Lightlark was the first young adult novel written by Alex Aster, and it has been published in more than a dozen countries around the world. The novelist who has won numerous awards writes the majority of her works with young readers in mind. Abrams is said to be publishing Lightlark in August of this year, and there are suggestions that the story will be adapted into a movie.
Recently, Aster has been facing a lot of criticism due to the fact that she secured a movie deal for her book before it was even published. Continue reading to find out more information about the book and the author’s life.
Wikipedia Author Alex Aster’s Biography
The name of Alex Aster, an author who has won multiple awards, has been turning up on the internet recently. She does not have a page on Wikipedia, but she has been mentioned on the biographical pages of a few different authors.
Alex earned a degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania, where she received the highest possible honours and graduated with a summa cum laude. She was given the award for a number of her graphic novel series, including Emblem Island, Lightlark, and others. Her first work in the Young Adult genre, The Lightlark, was published recently.
Alex Aster is the author of the book series Lightlark, which has been optioned for a movie adaptation.
She is also a digital creator, and her content has received more than one hundred million views. Good Morning America, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Guardian are just a few of the prestigious online publications that have highlighted Alex and her videos.
Kirkus and Publishers Weekly both gave her first middle-grade novel, Emblem Island: Curse of the Night Watch, their highest possible rating: a starred review. In addition to that, Seventeen magazine has included it on their list of the Most Anticipated Books of 2020. It was recognised as Barnes and Noble’s Book of the Month and was also included on Amazon’s list of the 20 best books published thus far in the year.
Additional Information Regarding the Author, Including Her Salary and Bibliography
It is stated that the author, Alex Aster, has a net worth that has not been specifically mentioned, although it is expected to be somewhere around one million US dollars. After we have finished listing all of the books the author has written up until this point, we will discuss how the author became famous for using the social media platform TikTok to sell her books.
Aster is the author of four books: Lightlark (Book 1), which was published in 2022; Curse of the Night Witch, which was published in 2020; Curse of the Forgotten City, which was published in 2021; and Lightlark, which was published in 2022. A significant film adaptation of the Lightlark series is now in the works.
According to reports, Alex Aster utilised TikTok to acquire book agreements for more than $460,000; therefore, it is reasonable to assume that she made a big profit using this social media platform. She was surprised to find out that the advance for each book in her first contract was far less than $10,000. Alex explained that it was not sufficient to maintain a family and did not compensate for the countless hours of labour that had been put in.
She started her account soon after reaching an agreement with a small publishing house for her first book contract. As the marketing budget was limited, she sought out to her Gen-Z audience on TikTok in order to generate excitement for her young adult books “Emblem Island: Curse of the Night Witch” and “Emblem Island: Curse of the Forgotten City.” Both of these books are part of the Emblem Island series.
Lightlark, the book that Alex Aster is holding.
Her ultimate goal was to secure a book deal through the usage of TikTok so that she could support herself financially. And to add fuel to the fire, the “BookTok” phenomena was responsible for a significant increase in book sales, demonstrating that it was more than just a harmless TikTok trend for author Alex Aster. Since she started using the app in 2018, she has already acquired more than 730 thousand followers.
Aster’s primary objective was to grow their following, and they did this through producing comedy and lifestyle films as well as sponsoring viral dancing challenges and competitions. She ultimately became aware that the users were growing a stronger interest in books, and that the hashtag “BookTok” was beginning to get traction in the latter half of the year 2020.
Surprisingly, the hashtag has received 47 billion views since it originally debuted during the first wave of the pandemic. This puts it ahead of other pandemic hashtags that are used more commonly, such as #unboxing and #recipe. It is thought to have contributed to book sales in the United States reaching their greatest level since 2004. Aster was well aware by that point that the moment had come for her to concentrate on advertising the content that she had posted to TikTok. In April of 2022, the author was offered a book deal that was worth approximately $500,000 in total.
Alex Aster: Age And Family
It has been 26 years since Alex Aster was born. According to rumours, the author comes from an affluent family and was born and raised in the United States. Her parents’ names have not been made public, however she shares a birthday with her identical twin sister, who goes by the name Daniella Pierson. A piece about Daniella appeared in Forbes in 2022, highlighting the fact that she had a net worth of more than $200 million and had collaborated with Selena Gomex to establish the mental health company Wondermind.
The author Alex Aster is making headlines right now because there have been rumours that a movie adaptation of her book series Lightlark is in the works. Because Aster received the movie contract prior to publishing the book, a lot of people are upset about it. Some of them are thrilled for her, but the majority of them are angry.
Know About Alex Aster
Alex received a diploma from the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in English and graduated with honours. This honour was bestowed upon him in recognition of the Emblem Island series, the Lightlark series, and his other works of realism. His offering for the Young Adult category is titled “Lightlark.”
In addition to that, it is an automated producer that has more than one hundred million prospects on its content. Alex and his recordings include digital goods like Good Morning America, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Guardian. Alex also records music on his computer.
Kirkus and Publishers Weekly both gave positive reviews to his promotional centrepiece novel, Emblem Island: Curse of the Night’s Watch. In addition, Seventeen magazine selected it as the book they are looking forward to the most in the year 2020. It was selected as one of Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Month selections on the majority of times and was included on Amazon’s list of the 20 best books published so far this year.
Aster wrote a total of four books: the first volume of Lightlark, which was published in 2022; Curse of the Night Witch, which was published in 2020; Curse of the Forgotten City, which was published in 2021; and Lightlark, which was published in 2022. The film adaptation of the Lightlark series will be significant.
Since it is thought that Alex Aster exploited TikTok to acquire book agreements worth more than $460,000, any rational person would think that he is making anything substantial from this online recreational activity. In the most striking arrangement for less than $10,000, he regarded the development cost per book as an exceptionally low rate. According to Alex, this is not sufficient to help a family and does not pay for the amount of hard work that has been put in.
After agreeing to write the first book, he went on to manage a small distribution firm and eventually launch his record label. Directly connecting with the Gen-Z audience on TikTok, he raised anticipation for his young adult book, Insignia Island: Curse of the Night Witch, as well as its sequel, Insignia Island: Curse of the Forgotten City. This was made possible by a marketing budget that was imposed.
His ultimate objective was to secure a book deal through the usage of TikTok so that he could sustain himself financially. In addition, the BookTok function that helps has hastened the process of book deals, and for author Alex Aster, it’s been something out of the TikTok craze. Since he first emerged onto the scene in 2018, he has already amassed a following of more than 730 thousand people.
Aster assisted in the development of an audience through the organisation of viral action challenges and competitions, as well as the delivery of comedic and lifestyle postings. Last but not least, he mentioned that customers have shown a discernible increase in interest in books, and that “BookTok started to gather traction at the end of 2020.”
Unbelievably, since it originally surfaced during the pandemic’s most notable wave, the hashtag has received 47 billion views, which is more than any other pandemic hashtag, including #unboxing and #recipe. Since 2004, people have attributed his success to the fact that he was able to bring business transactions to the greatest level in the United States. Aster remarked at the time that this presented a chance for him to concentrate on growing the content he had on TikTok. A book contract for over $500,000 was awarded to the author in April of 2022.