"Irresistibly fun and funny, with a ton of heart and depth! This is the kind of book that sneaks up on you and sticks with you!"
-Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop
In this hilarious debut fantasy cozy, a rebellious-but enterprising-young woman and an ancient-but clueless-genie set up shop at the local mall.
Alex Delmore needs a miracle. She wants out of her dead-end suburban town, but her parents are broke and NYU seems like a distant dream.
Good thing there's a genie in town-and he's hiring at the Wellspring Mall.
It'd help if the Jinn-formerly-of-the-Ring-of-Khorad knew even one thing about 21st-century America. It'd help if he weren't at least as stubborn as Alex. It'd really help if her brother didn't sell her out to her conspiracy theory-loving, gnome-hating dad.
When Alex and the genie set up their wishing kiosk, they face seemingly-endless setbacks. The mall is failing and management will not stop interfering on behalf of their big-box tenants.
But when the wishing biz might start working, the biggest problem of all remains: People are really terrible at wishing. Auston Habershaw has worked as a lifeguard, barista, waiter, QA tester, dog walker, hotel bellhop, pedicab driver, SAT tutor, office drone, and a bunch of other random things. He now is a science fiction and fantasy author, writing about the could-be and never-was, and also teaches composition and literature at MCPHS University in Boston, MA. You can find him online at aahabershaw.com.
• Alladin meets a pop up in a local mall when a disgruntled teenager and an immortal but clueless genie team up to offer wishes for sale, but overworked gnomes, big-box store competitors, greedy customers, and a conspiracy theory-obsessed dad are just a few of the obstacles they face while just trying to make a living.
• This gently satirical debut will appeal strongly to fans of fantasy cozies and humorous contemporary fantasy such as Legends and Lattes
• National marketing plan to include endorsements from leading authors, reviewers, media, and general publications; online and print features; author events and book launch, Instagram and blog tour, Reddit AMA; ARC mailings and giveaways; and social media campaign
• Promotion targeting reviews and interviews in leading media venues
• Author tour to include national appearances and radio features
• Print and digital ARC distribution via Goodreads, NetGalley, and Edelweiss+
• Planned book giveaways to include Goodreads and Storygraph
• Outreach to librarians and independent booksellers via regional and national trade shows and mailings
• Online promotion to include Instagram/book blog tour, cover reveal, launch event, Reddit AMA, and social media campaigns via Instagram, BlueSky, Facebook, and other outlets "Irresistibly fun and funny, with a ton of heart and depth! This is the kind of book that sneaks up on you and sticks with you!"
-Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop
"Delightfully charming, and it continually surprised me."
-Phil Foglio, co-creator of Girl Genius
"Habershaw (The Iron Ring) offers plenty of laughs in this diverting urban fantasy. After Alexandria Delmore, 17, loses her job at a bagel shop, she sees an ad to be a cashier for a genie who calls himself Mr. Jinn and intends to sell wishes at the Wellspring Mall and applies. Mr. Jinn proves a mercurial boss who's out of date with modern mores and often impulsively abuses his powers, but Alex hopes to get him in line. At first, people are wary of Jinn, but when a video of one of his clients' more malicious wishes coming true goes viral, customers begin trickling in. Jinn's miracles range from the mundane-changing hair colors, healing sunburns, and fixing someone's limp-to grand, including setting up a client with actor Chris Hemsworth, achieving world peace, and curing cancer,
