L.K. Madigan's Feast of Awesome Giveaway by
Cindy Pon from the 2009 Debutantes. Peek: "How can we best express our love and support for Lisa during this time? Through the celebration of her books. only a fellow writer can know the angst and turmoil associated with creating stories--because we put so much of ourselves in them. Won't you help us in spreading
L.K. Madigan Book Love?"
ALA Youth Media Awards: Which Publishers Are Celebrating? by
Elizabeth Bluemle from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "I’ll start with a summary, and then post the full list below...."
The Agent’s Role in Today’s Digital Book World by
Mary Kole, Literary Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency from Digital Book World. Peek: "as publishers embrace different content delivery systems and processes, agents will take on more packaging responsibilities: editorial work, marketing consultation, design, etc. Whether we’re presenting a book to editors or an app proposal to a digital publisher, we will have had a more active hand in its reaching 'market ready' status."
How to Create a Podcast: Ready to Step Out of Your Blogging Comfort Zone? by Joanna Penn from The Creative Pen. Peek: "You can use
BlogTalkRadio or other free hosted solutions but I don’t think the quality is very good and iTunes is a great stand-alone market so it’s worth having your own feed."
What's Going on With Borders? by Carolyn Kellogg from Jacket Copy from the L.A. Times. Peek: "Barnes & Noble, if buffeted by Amazon's success, has remained afloat; Borders has been taking on water." Note: a clear, succinct update on the status of the Borders chain.
Should I Mention My Blog in My Query? by
Carolyn Kaufman from QueryTracker.net. Peek: "...if you have a huge blog on, say, mountain climbing, but your book has nothing to do with mountain climbing, you don’t have the built-in audience an agent or editor is looking for, and mentioning your blog will look like a
non sequitur."
Authors on the Internet: Facing Up To Facebook by
Tami Lewis Brown from Through the Tollbooth. Peek: "This week in the Tollbooth we’ll look at Facebook and authors. We’ll see who’s doing what, check out some innovative sites for readers and writers, and look out for pitfalls."
Celebrating Rejection by Danyelle from QueryTracker.net. Peek: "...why celebrate something that can be so painful? Something that we sometimes even come to believe for a time? Because rejection is proof that you're not just existing--you're living."
David Lubar's Travel Challenge: "I have nine school visits scheduled during January, February, and March. I also have a frightening ability to attract terrible weather. (Some schools in rural areas book me in the spring because they need the rain.)" Root for David, and/or commit to donate (be it 10 cents or a dollar) to the charity of your choice each time he foils his bad travel karma! Go, David!
Hardiness by
Kristi Holl from Writer's First Aid: A Medicine Chest of Hope. Peek: "I know for a fact that when I focus on the finish line–the day I can say the book is done–that it feels overwhelming."
A Crisis of Self-Confidence by
Mary Kole from Kidlit.com. Peek: "Sometimes frustration is a good thing — it spurns you on when you might otherwise quit — but I find that the specific frustration of not being published yet has one common cure: stop submitting and start nursing the writing."
Writing a Young Narrator by Erik Raschke from Crowe's Nest. Peek: "I really focused on the framework in which teens communicated with one another and less on what was actually being said. Once I had written the situation, i.e. boys getting ready to fight, boys talking about sexy movie stars, I could cut out the modern language and replace it with how I used to speak when I was a budding teen (which was roughly the same time
The Book of Samuel (St. Martin's, 2009) takes place)."
Taming Time: Practical Tips to Increase Writing Productivity by Sarah Sundin from Novel Journey. Peek: "'I am a professional. I am a professional.' Repeat this until you believe it. Now, act like it. Keep office hours. Even if you only have one hour a day to write, use it well."
SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interview: Advice on Critiques from Editors and Agents by Alice Pope from Alice Pope's SCBWI Children's Market Blog. Q&A with editors Krista Marino (Delacorte), Franceso Sedita (Penguin) and Jennifer Rees (Scholastic) and agents
Kerry Sparks (Levine/Greenberg) and
Mary Kole (Andrea Brown). Peek from Krista: "Always keep in mind that editors and agents want to work with writers who are open to suggestions, not writers who think their work is already done. Act appropriately."
SCBWI Team Blog Pre-Conference Interview: Jennifer Besser, Publisher of G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of the Penguin Young Readers Group, by Lee Wind from I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? Peek: "Having an agent is very important, and has been for some time now. Of the deals I made in 2010, at least 95% of them were agented, and most years it’s 100%."
CBAY
From
Madeline at CBAY: Until Jan. 31, "we will accept unsolicited manuscript submissions for only fantasy and science fiction picture books. These will be for traditional 32-page picture books for ages 2-5.
"...the picture book must either be a fantasy (fairy tales, dragons, fairies, etc.) or a sciene-fiction (time travel, space, under the ocean, steampunk, etc.) tale. We will not consider any other type of picture book. However, we will look at number or alphabet books with a fantasy or science fiction theme. Finally, we will not consider manuscripts written for older children at this time. This is a call for fantasy and science fiction picture books, exclusively." See
more information.
More Personally
Blessed will be released on Tuesday, and so this post is bursting with countdown interviews, guest posts, upcoming events, and giveaways! Thank you so much to the bloggers and event planners! I'm honored by your interest, enthusiasm, and efforts. Most appreciated!
I'm also still on deadline for book four in the Tantalize series, which will continue to feature characters from the previous books but is more of a sequel to events in
Eternal.
However, I did manage to peek out of the house for a couple of writing community events this week! So, here's my full report!
Tantalize was named a
Top Ten pick on the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) list of 2011 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults in the "What's Cooking?" category ("tasty reads to fill your belly and warm your soul.").
Previous honors for Tantalize include:
- Borders Original Voices Nominee, March 2007
- Featured title, 2007 National Book Festival
- 2007-2008 Tayshas List
- Chapters (Canada) Junior Advisory Board (JAB) pick
- Featured title, 2007 Texas Book Festival
- Featured title, 2007 Kansas Book Festival
Mundie Moms says of
Eternal: "...it's a story about deception, redemption, love, danger, and hope. It's a story that both fans of Dracula and paranormal characters will enjoy reading." Read
the whole review.
This week,
BookPeople in Austin is celebrating the ALA award winners.
Jessica Lee Anderson gave an inspiring, musical, insightful presentation at the first Austin SCBWI meeting of the year. Here she is with fellow author
Betty X Davis.
ARA
Carmen Oliver, author-illustrator
Emma Virjan and authors
Shana Burg and
Jennifer Ziegler.
K.A. Holt, author of
Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?! (Roaring Brook, 2010), models her latest zombie accessory.
Afterward, about 20 of us ended up next door at the
Shoal Creek Saloon. Here's Greg, next to newcomer
Sara Pennypacker, across from
Bethany Hegedus, Sara Kocek (the newest face at the
Writers' League of Texas), and
Margo Rabb.
Link of the Week: check out
Libba Bray's latest cover from Professor Nana.
Blessed Grand Prize Giveaway
Enter to win the
Blessed grand prize giveaway from Cynsations! The prize package includes: final hardcover of
Blessed (Candlewick, 2011); magnetic Sanguini's menu wipe board with pen that reads, "Stop in for a late-night bite;" Sanguini's magnet; laminated poster from the movie
"Dracula," (1931); dragon finger puppet; wolf finger puppet; plush bat stuffed toy; Tantalize postcards; series tie-in buttons; angel wing charm; and
Dracula by Bram Stoker, illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert, retold by Nicky Raven (Templar/Candlewick, 2010)(view an
inside spread).
To enter, leave a comment at
this post at Blogger or
this post at LiveJournal! For an extra entry(s): Post, share, tweet, whatever works: (a)
this giveaway and/or (b) the
Blessed book trailer and/or a
Blessed countdown widget; and include the URL in your comment! Also, make sure to include contact information in case you win. Author-publisher sponsored. U.S./Canada entries only. Deadline: Jan. 31.
The Teen {Book} Scene Blog Tour: Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Blessed Blog Tour & ARC/Prize Package Giveaways by Kari from The Teen {Book} Scene (enter at the links below for more chances to win--multiple prizes available!):
- an interview with Quincie from Bookworming in the 21rst Century; peek: "Blessed proved to be a thrilling continuation of the series by highlighting Quincie's dire situation and her transformation as not only a neophyte but as a stronger, more assertive young woman. "
- my guest post, Bringing Together the Casts of Tantalize and Eternal from The Book Scout; peek: "In Blessed, heroes from Eternal may be found in Sanguini’s, the vampire-themed restaurant in Tantalize. Likewise, Quincie steps fully, for the first time, into the underworld.
- Blessed review from Pirate Penguin Reads; peek: "Blessed proved to be a thrilling continuation of the series by highlighting Quincie's dire situation and her transformation as not only a neophyte but as a stronger, more assertive young woman."
- an interview with Kieren from The Serpentine Library; peek: "or as long as I could recall, I found it boring when she talked about new recipes and napkins. I was polite, but…Then one day, I found every word she said fascinating. Quince herself, fascinating. The way her lips moved… She could talk about napkins forever, and I’d be thrilled to hear it."
- author interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith from Mundie Moms; peek: "Don’t ever let fear stop your art—especially if you’re writing horror."
Truth Be Told Blessed Countdown & Giveaways
Blessed Online Countdown Event by Valorie from Truth Be Told. Valorie will be posting reviews, book trailers, teaser excerpts, and fun author-and-character interviews. She's
giving away two bookplate-autographed copies of
Blessed, each with a Magnetic Sanguini's menu wipe board and pen (see photo above). She's also giving away one board to (a) a random commenter and another to (b) "a person who helps promote the release of the book, randomly chosen based on tweets, adding it to goodreads, and blogging. It will go to someone who didn't win the hardcover." Giveaway deadline: 11 p.m. PST Jan. 24. See
details.
Embracing My Spooky Side: a guest post by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Peek: "I had no interest in violent, slasher flicks, though I enjoyed more atmospheric films (with plots) like
"Poltergeist" (1982) and
"The Witches of Eastwick" (1987). The latter-featuring
Jack Nicholson as the devil-especially appealed to me because of its female-empowerment reversal at the end."
In Valorie's
review of Tantalize, she says: "The last few chapters of
Tantalize were my favorite. This is where you see Quincie show who she really is. These last few chapters are also packed with suspense and action, much of which is unexpected."
Blessed Launch Party
Joint Launch Party:
Blessed by
Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick) and
Night School by
Mari Mancusi (Berkley) book party and signing at 2 p.m. Jan. 29 at
BookPeople in Austin. Event will include author talks, Q&A, refreshments and signing. Wear red and black if you're on the side of Evil or blue and black if you're on the side of Good. Bonus points (and possible prize) to anyone who dresses up as a vampire, shape shifter, vampire slayer, angel or faerie!
Last call! Comment
here for a chance to win an autographed copy of Night School! Deadline: Jan. 21.
More Spooky EventsBlessed In-Person Author Tour Schedule in Central Texas and the Northeastern U.S.: sponsored by Candlewick Press. Are you in Austin, New York, New Jersey, or the Philly area? Come join me along the way!
12th Annual Southwest Florida Reading Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 19 in Fort Myers, Florida. Note:
speakers include Cynthia Leitich Smith.
SCBWI-Wisconsin Novel Revision Workshop with author Cynthia Leitich Smith from March 25 to March 27. Note: "Registration is limited to 25 persons."
Thanks so much to everyone who celebrated the release of my latest novel, Blessed (Tantalize series), and Mari Mancusi's latest novel, Night School (Blood Coven series), last Saturday at BookPeople in Austin. Thanks also to everyone who tweeted, blogged, facebooked, talked up, or otherwise made noise about the event!
Here a closer look at the cover-cake, which Mari coordinated with H-E-B supermarket.
Austin authors Liz Garton Scanlon, Jennifer Ziegler (and Chris Barton in the background).
Here's a peek at some of the giveaways, courtesy of Candlewick (Blessed) and Penguin (Night School). We awarded them to folks in the audience who asked a question.
Suddenly, the crowd poured in, and it was time to set down the camera.
Another crowd shot, before everyone settled in for the standing-room-only presentation.
One last shot of author-slayer Mari! What a treat to share the stage with her!
LAST CALL: enter to win the Blessed Grand Prize Giveaway from Cynsations. Deadline: Jan. 31.
