We’ve all seen the indie author bashing their head against their keyboard, trying everything they can to get a little engagement and recognition for the book they poured their heart and soul into. Escapist was born out of the desire to help make the process of promoting books a little bit easier.
We love stories and we love sharing great stories with the world. What better way to uplift a fantastic book than build an event around it? Our team consists of two veteran members of the SFF community who want nothing more than to disappear into the pages of a book and then pop back out to make sure more people join them in the adventure.
With Justin Gross, blogger extraordinaire and advocate of self-published books, at the helm, editor Victoria in the office, and Sara Carothers, a podcaster moonlighting as a graphic designer, running the booth, Escapist Book Tours is poised to be the best resource for shining a spotlight on your book and getting great stories in the hands of readers.
Justin
Justin is a lover of all things SFF and has been an avid reader since he was three. He is attempting to build the world’s largest private library (not really, but ask his wife and she might agree). Justin is always excited to gush over his favorite reads, which more often than not are also his latest reads. His likes trend toward sweeping epics, with complex characters and even more complex plots. Until recently he was totally against romance, but certain books have shown him that it can be done well. He currently has a love/hate relationship with grimdark.
You can find him on Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads @plot_head. He also reviews on FanFiAddict, where he champions self-published books and runs a series on Neurodivergence in Fiction.
Sara
Sara has been an avid reader of SFF since she was a little girl annoying her parents by constantly reading at the table. More recently (and more relevantly) she was convinced by her cousin Lilly to co-host Fiction Fans Podcast, and that sent her spiraling down the Book Twitter hole. Her TBR may never recover. She is thrilled to be combining forces with Justin on Escapist Book Tours even though that’s probably going to be pretty bad for her tbr, too.
She can be found on Twitter and Instagram @svmcaro or @fictionfanspod. You can find out more about Fiction Fans Podcast on their website, https://www.fictionfanspodcast.com/, or you can listen to it wherever you get your podcasts.
Victoria
Victoria Gross is an author, editor, poet, and blogger from Southeastern Kentucky. She lives with her husband, stepdaughter, three dogs, and cat.
She received her BFA in Creative Writing from Morehead State University and her MFA from Southern New Hampshire University. She has had one short story published in Stories Through the Ages: College Edition 2017 and several poems published across multiple magazines and websites. Her debut novel, Zodiac Rising, will be released in 2022. You can find her causing mayhem and reading books on Instagram, Goodreads, and Twitter.