Those who complain that Polish teenagers do not read books at all have obviously not heard about the undoubtedly hit series of books “Hell”, long queues to see the author at book fairs in various Polish cities, the “Pizgacz Army” fan group numbering several thousand souls. or the fact that PS Heryteria Pizgacz won a statuette at the Empik Bestsellers gala in the young adult literature category in 2023. Without a shadow of exaggeration, it can be said that Katarzyna Barlińska (because her real name is Pizgacz, who got this nickname from her cousin, and once saw Herytiera written somewhere on the street and borrowed it) is currently probably the most read and most loved in the segment of literature aimed at Polish author for teenage readers.
Literary scholars hate it. Pizgacz made children read like crazy
“Extinguish the Heat” is the last part of the famous “Hell” trilogy, which has been viewed a total of 47.5 million times on Wattpad (a platform where both amateur and professional writers publish). In short, it is the story of a rather toxic romance between a 17-year-old girl from a good home and a very naughty boy with black eyes who starts their relationship by stalking the protagonist. Let us add that the author started writing this story when she was 15 (she says that she created something that was missing in the stories she had read earlier) and was the first one in Poland to attract over 115,000 readers to her profile. In the three volumes of her epic, she included a lot of references to Shakespeare’s drama “Romeo and Juliet”, but since she wrote it as a teenager to teenagers, the readers were quickly drawn into the world she created. And they became so engrossed that when Pizgacz was 18, she had to explain to publishers that first she would pass her high school final exams, and then maybe we would talk about a contract for publishing a book in paper form. And when she signed the contract, she waited three months to tell her parents about it. “They were a bit shocked because their 18-year-old daughter did such a trick, and I have always been so inconspicuous” – in an interview with “Dzień Dobry TVN”.
The books have hit the market and are selling like hot cakes. What is noticeable in the case of the last novel is the changed graphic design of the cover – from black, the publisher and the author went towards beige, instead of a statue of a pair of lovers, there is a sculpture depicting Themis, the goddess of justice. Readers can expect that the paper version will be different from what was long available on Wattpad. As in the case of the previous two parts, only the first four chapters of the book remain on the website, which clearly encourages you to purchase the paper version. The interest of readers is, to put it subtly speaking, poor.
“The website is down, I think?” – one of the fans asked under the post with a photo of the cover of “Extinguish the Heat”, and another replied: “I think it’s dead, because I’m also struggling and now it shows that service work is in progress.” More comments quickly began to appear: “I can’t add the book to the cart”, “I don’t see it on the website at all”, “Service work”, “What a disaster. I expected there would be problems with the order, but I didn’t think that “that much.” More and more concerned readers ask “Has anyone managed to buy it yet?” – most of them have problems with it, one of them took as long as 90 minutes.
“I’m going to cry in a moment, this is the most beautiful cover in the world”, “It’s beautiful… Simply – nothing more, nothing less. The only thing you dream about now is to take it in your hands and move it for the last time to the world that has become embedded in the mind and soul of so many people”, “Kasia, I personally thank you for creating a story that I couldn’t tear myself away from. A story that absorbed me completely. No matter what ending, it will never be the end, because we will return to ‘HELL’ often – from the beginning, all over again, until the end,” delighted fans comment and thank the author.
As of 12/04, 29/01/24 https://editio.pl/
As for potential changes in the plot, readers were also divided into two camps: those who hope that the story will end differently this time and those who hope that it will stay as it was. “God, let the ending be different than on Wattpad”, “Please, let the ending be different than on Watt”, “If it is the same, the author will pay me a psychologist” – write representatives of the first group. “I would prefer it the way it was – an unexpected ending, and a perfect culmination of their story. The first time I swore while reading it, but the second time I thought it made sense,” “I want it to be the same. Jesus, I have a terrible time.” sentiment, if she changes it, I will break down,” argue the others. “I really don’t want to say goodbye”, “The final round – I was tearing up”.
Pisgach. From Wattpad to the Empik Bestsellers Gala
“When I started writing the trilogy, I never thought it would reach such a scale. It was just an ordinary story about a toxic boy with black eyes and a seventeen-year-old girl from a good home. The pattern was repetitive, but the story itself was mine, which made it unique. I wrote the next ones at night. chapters, and it all grew and grew, and today we are here. I turned my dreams into work, and it’s all thanks to you,” the author wrote on the Wattpad platform on the day when she removed most of the novel’s chapters for marketing purposes. “Now it’s time for a version you don’t know. A new, unknown stage of such a well-known story. Because you know I have many tricks up my sleeve” – she encouraged people to read the book edition.
– I think I have a very large and engaged audience, for which I am extremely grateful, because this is what I create for. I started writing because I like it very much. I didn’t expect to make it. I did it out of passion because I wanted to share with others the stories I had in my head. “Getting ahead” in any field is not easy, you have to have an idea and not give up. I set myself the goal of finishing this series and I managed to do it – 2023 in an interview with “Kronika Tygodnia”.
Things got really serious. “Wprost” included her name in the 13th edition of the ranking of the 50 most influential Poles – which also included Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk. Meanwhile, Pizgacz began to study journalism, which she temporarily abandoned to take care of publishing matters. In an interview with “Kronika Tygodnia”, she also announced: – I will continue to publish books because I love writing and I still have many plans. I will definitely stay in a similar topic because I feel good in it, but we will see what life brings and… my inspiration. Now I focus on my goals and work, because it is the most important to me. I want to show my readers my new projects as soon as possible, he assures. And by the way, he is not a “star” at all and is not particularly active on social media. If he posts something on Instagram, for example, it is probably related to the promotion of books. She also emphasizes as often as she can that she owes everything to her readers, because in fact she “only wrote a story.” Let us add that this is not a fluke: – she placed ninth. It is estimated that over 145 thousand The sold copies of the book “Start a Fire. Round one” could have brought her even PLN 640,000 in profits.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
