#Orentober Announcement! @KellyVanDamme @OrendaBooks #TeamOrenda #OrendaArmy

Rewind seven months ago, a newbie blogger was starting her journey on the blog train and was reaching out to recommended publishers. Well, this blogger was me and the first publisher that I extended my hand for help to was Karen O’Sullivan from Orenda Books. I can’t quite recall the message I sent her but it was basically ‘I’m new, please let me love your books, then tell the world about it!’ instead of a blue ‘seen’ tick and no reply, Karen was THE LOVELIEST! She didn’t even know me and she told me that she’d love to have me on board, sending me on my happy bloggers way to the equally lovely Anne Cater. Now here I am, the rest is history.

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What?

Myself and my fabulous blogging buddy Kelly (who blogs at From Belgium With Book Love), with a nudge from the almighty Mart (at The Beardy Book Blogger) came up with #Orentober. You may recall Mart and Matt’s (of It’s An Indie Book Blog) great book event baby #Fahrenbruary, well it’s basically the same concept with two blog mums and another favourite publisher!

#Orentober is an upcoming reading event, a time for us to celebrate all things Orenda. It will be kicking off October of this year, a full 31 day month of Orenda book reviews, (hopeful) Q&As and fun. Let’s turn #TeamOrenda into the #OrendaArmy!

Kelly and I know that many of you love Orenda Books; Karen, the fantastic authors and books whole-heartingly. Well, this is your chance, whether you’re a blogger, reader or never heard of Orenda Books before and you want to give them a whirl! The plan is to get as many reviews out there in October and get #Orentober trending (big wishes), even if you blog a review, extract of your favourite Orenda read or retweet the posts, all help will be appreciated.

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One of the Orenda team and Orenda’s biggest supporters is Anne Cater, who blogs at Random Things Through My Letterbox. This is what she had to say about Karen and Orenda Books:

“Karen Sullivan and Orenda Books quite literally changed my life.
I reviewed books for Karen when she was in her previous job and it feels like I’ve been with Orenda from day one.
Karen took a chance on me a few years ago and allowed me to organise a blog tour for Orenda; many, many blog tours later, I’m firmly part of #TeamOrenda and doing a job I adore. It’s really difficult to believe that there were just three authors at the beginning; David Ross, Paul Hardisty and Ragnar Jonasson – now we need a small bus to cart them all around!
The first Orenda book that I read was The Abrupt Physics of Dying by Paul E. Hardisty – it was the first book Karen published, and whilst it was a little out of my comfort zone, I loved it. It set the very high standard that Orenda has become known for.’

I had a tear in my eye reading Anne’s quote, she was one of many that I received from bloggers, here are a few more! You may need a hanky!

“Should publishing have a name, it would be Karen, for she is the very essence of what books are made of: passion, talent, and an devouring anger for stories which fuel the imagination.
In a ruthless business, Karen makes room for the gift of words with heart and kindness. Strong and driven, she opens the Orenda world to the best voices in literature. But more than this, she creates a safe and warm place for everyone, readers, bloggers, book lovers, to shout their love. I fell in love with an Orenda Books novel, but it is Orenda Books itself which gave me bookish fairy wings to support the brilliant team of authors she has gathered. Karen is different. Karen cares. Karen wears her heart on her sleeve. Karen is always the first to say thanks, to send you gifs and hugs (and virtual tissues). Karen has always made me feel special and I am sure I am not the only one feeling this way. It is an honour to be part of #TeamOrenda and to know the beautiful soul who makes indie publishing better, stronger, and brighter.”

– Meggy Roussel, Chocolate ‘n’ Waffles

“I don’t read as many Orenda Books books as others but those that I have read have all been of a consistently high standard, they always deliver and I have loved them all. For Karen, Karen always has time for bloggers, she is dedicated, brilliant and an absolute pleasure to work with. She goes out of her way to be helpful, to promote her books and to share reviews, not only retweeting the original review tweet but also quoting various phrases from the review and sharing those too. It shows a high level of appreciation for bloggers and their reviews. Karen cares and she makes you feel like you and your review matter. It’s only a little thing but it is the little things that count, that make a difference. You can see the passion that Karen has for each and every review that one of her books receives, her authors, her craft and her books.”

– Drew, The Tattooed Book Geek

“I’ve read five Orenda books to date and have come to see Orenda as a quality mark. Whether literary or crime fiction, you know if it’s published by Orenda it’s going to be very, very good. “Orenda” is a Canadian First Nation’s word describing ‘the mystical power that drives human accomplishment’, both Karen and her authors have Orenda in spades.”

– Bella Jones

Karen at Orenda Books is a veritable force of nature when it comes to promoting her books, which contain a veritable smorgasbord of the finest translated crime, unputdownable thrillers and compelling drama which will inevitably keep you up until the small hours. She’s also fiercely proud of her #TeamOrenda, be they the authors themselves or her fantastic team of bloggers.

– Dave, Espresso Coco

“Orenda books is more than just the books, the authors are all so lovely but Karen is a star amongst the publishers and no matter what always has a book for you no matter your mood. If you go #teamorenda you will never come across a bad read and Karen will always be there spreading the love”

-Sarah, Lost In The Land of Books

“I do love Orenda books, they’re always special gems she finds for bookworms who have the highest of standards and I don’t know any other publisher who is so supportive and grateful towards bloggers and authors. She’s just wonderful and it’s so clear that she really is passionate about the books she promotes. There really should be more publishers like Karen 💕”

-Inge, The Belgian reviewer

“A slew of unputdownable books. My only problem is choosing which one to read first. They’re all so good.”

– Patricia,Mrs loves to read

What does Orenda Books mean to me? It’s a family, a mutual string of appreciation and friendship. Karen not only praises her authors, their books and reviews, but she also loves the bloggers and readers that take the time to read, blog, tweet and comment. Karen and her authors are some of the kindest, helpful and genuine people that I have ever had the pleasure interacting with. The first Orenda Book that I read at the beginning of my blogging journey, was Will Carver’s sexily dark and disturbing read ‘Good Samaritans’, after that, I was hooked! As well as finding brilliant authors and reads, that we will be celebrating in October, I have also been lucky enough to ‘meet’ and befriend the most incredible people along the way. For all these reasons, I will always be thankful and a very firm member of #TeamOrenda!

So please, please join #Orentober this October and share the bookish love! Drop me any questions, in the mean time you better get that Orenda TBR sorted!

If you’d like to take part, let us know and we can send you the amazing visuals created by the very talented publishing assistant at Orenda Books, Cole Sullivan! Thanks Cole for creating the visuals, they are lovely!