One month ago, after much deliberation, I handed in my notice and made the official decision to leave my job at Allison & Busby. It wasn’t an easy choice, as I’ve absolutely loved my time here, but I was keen to take the leap and disappear off to Continental Europe for some travelling (while I’m still young enough to get the under-25 ‘youth’ tourist prices). So now, in what seems like a flash, it’s my final day in the job.

I don’t think it’s entirely sunk in yet that I’m really leaving this lovely place, but I have begun to look back and think about the highlights of my time here. There are so many great books, fantastic authors and brilliant events to choose from, that I can’t mention them all here. From first encountering Lauren Willig‘s Austenesque novels while proofreading The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, to working on the first of our Monsieur Pamplemousse reissues and marvelling at the wonderful cover designs; jubilation as the paperback edition of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet sold brilliantly; accompanying Rachel Caine on her UK tour for Morganville Vampire novel Black Dawn; discovering the timeless A&B Classics Collection and indulging my love of Shakespeare in Nothing Like the Sun and The Late Mr Shakespeare; working on the gorgeous and utterly captivating duo of novels from Kate Forsyth, Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl; and finally, most recently, being on the edge of my seat as I discovered Laurie R. King‘s gripping pair of novels, Touchstone and The Bones of Paris. It has definitely been a whirlwind two years, and I’ve fallen in love with many books along the way.

So now, as I wave goodbye to the A&B offices, I have a favour to ask you, dear reader, without whom we would all be lost. Please, please carry on loving, cherishing and jealously guarding books – physical, beautiful, textured books, whose pages you can turn with a rustle, whose comforting weight you can feel in your hands. Keep reading, keep escaping into the worlds behind the covers, and I hope I’ll soon be back in the publishing business, helping to bring you more words to devour.

Sara Magness, Editorial Administrator (for one last day)
Twitter: @saramagness