional published authors,” stated Greenleaf Publishing.

Greenleaf Publishing says that, “Authors usually receive about $5,000 to $10,000 in advance, although various other factors may influence the amount.”

son you stay as an author. “I had been stressed due to many deadlines and personal matters during the publication/monetization of my book, but the feeling of satisfaction could never be matched when I saw my book for the first time was euphoric. I don’t think anything could ever succeed that feeling ever,” Mrs. An, an author

of supernatural works claimed.

“When looking at authors or the transcripts they submit, we look at their creativity, on how engaging the concept of it is. Not so much on grammar,” stated GreenLeaf Publishing.

Genres & Quality: Is There A Correlation?

magine going to your local bookstore, the scent of pages fresh off the press in the air, where do you look to find a good read? The easiest way to organize books is by genre, which is primarily how

books are organized in bookstores. Book genres are the go-to way for readers to determine if a book is right for them. If a reader is interested in mystery, they’ll gravitate towards books labeled as such, and if

they dislike sci-fi, they’ll avoid reading books that fall under the genre. So, largely, the quality of a genre is dependent on your perspective. But, can a good book come from any genre? Or is the quality of the book limited by its subject matter? Concerning this topic, Madison Johnson explained: “There are a lot of books that I think are going to be real duds because they are not the kind of thing that I like… but anything can be great… [and] I think if something has a lot of heart in it, it can turn out to be a really beautiful book, regardless of what kind of genre it is.”

Johnson, the head of submissions at Greenleaf Publishing, an Austin-

Jack Powers

An opened book shown amongst other books in a library. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

based company, strongly believes that the genre of a book is no more than a label, and doesn’t define the quality of the book itself. William England, CEO of Sentia Publishing chimed in on this topic as well: “I think people need to read outside of what makes them comfortable… you need to read a few things that you didn’t think you’d like or you know and think outside of your comfort zone,” he concurred. Genres are an excellent way to classify the idea or tone of a book, but they don’t classify the quality of the story or the skill of the writer. What does classify quality, then? Perhaps, the explosive popularity of a book determines that said book is high above the rest. More specifically, perhaps bestsellers are the books that are of the best quality you can find. After all, why

else would they sell so well? However, Johnson stepped in to debunk this as well, “It really just depends. One thing to consider is that a book being a ‘bestseller’ doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a book that sells really well, because… hitting the bestseller chart means selling a certain amount

audience,” as she puts it. So, maybe there’s no real metric to determine the quality of a book. I was satisfied with that conclusion, but it wasn’t the end of my research. While you can’t decide if a book is good before you read it, how do you know it’s a good book while you’re reading it? That is to say, what

“But anything can be great… [and] I think if something has a lot of heart in it, it can turn out to be a really beautiful book, regardless of what kind of genre it is.”

within a short amount of time… and just because they don’t sell well doesn’t mean they’re not amazing books to the people who want to read them.”And, even books that seem to underperform can be great, but just haven’t been discovered by many more than a “niche

makes a good book? To answer this question, I spoke to Owen Egerton, an award-winning author in Austin, Texas. To get into the headspace of writing a good book, I asked him why he decided to begin writing. “I don’t know if I could have avoided it,” he explained.

Egerton is passionate about his career and has always been an avid writer, so it was less of a choice for him and more of a necessity.

“Not necessarily the profession on the level we get paid… but for me, writing has been a bit of a compulsion. Since my early teen years… the way I work to understand and

wrestle with the world is by writing stories.”

Egerton is passionate about his career and has always been an avid writer, so it was less of a choice for him and more of a necessity.

Going back to the topic of bestselling books, I asked Egerton why he thought his bestselling books did better commercially than his other books. “I wouldn’t really actually be able to say why one works and why another doesn’t,” he confessed. “I do find for me that perhaps the ones that hit the most with people are the ones that were the hardest for me to write. I don’t mean

Shown in the stack, multiple populars books stacked in a column.

Photo by Jack Powers.

just on a craft level, but I think on an emotional level.” To write a quality book it seems, the words on the page must come from a place of passion and emotion to be able to strike a chord with readers. All in all, tastes in reading are subjective. To end this story, I think Egerton put it best. “It’s amazing how vast [of a] reading selection [there] can be. Because it can be the story of some small family in the deep south in the early 1900s, or it can be an abandoned space cruiser, the depths of space being explored by space cookers, you know, it can be anything. There’s so much wildness out there, in all these different books. And so I think this is not one flavor for anybody,

which is why we are able to have so many… books.”

“I do find for me that perhaps the ones that hit the most with people are the ones that were the hardest for me to write. I don’t mean just on a craft level, but I think on an emotional level.”

An opened book on the ground (center) next to a water bottle and a copy of The Hunger Games (top right).

Photo by Jack Powers.

You might be interested in historical ction. Try out “The Da Vinci Code”.

Do you prefer scary, romantic, or adventurous?

Which of these sounds most appealling?

One of the most popular romantic novels is “The Notebook”, maybe give it a read.

Is sci- or fantasy more your cup of tea?

Would you rather read something historical, biographical, or about nature?

WWI was a very important historical event, and “The Guns of August” recounts it, serving as an excellent historical read.

“Alexander Hamilton” was such a good biography, it inspired the Hamilton Musical. You may enjoy it too.

You got “And Then There Were None”, a reknowned mystery book.

You got “It”, by the famous Steven King.

You might have heard of “A Wrinkle in Time”, and for good reason. Give it a chance sometime.

Fantasy is one of the more popular genres, so you won’t be at a loss for good books. “The Lord of the Rings” is a classic series worth cheking out.

The intricate “World of Wonders...” might be a worthy read for you.

You ended up with the relatively recent “The Girl On The Train”, which was reviewed highly across the board.

Do you prefer ction or non- ction?

It

By Stephen King It By Stephen King

“It”, an evil entity, preys on the likes of young children. Throughout the book, the “Losers Club” must overcome their greateste fears in order to take down this horri c monster.

A Wrinkle In Time By Madeleine

L’Engle

Meg Murray, and her little brother and neighbor travel through time and space to nd Meg’s father in this groundbreaking novel.

The Guns of August

By Barbara Tuchman

This book centers around the rst month of the rst world war, and the cause of the con ict. It also goes into detail about the military powers involved in it.

The Girl on the Train

By Paula Hawkins

The so-called girl on the train watches people obsessively on her commute to work, and comes up with the perfect fantasy life for one particular couple.

Alexander Hamilton

By Ron Chernow

This biography, simply put, goes over the history, life, and story of one Alexander Hamilton, an in uential American historical gure who had gone largely unrecognized up to the point of this book’s publication.

The Notebook By Nicholas Sparks

Noah and Allie are both head over heels for each other, but are prevented from being together due to their socio-economic di erences. After Noah returns from World War Two, their love reignites...

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fire ies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

This book travels to di erent biomes, nds di erent creatures, and it best described as being about “the little things that make life so precious”.

The Da Vinci Code

By Dan Brown

A mysterious murder in Paris causes Robert Langdon to be thrust into a battle over the possibility of a baby being born to Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. This book is considered a classic historical ction mystery.

And Then There Were None By Agatha Christe

In this novel by the classic mystery author, eight strangers must gure out what the signi cance of their visit is to an island they’ve gone to together, before they all get picked o one by one...

The Lord of the Rings

By J. R. R. Tolkien

A group of collectively reluctant heroes must join together to save their fantastical world from the clutches of whatever evil comes their way.

Book genres are a way to categorize the many books we know and love, and group books that are similar in structure or tone. At the end of the day though, even if a book is from a genre you don’t typically like, it doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t like it. If there are any books on here that didn’t align with your results but seem interesting, give them a shot. It’s always worth stepping outside of your comfort zone to broaden yoiur horizons.

https://www.wikipedia.org/

https://nicholassparks.com/ https://parade.com/ https://www.rd.com/ https://www.themanual.com/ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

https://prowritingaid.com/ https://time.com/ https://bookmarks.reviews/

From Novel to Film

The Adaptation of Books to Movies

Stephanie Tsoi

magine sitting down on your favorite armchair with a warm cup of coffee and settling in with your favorite book. Now imagine after finishing the book you sprawl out on the couch, getting ready to watch the movie adaptation as the smell of freshly popped popcorn fills the air. Have you ever read a fantastic novel where you could just imagine the story in your head? It was as if you could see the characters become real people in your mind. You just wish that it could all come to life. All of your problems suddenly vanish when you see the announce-

Then as I explored more media that was adapted, I loved looking for easter eggs, like callbacks to the original text, even if it’s like, transformed.

ment that the novel will be receiving a movie adaptation soon. Reading a book can indulge you in the best experiences, but watching a book come to life on a screen is a completely different feeling. Books have been adapted into movies for a very long

time. One of the first adaptations was in 1899 when the work of literature, Cinderella, by Charles Perrault was made into a movie. The adaptation industry has come a long way over the course of 123 years. Not only has the quality gotten better, but the movies are closer to the novels than ever before. Now, not all movie adaptations are fantastic representations of the books they’re based on, but there are some that can completely blow you away. There are even people who are so enticed by the process, that they choose to learn more about it in a professional setting.

Michael Harle is a librarian at the Central Library in Austin, Texas, and he

specializes in film and media adaptations of literature. When Harle first read the popular graphic novel, Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, he fell in love with it. He adored the novel because of its

queer representation. There’s a group of terms known as “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”, which is when readers are able to see “reflections” of themselves within the pages of a novel. Harle was able to see some of himself and his experiences as a queer teen when reading Heartstopper. Since Harle had the chance to read Heartstopper before the TV show had come out, he already had preconceived notions of what he felt the show would look like. “I

think the thing that I love about graphic novels in general, especially really good ones like Heartstopper, is that I think they have to inherently borrow a little bit from film language and that the comic panels are almost like a camera,” said Harle. “So, the graphic novel already has some direction about what the cinematography should look like, it gives you an idea of how this piece of media should look before it’s even on the screen, as opposed to a book, which is purely just the reader’s imagination.”

Harle was excited to see how this project would turn out, since it was one of the first times when he had read the novel before it was adapted. Harle greatly appreciates the art of writing novels, which

is a skill not easy to perfect. Lawrence Wright is one novelist who understands the challenges of writing. Wright is a famous American author, who became interested in writing in his senior year of high school. His English teacher, Elizabeth Enlow, had them write a short story every week. He was one of the only two students to take

the assignment seriously, but since the other student, Johnny Pender became a surgeon, the only competition was removed. Since then, he has written many novels, including his most popular one called The Looming Tower. Many people had wanted to make a movie out of Wright’s famous novel, but he originally didn’t

My job was to introduce the writers (mainly playwrights in Brooklyn) to the world and the characters they would be writing about.

trust the filmmakers to honor the sanctity of 9/11. “For years, I resisted having The Looming Tower be turned into a movie,” said Wright. “But I realized eventually that somebody was going to make it, and I decided to produce it (along with the

Image provided by Lawrece Wright

Image provided by Lawrece Wright

documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney) so I would have some control.” This allowed Wright to keep a close eye on the miniseries that was being made so that it honored and respected 9/11 as he intended. Another American author that understands the challenges of writing is Alane Ferguson. She was inspired to become a writer by her mother, Gloria Skurzynski, who is a children’s author. In 1990 Stephen King awarded Ferguson with the Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Young

Adult Mystery novel for her book, Show Me the Evidence. Although, her novels have yet to be adapted, they may not stay that way in the near future. Ferguson may have a few works that are in the process of developing adaptations: “Well, I have one that may be turned into a TV show going right now with eOne Entertainment. And they were working on it with Netflix. And then Netflix had a downturn, and I haven’t heard of the renewal of another option, so I don’t know, but we’ve certainly gone

through that,” said Ferguson. “And that goes through my agents. I have a set of agents that are in Hollywood.” Though not yet confirmed, we may be getting a movie adaptation of one of Ferguson’s books soon. Sometimes, getting to watch your favorite book get turned into a movie is the best feeling. Words on a page become images on a screen, and instead of just imagining the scenes in your head, you can actually see what’s happening right in front of you.

TOP

FILM ADAPTATIONS OF

FILM ADAPTATIONS

Learn

Although the ending of the lm is more gloomy than the book, it stays faithful to the manner and quality of the book. They complement each other perfectly and the lm is able to elevate the sordid story into operatic triumphs. The lm got 98% on rotten tomatoes.

The lm is one of the most successful trilogies and it was very faithful to the epic fantasy novels. It’s the most famous fantasy universe ever conceived in a realistic, believable way without losing the beating heart of hope, heroism, and despair at its core. The lm got 91% on rotten tomatoes.

The lm follows the novel’s slow-burn plot structure closely and the lm is able to transplant the book’s 2 strongest elements. The novel is about tolerance and compassion in the face of hatred and violence, and the adaptation has it spot on. The lm got 93% on rotten tomatoes.

Although it’s di erent from the book, the lm is remarkably faithful and imposes a more traditional structure on it. It’s a more polished criticism of modern-day consumerist culture and the concept of masculinity. The lm was able to capture the nightmarish tone of the story and it was visceral, in ammatory and, above all, entertaining. The lm got 79% on rotten tomatoes.

The lm was able to translate the spirit, tone, and feel of the book while still shaping it into a more traditional narrative. The lm brings alive Welsh’s ragtag collection of mis t dreamers, ferocious drunks and comedic chancers in an Edinburgh blighted by heroin addiction and its end result is an accessible, entertaining adaptation of a di cult novel. The lm got 90% on rotten tomatoes.

Learn about the best movie adaptations that throughout the history of literature and why

about the best movie adaptations throughout the history of literature and

BEST OF LITERATURE

BEST ADAPTATIONS OF LITERATURE

that have come from many di erent books why there are considered the best.

Stephanie Tsoi

books

The lm maintains the dynamics and tensions of the book while altering the characters in subtle ways. As Alexander Armstrong once said "There are few things more depressing than going to see a lm adaptation of your favorite book, only to discover they’ve absolutely ruined the plot and everything you loved about it in the rst place. On the other hand, it’s a great feeling when there's one that just works. And this one does."

The lm got 97% on rotten tomatoes.

In one stroke the lm makes a classic feel fresh without betraying its essential nature and creates a story about passion and achievement. It’s e ortless and playful, painting the relationships of the March family sisters without dipping into the saccharine sentimentality that has given several earlier versions an unwanted aftertaste.

The lm got 95% on rotten tomatoes.

The lm is a modern classic of cinema. It is rich with symbolism that can be interpreted in many di erent ways. The plot and some of the characters are expanded on without losing the spirit of the story. The nal result is a lm that shows how the collaborative process of making a movie can sometimes result in something greater than the sum of its parts.

The lm got 91% on rotten tomatoes.

The lm follows the same evolution from a frothy children’s tale to the darker, more morally complex story. It’s the ideal adaptation for fans who want nothing more than to see the incredible stu they’ve just read about. This lm provides an e ective emotional strand that carries on to the fourth and fth lms, and beyond. The lm got 90% on rotten tomatoes.

There was already an adaptation of this lm, but the 2017 lm is a better watch all-round. Pennywise from this movie haunted the big screen while the 1990 miniseries never did. It also went on to become the highest grossing horror movie of all time.

The lm got 86% on rotten tomatoes.

sources: www.classicfm.com, www.shortlist.com, www.screenrant.com, www.empireonline.com, www.bookbub.com, www.marieclaire.com, www.rottentomatoes.com

adaptations that have come from many di erent

and why there are considered the best.