Awesome Agency News

Happy post-Labor Day madness, everyone!

I don't know if you know this, but after Labor Day starts one of publishing's Busy Seasons.  Lots of subbing projects to editors, lots of networking events, lots of submissions received (though, this is kind of all the time), lots of meetings with foreign publishers pre-Frankfurt Book Fair, etc. etc. And usually, there are also a number of books coming out at this time.

Between Labor Day and New Year's Day, NCLit has 13 books coming out--!!!  (see the complete list below) And we're starting it off with a bang.  Yesterday, on Labor Day, we had two books launch:

Kirk Scroggs' Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet

Kody Keplinger's Shut Out

In addition to these Announcements of Awesome, there is even more good news for our very own Kirk Scroggs.  Wizard Hat Productions has optioned his first series, Wiley & Grampa's Creature Features, to develop an animated comedy series for boys 6-11 yrs old.
Read more about it here!

And to top it all off, I came in today to find a fantastic review for Erica O'Rourke's Torn in my Inbox, from School Library Journal, see (totally bolded the best parts!): 

Gr 7 Up–It’s an increasingly common premise: a magic world coexisting with the non-magic, one chosen individual possessing special powers, an ambiguous prophecy, and an urgent need to save the world. Except in this novel, the protagonist isn’t the chosen one. In fact, she is murdered before the book even begins, leaving behind her best friend, Mo Fitzgerald, who doesn’t even know that magic exists. Mo has always stayed below the radar and in theshadow of Verity. But even she could tell that the creatures that killed her friend weren’t human, and she’s determined to figure out what happened. Her journey takes her into a realm filled with magic-users called Arcs, demonlike Darklings, and a power struggle that threatens all stability. In addition, Mo’s family may or may not be involved with the mob, so it’s not just supernatural baddies that she has to watch out for. O’Rourke’s heroine is refreshing: determined, spunky, and unpredictable. The two requisite love interests are more formulaic, but Torn should still satisfy readers with an insatiable thirst for well-written, fast-paced fantasy and leave them eager for the next installment in the series.–Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA

Thank you, Eliza Langhans for this awesome review!

Now, if you want to keep up with what NCLit Books are being pubbed in the next few months, make a note of this list:

9/5/11 - Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet by Kirk Scroggs (Disney/Little Brown)

9/5/11 - Shut Out by Kody Keplinger (Poppy/Little Brown)

9/20/11 - Just Before Dawn by Rochelle Alers (Arabesque/Harlequin)

9/20/11 - Bride for a Night by Rosemary Rogers (HQN)

10/18/11 - Capital Wives by Rochelle Alers (Kimani Press/Harlequin)

10/25/11 - The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams (Ace/Berkley)

12/6/11 - Surrender ~A Haunting Emma Novel~ by Lee Nichols (Bloomsbury Children's)

12/27/11 - The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless 2: The Stench of Goodness by Allan Woodrow (HarperCollins Children's)

12/27/11 - Living Violet by Jaime Reed (Dafina/KTeen)

1/1/12 - Sanctuary Cove ~A Cavanaugh Island Novel~ by Rochelle Alers (Forever/Grand Central)

Also newly packaged and coming out in mass market paperback:

10/1/11 - Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner (Berkley Sensation)

11/1/11 - Open Country by Kaki Warner (Berkley Sensation)

12/1/11 - Chasing the Sun by Kaki Warner (Berkley Sensation)

I think we've kicked off this latest season nicely. :-)

New, new, new!

I like new things.  They're shiny.  And fun.  And untapped.
And one of the best things about NEW things, is sharing them with others.  So I have a few things NEW I'd like to share with you:

Here's a new blog to read and follow for any fan of sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy or paranormal: Magic & Mayhem. This blog is co-run by one of our lovely clients, Sandy Williams, whose book The Shadow Reader comes out this upcoming fall!



There's a new contest over at Confessions for dog lovers!  The book A Dog's Way Home is a gorgeous, heartfelt story, worth a read for anyone who has a dog, loves dogs, or just loves dog stories.  Our very own PeeWee the dog is spearheading (clawheading?) this giveaway.




There are lots of new YA imprints to read up on!  (Check it out--that's our very own Erica O'Rourke's cover in the top left!  TORN is to be published by Kensington's new YA imprint K Teen on June 28th--pre-order now!)




Soooooo....what's new with you?

#ZombieVirus2011

Warning!  Warning!  

Even reading this post might be considered enough contact for you to become infected.

Are you experiencing any of these symptoms?

nausea

headache

fever

delirium

aches & pains

dehydration

coughing up blood

craving very rare meat

Do you feel a little...ya know...like this?

Then it's possible you have #ZombieVirus2011--the nastiest virus to hit human kind since the Plague. This virus has slowly crept its way around our office.  More than a few assistants and agents were hit.

Beware.

It's possible your agent or the agent you're querying is now a zombie.

Take all precautions.  Don't leave the house without a proper face mask:

I prefer the FULL face mask:

And of course, other protection:

Is the Apocalypse coming?  Or is it already here?

The people sitting around deciding are already goners.

Good News and Winner!

Hey guys,

Starting off the new year has been rocky. First, I had the flu--woohoo. Then I had to contend with THE APOCALYPSE THAT HAD HIT MY INBOX. Seriously. So. Many. Emails. And that was not including queries. I don't want to even go there (beginning of a new year there is always a tidal wave of submissions). And now we have a snow day, which would normally be awesome!awesome!awesome! except we're already so behind, this just makes it worse. Feh.

So if it seems like we haven't been around as much on twitter or on the blog, there you have it.

But I can't delay some good news and announcing the winner to our first giveaway of the year!

Good News: Kody Keplinger's THE DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) has been chosen byYALSA as one of the Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Yaaaay!!! This is such awesome news, and so well-deserved. Congrats, Kody!! Read her own announcement about it here.

Winner of first 2011 giveaway: Stefanie Kramer! Please email PeeWee to claim your prize at PeeWee (at) nancycoffeyliterary (dot) com.

And if you don't know who PeeWee is...read here.

Start the New Year with 2 fabulous books!

Nancy Coffey Literary knows how to start the New Year off in literary style. Check out 2 of our latest titles (both historical!), the first about the Civil War (book for young readers), and the second the conclusion to a thrilling and romantic historical family saga.

At a time when most people have grown weary of the war between the states, two young children are desperate to find their way to the battlefields. Jeremy DeGroot wants nothing more than to join a troop as a drummer boy. For Dulcie, a runaway slave, freedom means she must head directly toward the fighting in the hopes that she'll become "contraband," that is, property of the Union troops. Both Jeremy and Dulcie find a place with the 107th New York Volunteer Regiment and even start to forge a friendship. But all that is threatened when they keep crossing paths with the mysterious Charlie, a young Confederate soldier, who may look like the enemy but feels more like a friend.

Young readers who like their fiction filled with exciting historical details, rich characters, and action-packed adventures will be drawn to The Storm Before Atlanta.

Buy copies at B&N, Borders, IndieBound, or Amazon.

The stunning conclusion to the Blood Rose trilogy.

Daisy Etheridge always yearned to sing. But along the way she fell in love, had her heart broken, and bore a child to a man who loved another. Now she has a second chance to realize her dreams.

Jack Wilkins left his family's ranch three years ago with his childhood love, only to lose her. Now, he's back to try and win her one last time. Then a woman from his past appears...with a baby that has eyes like his own.

Now, Jack and Daisy must choose what they want out of their lives-and out of each other.

Buy copies at B&N, Borders, IndieBound, Doubleday Bookclub, or Amazon.

*And make sure to check out the first 2 titles in this trilogy: the award-winning titles PIECES OF SKY and OPEN COUNTRY.

Now who is a big fan of historicals? Who wants to these 2 books? For a chance to do so, enter here and follow these rules:

1. You must follow this blog.

2. You must comment on this post.

3. You must tweet, facebook, vlog or blog about this contest and include the link in your comment.

4. You can enter only once.

5. US participants only (OR anyone with a US address for mailing the winning package).

This contest will be open until Sunday, January 9th at midnight.

November is here, and it's intense. And we love it.

So November is not going to be doing anything halfway, it seems. It is the first of the month, and we already have client news; we have agency news; many of you brave souls have NaNoWriMo (and we salute you. You can't see us, I know, but we are saluting); and also the temperature in New York plummeted today, and it made everyone here sad, and once we'd finished complaining about how cold it was, we made an office trip to get ice cream. *I know* eating ice cream is not going to convince the universe that it is actually summer. But it seemed like it was worth a shot.

Things That Have Already Happened This Month:

1. The School Library Journal reviewed Kody Keplinger's The DUFF, and had this to say about it: "This debut novel is a fun read and surprisingly feminist in a number of ways. Keplinger makes good points about female body image and female friendship, and discusses how both men and women use offensive terms about women as a means of social control." It's a story, the review says, that "reluctant readers" will love. Congrats, Kody!! Huge smiles from all of us here.

2. Romance Writers Report is a fantastically fun magazine, and it is a happy, happy day in the office when our copy comes in. We are just one day late on posting about this...last month's cover:

That person in the top picture on the left is Meg Cabot. And next to her is our very own Erica O'Rourke. YAY, Erica!! Erica won the Golden Heart Award at this year's RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference, held in Florida, and accepted the award from Meg Cabot. More huge smiles on this one!

3. Today is the day our query guidelines change. Haven't heard about the changes yet? You can read all about them here. We are now also accepting sample pages. Please post the first five pages of your novel in the body of your email if you are e-querying. We cannot open attachments.

4. NaNoWriMo. So impressed by everyone who has decided to participate. If you're looking for motivation, or some good advice, check out Chuck Wendig's post here. In addition to excellent dos and dont's for the contest, there are also cyborg bears in this post. And a reference to knitting a sweater for a unicorn. Please read it.

Hope your month is off to just as wonderful a start! Though no matter how it's started, I recommend ice cream.

Susan and Cookies

Hey all!

I am beyond thrilled to introduce you to our newest client: Susan Dennard.

Whether you pop over to her blog, explore her webpage, or follow her on Twitter, you are going to want to get to know her. Here's why:

1. She is the newest blogger for Let the Words Flow, and in her introductory post, there is a picture of her hanging out with penguins. No. Really.

2. She lives in Germany, and occasionally posts extremely gorgeous pictures she's taken there. Why hello, Vicarious European Experience. Do come in.

3. She is hosting an Extravaganza on her blog this week that involves giving away a number of free books, and also cookies. German cookies. Very delicious looking German cookies. Mmmmm.

See why we're so excited to introduce you to her?? She is an endless well of awesome, and she wants to give you cookies.

I won't keep you a second longer. Go say hi! And good luck at winning one of the Extravaganza packages!