Who We Are:
Book Country is a place where readers and writers of genre fiction come together to read original fiction, post work or comments, and make a name for themselves. Our free community is a creative and supportive space where fiction writers and readers can give and receive constructive criticism, discover new and entertaining books, discuss and share tips and experiences, and learn about the publishing industry. Book Country aims to be useful, egalitarian, and merit-based while fostering an atmosphere of encouragement and creativity.
Book Country also offers a convenient and affordable way to self-publish eBooks. With a variety of services available, we want you to be able to put your book on the map. As Book Country grows, we will continue to offer additional features and services we think you will appreciate.
If you are having difficulty using our contact form, please feel free to email us directly at
contact@bookcountry.com
What’s the Penguin About?
Book Country, LLC is a subsidiary of Penguin Group, a Pearson company. Though owned by Penguin Group (USA), Book Country is a separate entity, both legally and practically with full-time Book Country staff members. Book Country is industry-wide in scope – books from all publishing houses will be mentioned on the site, and staff members from all publishers are welcome to participate. Book Country is an equal-opportunity community with the success of our Book Country members at heart.
Meet the Book Country Team
Molly Barton, President
Molly develops digital publishing projects, new business models, strategies, and partnerships in her role as Global Digital Director and Vice President, Digital Publishing, Business Development and Strategy at Penguin. If she had one of those new-fangled titles that people at start-ups have, she might be called Chief Optimist. She talks people into doing new things that seem hard or impossible.
When Molly first came to Penguin in 2004 it was for an editorial position; she still edits a select group of fiction writers for Viking and other imprints. She leads Penguin’s efforts to publish apps, enriched eBooks, and eSpecials, which are digital-only essays and short stories. Before Penguin, she held editorial and marketing roles at Oxford University Press. And before that, she lived in San Francisco and worked at the Sierra Club and interned at Chronicle Books.
Molly grew up on a farm at the end of a long dirt road in Western Massachusetts with cats, dogs, chickens, rabbits, sheep, horses, a cockatiel named Cheerio, and the occasional llama and pig. Colleen has been gently ushering her into the Twitterverse at
@MollyBBarton.
Brandi Larsen, Director
Sparkling new to the role, Brandi will run the business for Book Country. She’ll grow the site to become the best spot on the web for writers.
Brandi knows the joy and terror of giving your work to someone else to read. A fiction writing graduate who was fortunate enough to attend an arts school for writing throughout middle and high school, Brandi is a writer who looks forward to joining the conversation, helping others, and workshopping her own fiction on Book Country.
Brandi comes to Penguin from the Chicago Tribune, where she helped imagine new ways for audiences to access newspapers online and then worked with her colleagues to bring the ideas to life. Her proudest achievement: daring her father to write his first book (he's since written three). Brandi can be found on Book Country, on Twitter as
@BrandiLarsen, and stretched out in a sunny spot, reading.
Colleen Lindsay, Strategic Advisor & Moderator
Colleen Lindsay is an unrepentant nerd who spent most of her formative years hiding beneath the blankets with a flashlight and a book. Her obsession with reading was a hard habit to break; as a result, she’s worked in the book industry since 1984.
Colleen spent twelve years working as a manager, backlist buyer, and events/marketing manager at several San Francisco Bay Area independent bookstores and was a book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Her first job in publishing was in Northern California as a sales assistant for Ballantine Books. For five years she served as Director of Publicity for Del Rey Books, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, pop culture, YA fantasy, graphic novels, manga, third-party licensed media and the Star Wars adult fiction line. More recently, she worked as a literary agent at FinePrint Literary Management, focusing on genre fiction and young adult. In addition to working on Book Country, Colleen is also the Associate Director of Marketing, Social Media and Reader Experience for Penguin's NAL/Berkley Group.
More things to bear in mind about Colleen: She's been reading e-books since 1998. She owns seven pairs of Converse All-Stars in varying colors. And she once got locked inside the Sistine Chapel quite by mistake (which Vatican security did not think was nearly as funny as she did). You can usually find her on the Book Country discussion boards or on Twitter at
@ColleenLindsay, giving advice to writers, discussing the future of the publishing industry, and talking about her cats. (Sorry!)
Nevena Georgieva developed an early predilection for reading and spent her teens singing in a choir and learning English so she could read
1984 and
The Forsyte Saga. Hankering after access bigger libraries, she moved from Bulgaria to New York in 2006. After she graduated with a double major in Economics and English in 2010, she went on to get her master’s in English, doing what she loves best – reading, philosophizing about fiction, downing numerous cups of coffee, and deconstructing the latest episode of Downton Abbey with fellow tutors at the Writing Center.
After a couple of stints in marketing at an Internet start-up and a boutique online marketing firm, Nevena became the Book Country intern because her love for books could not be contained any longer. Now, as the Book Country Assistant, she is a “Jane of all trades,” sorting out support issues, reviewing books on Book Country, and moderating discussions. She is a recent convert to all things digital and gets super excited about writing projects that walk the line of literary and genre. Follow Nevena on Twitter at
@NevGeorgieva.