Ukrainian publisher Lesya Yatsuta of 'BookBanda': We dared to be the ones to give a voice to Ukrainian fantasy

Lesya Yatsuta is a Ukrainian publisher from "BookBanda", who, along with her team, became the voice of Ukrainian fantasy and sfantastical worlds. After publishing a collection of mystical short stories in collaboration with other Ukrainian writers, Lesya and her colleagues decided to establish their own publishing house. This is how "BookBanda" was born. She spoke with Drive Music Media about her own series, "The Choice of Glory", the journey of paving a path in Ukraine's literary space, and her new projects.

Interviewer: You are a co-founder of the Ukrainian publishing house "BookBanda". How did the idea of publishing books come about? Tell us how the literary association "BookBanda" became a publishing house.

Lesya: After the start of the COVID pandemic, we gathered a small group of authors (Aya Neia, Tatiya Kovis, Yan Braz, and others) and decided to create a collection of mystical stories since we all wrote in the genres of fantasy and speculative fiction. We quickly wrote the stories and divided up the responsibilities for working on the collection.Tatiia Kovis and Oli Hnats handled the illustrations, the very first cover was designed by Daryna Nevmerytska, while Aiya Neia and I took care of the logistics. We successfully printed 30 copies in softcover and realized that we were ready to continue. But then the question of selling the books arose, and we wanted to do more than just distribute the books among our friends and family; we wanted to share our stories with a wider audience. This created a need for legal registration of our community. However, the flood of ideas and the desire to produce more books pushed us to officially register as a publishing house. The literary community existed since February 1, 2021, and we registered the publishing house in October of the same year.

Interviewer: You are moving in the direction of the fantasy genre. Why did you decide to focus specifically on the fantasy world?

Lesya: We wanted to publish what we enjoy reading ourselves. We loved and still love speculative fiction, and we know that there are many talented Ukrainian writers who have yet to make their mark and showcase their work. So, without much hesitation, we dared to be the ones to give a voice to Ukrainian fantasy. For a certain period, the publishing house operated in experimental mode. Our first novel was the "Nord" series by Aya Neia, which she developed on her own. We learned how to enter the market and how to be part of the literary scene in Ukraine. Over the three years of BookBanda’s existence, we have indeed paved a path in the literary space, and our books can now be found on the shelves of bookstores across Ukraine. Our book catalog includes magical realism, mysticism with elements of horror, romantic and adventure fantasy, and recently we've also added the steampunk genre. We don't limit our preferences to just fantasy. Next year, we will add a bit of sci-fi and horror to our collection. We want speculative fiction in Ukraine to be as popular as foreign translations.

Interviewer: Tell us about your writing career. How did it all begin?

Lesya: Perhaps there should be something along the lines of, "I dreamed of becoming a writer since childhood," but that's not the case for me. I wrote poems in my childhood and occasionally told myself magical stories, but I never actively pursued writing prose. However, back in 2010, I discovered the world of self-publishing. Authors my age were writing books and sharing them on various online platforms. I read their works and wondered if I could write a novel too. I had plenty of ideas, but they were in a kind of hibernation. A significant push for me was the "Fallen" series by Lauren Kate. It was about two lovers overcoming obstacles because he was an angel and she was the reincarnation of herself, and they battled a curse that had plagued her for thousands of years. At that moment, I thought, "Why not? I can do that too". So, I wrote my first novel, "The Third Side", also about angels, and then I realized it was time… time to become an author.

Interviewer: You are the author of "Temen". What is this book about? How did the idea of writing your own fantasy come about?

Lesya: "The Choice of Glory" series is a three-part story, with "Temen" being the first book. It follows a girl named Myroslava, who dies on a street in Kyiv and wakes up in the body of a princess from another world. In this new world, Princess Slavyma is considered almost a goddess, and those who know that Myroslava has entered Slavyma’s body force her to pretend to be the revered princess.

The first book will tell the story of Myroslava's journey in this new world. It explores how she initially shuts herself off from everyone and refuses to accept her new reality. It also delves into the dangers that threaten not only her but everyone around her, as well as the secrets and hidden threats of this new world. There is a love subplot in the story, but it remains very subtle, strange, and at times unclear. Yet, it is quite passionate.

In truth, "The Choice of Glory" was initially written as a humorous novel, mocking all the clichés found in the romantic fantasy genre. However, over time, I realized that I loved the world of this series, the hidden meanings and mysteries, and what lies behind seemingly obvious facts. From a lighthearted story, "Temen" took on darker tones, heavy behind-the-scenes motives, and a highly developed world. Sometimes, it was even more important for me to describe how the sewage system works in the world of "Temen" than to depict the heroine's fear in a dangerous situation.

Interviewer: Tell us about the presentation of your book. How did it go?

Lesya: Together with another BookBanda author, Liuba Derkach, we organized a joint tour across three cities: Rivne, Lutsk, and Lviv. I would describe this tour as cozy. It was hot, which made it challenging to actively discuss our books, but the atmosphere was great in the sense that the meetings were calm and comfortable. Attentive readers, who didn't know who Liuba or I were, eagerly listened to our explanations about the books because it was something new for them. I would love to repeat the tour, but perhaps not in the summer; maybe in the fall or spring so that more visitors could come and chat with us. Nonetheless, I was grateful for the experience because we had the opportunity to step out of our usual location – Kyiv – and meet readers from other cities.

Interviewer: How deeply do you immerse yourself in the process of creating characters? Do your characters have prototypes?

Lesya: When creating characters, it is essential for me to imagine what their lives were like before the story begins. I cannot write a character until I know how they lived, where they studied, what sweets they liked, and so on. Without these details, the character seems flat and uninteresting to me. Perhaps these details will never make it into the story, but I will know that between waking up and starting to defeat enemies left and right, my character had some sugar-free drink that they didn’t like, which put them in a bad mood, making it even worse for their enemies. I don’t use prototypes, and I never base characters on real people I know. I take personality traits and perhaps some physical features (like freckles or moles), but I mix them up and assign them to different characters.

Interviewer: How difficult is it to publish a book in today's world? What are the realities of this in Ukraine?

Lesya: I will speak not as an author, but as a publisher. Everything comes down to finances. Of course, it's impossible to create anything without funding. Many people work on our books, and their work needs to be paid for. In order for a book to sell, there needs to be advertising – lots of advertising. Books by Ukrainian authors are somewhat less popular than translated literature because, in the case of the latter, readers are buying something they can read reviews about. Releases by Ukrainian authors often start with: "You may not know this author, but trust us, this book is wonderful". This does complicate matters to some extent, but overall, nothing is impossible; it just takes a little more effort and faith in your work. And there’s an endless dream that abroad, someone will be searching for reviews of our books and will be waiting for them to be translated for them.

Interviewer: What books is "BookBanda" currently working on? How long does it take to prepare a book for publication?

Lesya: Right now, we are working on two books: "Chak. On the Air Islands" by Oksana Kyrychenko and "Karraik. Rebirth" by Ulyana Dadak. These are stories about magical combat academies. They are wonderful series that will immerse readers in a world of magical education and breathtaking adventures. We typically spend about 3-4 months working on one book, which includes printing. There can be delays or unforeseen circumstances that may push publication back another 1-2 months. However, since we don’t have many projects at the publishing house right now, we have the opportunity to stretch the process a bit. For next year, we plan to publish over 10 projects, which we have never done before. We have a small team (with some freelancers), so we will gather our strength and work as quickly as possible to bring new releases to our readers.

Interviewer: What are you currently working on? What projects can Ukrainian readers expect from you?

Lesya:I am currently working on a novella in the romantic fantasy genre, which will be part of a still-secret anthology (we haven't made an announcement yet, so for now, it's a little secret with a huge surprise). After that, I will continue working on the second book in the "Vybir Slavy" series. I also dream of writing a novel about a circus. This idea has been burning in me for quite some time, but the publishing house takes priority, so I will try to balance Lesya the author and Lesya the publisher in a way that doesn’t affect the results of my work.

Interviewer: What word do you associate with your fantasy world? Why?

Lesya: If we consider the first book, "Temen", the word I would use is "introverted". The Temenians are a people who cherish solitude. They try to live in separate villages, independent of one another. If they do settle in city-states like Olniya, Yatarn, or Ush, it is only for the purpose of education, trade, or self-development. They dislike large parties or long, noisy conversations. High cliffs surround their settlements to keep disturbances at bay. They love the night and silence. Perhaps, in creating Temen as a world, I put a part of myself into it because I also enjoy silence and seclusion.

This cannot be said about the Denans. The Denans love balls, noise, and everything shiny and bright. Readers will discover this in the second book of the "Dena" series.

Pictures were taken by Ovsienko Tymur, Anastasiia Nikulina