Oh my WOW, Shadow and Bone!

About 18 months ago, I got a query in my inbox for a hi-fantasy YA called The Grisha. The query itself was pretty good, but the pages that were attached...oh my WOW.  I requested it immediately and started reading the manuscript as soon as it came in.  And I ended up staying in the office until late into the night because I didn't even want to put it down for a few minutes to walk to the train.


I was smitten.  An instant fangirl.  


Fast forward to today.  In just  over two months (June 5) we have a book coming out called Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.  It is the first book in The Grisha trilogy, a Tsarist Russia inspired fantasy that is just BRILLIANT. (Read description below.)  


So I know you can't read the book yet since we still have a couple of months before it's available.  But just to wet your palette a bit, I want to share something else brilliant with you: the book trailer.  Macmillan did a *brilliant* job.  This trailer gave me goosebumps the first 9 times I watched it.  Then I watched it about 20 more times just because I was addicted.  Holy freaking WOW.


Check it out:

And here's a little more on the book:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

Irresistible, right?  Pre-order it now!  Trust me.  You won't regret it.

Beautiful Things

Many of you may not know this about me, but I love pretty things. Beautiful things. Stunning things.

It's not a materialistic thing at all. It's about the art of it.

One of my favorite shows on TV was/is Project Runway (though I've been bad at keeping up the last 2 seasons).  Put all of the cattiness aside, and you have real, talented, creative people, working hard to create beautiful things with few resources.  The outcome can sometimes be awful, of course, but more often than not, I find myself  ooooing and ahhhhing when it's runway time.

(Quick Tangent: my very first BEA in 2007, I had to sit with an author at the Autograph Area, and Tim Gunn was signing right next to me!  I was flipping out on the inside, but tried to keep my cool and focus on the outside.  In any case, one of Tim's assistant's must have noticed my Inner Squee because he snagged me a copy of A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style to keep for myself. The one thing I noticed?  Tim is just as kind and friendly as he is on the show--he talked to every person on line, asked about them, where they're from, what they do.  He was all around lovely.)

My sister got me a subscription to Vogue two years ago.  And as a rather bookish gal, you might think that most of my enjoyment comes from reading the articles.  While I do appreciate the stories, my favorite part of the magazine is the mixture of scents and colors and flavors and texture.  I smell every perfume sample, and fawn over the couture, and the shoes--the shoes!  And most of all...the inspiration!

How can you not be inspired by this month's spread called "The Cult of Beauty," where Saoirse Ronan models herself after the artistic visions of the nineteenth-century Aesthetic Movement?

This one is my favorite, but check out all of them here. 

Well.

This spread wasn't the only thing that bowled me over in this issue though.  I was met with a new gadget.

So you know how you have to pull back the little folded perfume ads to smell the scent?  Well apparently, they can do you one better these days.

Alien by Thierry Mugler had an ad, with something that looked like a small enveloped stuck inside. Above it was written simply:

Detach and spray.

How very Lewis Caroll of Monsieur Mugler.

So just like Alice, I went for it. (See? I'm still a bookish gal at heart.)

Turns out I don't *love* the scent, but it's also not bad.  Definitely worth a sniff.  But the coolest part was still how it was done.  See here:

Step One: Pull tab up. 

Step Two: See that little white hole?  Well, when you squeeze the envelope, it sprays at you.

Crazy, right??  So apparently I like beautiful, artful things...and things that are just damn cool.

What will they think of next, eh?

Poor Query Trend

We had a brief sitdown this week to discuss queries/submissions, and Nancy brought up something that really bothered her. It's something that I have been noticing over the last year, and it's gotten increasingly worse.

People are not proofreading their e-queries.

In some cases worse than others. But I can't tell you how many times we see spelling errors (note: most email programs have a spell-check these days), punctuation errors, and even sentences that don't make sense.

This is really a more recent thing. Of course there were always queries that had these issues, but we're seeing it more and more. And it seems like it should be common sense, right?

We're kind of at a loss as to why this is happening, and the only thing I can think of is that emailing makes it really easy to just type something out and hit "Send." Whereas, when we were all paying for postage on queries, perhaps more attention was paid? (note: I was a querying writer before email queries really came to be.)

I don't know. And I'm not knocking anyone in particular. There are also a number of e-queries that come in that are clearly proofread and professional.

(note: I'm not one to be picky about ONE error and neither is Nancy. Lately it's been more queries that are *riddled* with them.)

The issue here is that when I see that in a query, no matter how good your story is, I'm going to think the whole manuscript will read that way. It becomes an easy pass.

And while I'm currently closed to queries, Suzie, Kathleen and Nancy are not. They will pass if they see this.

Proofread those queries, guys!

Deadlines

Deadlines are tough. Deadlines are inevitable. They loom there, in the distance, and grow closer and closer as the days tick by.

Most authors and illustrators I know don't write/illustrate full time, and even the ones that do have other things on their plate, like, I don't know...family? Friends? PTA? Church? Dr. Who? Whatever it is, these other aspects of life are important, and are often higher priority. So how do authors do it?

Honestly, I don't know. I'm in constant awe of my clients who turn manuscripts in to me or their editor on time (or mostly on time) despite having a baby (or two), teaching full-time, coaching their kid's baseball team while working full-time, running a household, getting married, driving across the country, being terribly sick, etc. (All of these things and more have happened--my clients are freaking SUPERHEROES).

Other people working with writers are on deadlines, too. Editors, publicists, art departments, etc...all have deadlines. Deadlines that are directly related to writer deadlines. It's like this amazing house of cards that just keeps building and building...though, these are pretty sturdy cards. If one slips, it doesn't mean they all come crumbling down. Maybe one or two fall with it. Or if it's really bad, maybe a whole level. But your publisher has such a strong foundation, that most of the cards stay in place. (So don't worry!)

Agents have deadlines, too.

And speaking of deadlines, this has been my life the past 2 weeks:

6:00, Wake up (sometimes 5am, depending how backlogged I am on edits)

Mmmm. Cofffeeeeeeeee.

Sit down to read manuscripts/take notes/work on line edits.

*make sure iphone is charging!

7:15ish, PeeWee wakes up and finds me if Joe hasn't found him first

-Let PeeWee out

-Administer PeeWee's medicine (poor old guy....)

-Give PeeWee treat and a snuggle

-Back to work

8 - 8:40, shower, brush, do hair, pack bag, get dressed, run out to the car, realize I forgot my charging iphone, run back in for it, rush to the train station

8:44, park blocks away and curse myself for not just walking from home, run to the train with Joe carrying my third cup of coffee in a to-go cup (he's the best), barely catch the 8:48 as the doors shut on my heels

8:49, settle into a seat, take out my laptop and/or iphone and either continue editing and/or start answering emails while Joe reads a book/the paper

9:35, arrive in Penn Station, kiss Joe goodbye, join the ranks of commuters walking to work

9:50, arrive in awesome new office (post to come about said new office!)

10:00 - 12:00, emails (lots!), phone conferences, paperwork (lots), checking in with Nancy/Kathleen/Suzie

noon - 2:30, lunch meeting w/an editor or other industry professional (yes, these are most days), or eat at my desk while reading.

2:30 - 6, more emails (lots and LOTS of emails), phone conferences (usually 2 or 3 of them), sometimes an afternoon meeting, more paperwork, in-office status updates (and perhaps a discussion of a new project from one of us)

This is where the day changes. About half the time it goes like this:

6:30 - meet an industry person (editor, agent, book scout, etc) for drinks, or go to an industry event since there are many this time of year

9:08 or 9:52, catch one of these trains home (eat a hot dog in Penn Station for dinner...sorry, Mom)

10:00 or 10:30, Joe picks me up at the train station, PeeWee on his lap--go home, wind down and watch TV with my boys for about an hour.

12:00, catch up on email (still lots), read and edit until I fall asleep.

The other half of the time it goes like this:

6:13 or 6:39, meet Joe at Penn station to catch the train home

7-9:00, get home, take care of PeeWee, eat dinner, wind down and watch TV with my boys for about an hour, an occasional client/film call during this time.

9:00 - midnightish, catch up on emails, read and edit

There have been a few almost all-nighters in there these past weeks, too. After all, it's deadline time! (Heck, look at the timestamp on this post...I've been up since three!).

But guess what? I get to read things like the second installment in both the Something Strange & Deadly series, and the Ever Afters series. And the second book in The Shadow Reader series, too! I get to work on Kody Keplinger's latest project, and read through the final revisions on Insurgent. I get to drool over the ending of Erica O'rourke's trilogy, and laugh at the twisted humor in Allan Woodrow's latest, and feel a chill down my spine from one of my newest projects by Gemma Cooper. I get to be transported back to the Progressive Era, or 200 years into the future. And I even get to play around with illustrations and text by author-illustrators like this one and this one.

When I get to do all of that, isn't all the hectic running around worth it?

Hells yeah it is!

And what especially keeps me going, is knowing that all of my clients are running around the same way (well...not the same way, but they've got other jobs and other lives outside of writing, too!). And they never complain.

We're all in it because we love books.

That's a rush that's even better than coffee.

Good luck on your pre-holiday deadlines, everyone!

Caught up on Queries

I'm caught up on queries as of 9pm tonight--and I'm still requesting up until Thursday!

Joanna Is Closing to Queries

Dear Writers,

I am officially closing to submissions as of next Thursday, December 1, 2011, and I won't be re-opening until late spring.

If I have your manuscript or partial currently, I am still considering your submission and will respond to you personally when I have finished reading.

This was a difficult decision, but ultimately, I would like to focus on my clients and developing the projects that I currently have in the works.

But! No reason to despair! We've got three other fantastic agents at Nancy Coffey Literary: Suzie Townsend, Kathleen Ortiz, and Nancy Coffey herself!

So I do hope you'll try one of these ladies. Their full bios and interests can be found here.

However...if you want the skinny on what they're really looking for....

Nancy has been on the lookout for a strong, commercial, character-driven thriller for as long as I've known her. She's picky, but she's hungry for one--and she's one of the best agents in the business, in my humble opinion.

Kathleen is drawn to projects that have a darker edge. She also likes ones that can make her laugh. But what she's really had her heart set on for a while is a kick ass cyberpunk with strong narrative and world-building.

Suzie has just joined the agency, and though she has a solid client list already, she is actively looking for more fabulous clients. She is one of my closest friends in the industry, and I can tell you right now...she is a romantic at heart. She is interested in all kinds of stories, but if the romance sweeps her off her feet...you've got a good shot! And she's been on the lookout for a hi-fantasy YA forever (though it would need to be very different from Cat Hellisen's When the Sea Is Rising Red, which is an *awesomely* beautiful and haunting read, pre-order it now!).

I hope this insight helps!

And don't worry...I'll be back!

Best,
Joanna Volpe

Pretty Things....

Buy this at B&N, Indie Bound or Amazon.

Pre-order this at B&N or Amazon.

Pre-order this at Amazon.

Read Susan's awesomely informative blog for writers here.

We're Back!

Hi All,

So. We were waiting a bit to make sure the query email was working consistently (because at first when it was *supposedly* fixed, it was not).

And now...it is!

Our query email address is officially working. It's been tested. Many times. w00tz.

Now. If you have received an Auto-Response, that means we've seen it (or are going to read it shortly).

If you have sent a query in the past 3 weeks and have NOT received an Auto-Response, then that means we have not seen it. Please resend.

And if you're unsure or worried that we haven't received the query, resend anyway!

Also, read these awesome posts by Mike Martin and Veronica Roth. So inspiring!

The To Do List

I was just catching up on some fun client blog reading, when I came across this post by Lynne Kelly on her blog Making Stuff Up and Writing It Down.

If you have trouble with organization in this crazy ride we call life, Lynne offers some sage advice.  She also links to some other posts that can be helpful.

The thing is, most people need some type of system, right?  I think it's safe to say that a majority of writers have another job of some kind to make enough money to, ya know, live. So writing is a second job. Add family, friends, hobbies, etc...and that's a lot to keep track of!

For me (granted, I'm not a writer, but I work with writers so I've usually got projects on the brain), I have many, many lists. I have a list for every day of the week. Then I have a To Do Soon list (for things that don't need to be done on a specific day, but should be done in the next few weeks), a To Do Later list (for those lower priority things that I want to look into/get done, but don't need to be done in the next month), and one separate list I have is for contracts alone. I wouldn't be able to keep track of what stage each contract is at without it. Also, if I'm working on a particularly big project, I'll make a list just for that. I check all of these lists every day to make sure there's not something I'm missing.

And of course I have my submission lists that I check weekly.

Finally, I use my work calendar. I have lists on there, too, of things I need to follow up on by a specific date. And my calendar emails me reminders the day before because he is awesome (yes, I've decided that my calendar is a dude).

It sounds like a lot, but once the system is in place, it's just a matter of adding and deleting things daily since all of this is on my computer. And I do this so I don't miss something vital.  Even with all of these lists, every once in awhile things slip through the cracks. But not often--thank goodness!

So what's your secret?? How do YOU keep track of it all?

Things that make me happy.....

Cookies AND some of my favorite book characters.....

The lovely Susan Prunty made these cookie versions of Zachary Ruthless and his henchmen Newt.  How cool are they??  Read more about her fiction-to-cookie-making adventures on her blog here. 

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. :-)

Roaring Twenties

Kody Keplinger, author of THE DUFF and the soon to be released SHUT OUT, turns twenty today! To celebrate, we wanted to share some awesome moments from our twenties.

Kathleen:

So way back when I was an intern, I had the super awesome experience of being in the office when Joanna closed a deal. The deal was for a book called THE DUFF. I hadn't been around to read it, but I was still super excited for her and the Nancy Coffey team!

Some time later, I was given an ARC and read it overnight. Started following Kody on Twitter, chatting back and forth, getting all squee-er-ific over the fact she has a fantastic sense of humor and is just TOO CUTE for words. And a couple of years later, we still chill and when we do, I still have moments of shock at the fact she's a teen!

But not today.

Today she is no longer a teen. And she enters the realm of the 20s!

Amy Lukavics said it best: being in your 20s ROCKS! (*ahem* I'm still in them and holding on with a death grip that would put any Zombie to shame). But being specifically 20 is awesome, because:

- You're officially around for TWO decades. Just something cool about saying that. (ask me again when I'm at 3 decades)

- You're officially a YEAR from being 21.

- No one can call you a teen. You're an adult. Period. And while you may have some nostalgia, this will come in handy when dating.

- If you visit Japan, you can legally smoke (BOO), drink, and vote! You can also bet on horse racing.

- You officially make me feel not as ancient when I hang out with you.

When I was 20, I had my first official editorial job -- and I never looked back. For me it was a turning point, and it's only been better from there.

So Kody -- here's to you and your fabulousness, all two decades of it! <3

Joanna:

Well, this will have to be the moment other than my wedding :-)

It was when I first moved into my own apartment, without a roommate. It was a fair-sized 1-BR. Due to the fact that I didn't own much (and just enough OCD) I had finished unpacking by the day after the move. Then I made myself a bowl of noodles and sat on my futon to eat.

I was 23. Before this, I had only lived with roommates, and before that was the communal living of college, and before that I shared a room with my sister for 17 years. I wasn't used space that was only meant for me.

I didn't have a TV and couldn't even afford to get cable internet (no smart phones then either). But I had an old boom box that I had gotten when I was 10. So I turned on the radio. Relaxed into my futon. Ate my noodles. And I was grinning the whole time. I had never felt so independent! It was the first time I ever truly felt like an adult. And I *loved* it.

Sara:

I transferred my sophomore year of college. It was one of the first big decisions I had to make on my own, and I was still hoping it was going to be a good idea the day I moved in.

I was living in the dorms, in a triple that was connected by a bathroom to another triple. It was tight living.

And as I was walking past the bathroom, I saw a person moving around in the other room.

"Hello?" I called.

The girl popped back into view. "Hi!" she said.

"I'm Sara." We shook hands over the toilet. If you have not done this, and I hope you haven't: most awkward handshake ever.

And then we stared at each other for a few seconds.

"So. I walked past this frozen yogurt place called 21 Choices. I'm thinking it must be a bad rip-off of 31 Flavors, and I feel the need to test that," I said. Because awkward handshakes should ALWAYS lead to awkward friend-date invitations. Obviously.

"Oprah says froyo is the next big food trend," said my new suite-mate. And then, "Uh, you'll soon discover half the things I say starts with 'Oprah says...'"

Thus began a beautiful friendship.

And also the realization that I would meet people in this world whose experiences, lives, and sense of humor could (and would!) change my point of view and my outlook on life in more ways than I could imagine.

It seems like a silly thing to realize, almost like it's common-sense. But though I'd KNOWN such things could happen while I was a teenager--that I would go to college somewhere else besides the small town I'd spent my entire life in and meet people who would help me grow--the year I turned 20 was the year I actually felt it.

So! Here's to all the experiences YOU will have this year. I hope they're as awesome as you are.

You can read other fab twenties moments at Erica O'Rourke's, Loretta Nyhan's, Amy Lukavics's, and Lisa and Laura Roecker's, just for starters.

MOMMIES, GOD & A REAL HOUSEWIFE OF NEW JERSEY

How a thirty minute social media marketing consultation with Joanna and Kathleen led me from ‘like’ to ‘love’.

I’ll admit it. I want to be liked.

‘Like’ in the facebook sense of the word, of course. But not just for validation. Because I’ve experienced the Power of Like.  

Actually, if it weren’t for social media, my project, Boy Sees Hearts wouldn’t exist.   My heart collecting mission started a year ago when I began photographing hearts in nature, food and garbage. When I shared them on facebook, I started seeing more, posting more and making art.

And then others started seeing hearts.

The response blew me away: Features on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Aha Life, Beliefnet and others inspired Boy Sees Hearts to grow from something interesting to something that impacts lives: Charitable giving, meaningful elementary school visits and a children’s book project repped by the inimitable Joanna Stampfel-Volpe.

Recently--when my social media platform started to plateau--Joanna suggested we enlist the expertise of social media empress (and Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Sub-Rights Director and Agent), Kathleen Ortiz.

That brainstorming conference call thirty days ago jolted me from social media stagnation to new levels of Tweet Cred:

First a church.

Then a Real Housewife of New Jersey.

Then, the Mommies. 

(Hearts discovered by Boy Sees Hearts facebook fans)

My revamped social media outreach inspired a connection with Marie, a new facebook fan who informed me that her pastor recently led a Boy Sees Hearts-themed sermon at First Lutheran of Blooming Prairie in Minnesota.

Soon after that, a twitter shout-out from Real Housewife of New Jersey, Fabulicious Theresa Guidice:

Then, two prominent Mom-Blogs, Design Mom and Cool Mom Picks featured Boy Sees Hearts in a twenty four-hour period.

Oh, and my stats skyrocketed. Within thirty days of our brainstorming session my facebook ‘likes’ increased two thousand percent and my twitter followers more than doubled.

By no means am I a social media guru, but here are five tips I’d love to share from my thirty day Extreme Makeover: Social Media Edition:

1.     Talk to people.

Tell your friends what you want to do. Brainstorm with them.  Implement the best ideas.

2.     Do what you’re doing, better.

Are you truly connecting with your audience? Kathleen made a really insightful comment: ‘You’re replying with one-word answers.’ Start a dialogue.

3.     Do what you’re doing, elsewhere.

Joanna liked what I was doing on tumblr and urged me to do more. “Why not try flickr?”  Awesome tip. Kathleen suggested foursquare, where I could post hearts for others to discover. Another great idea.

4.     Step out of your comfort zone.

Find small ways to reach new audiences. I discovered that a slight expansion of my sphere of influence paid off big time.

Have you resisted contests and giveaways because they seemed tacky? Maybe there’s a way you can do them elegantly.

5.     Give your fans a reason to like you.

Create compelling content.…and give away free stuff.

The Boy Sees Hearts Sweepstakes generated a significant number of likes and followers. I found that Wildfire is a great contest app that can be incorporated into facebook and twitter.

Aside from escalating likes, steadily-increasing followers and housewives (Real and otherwise)--for me--the best thing about social media is how it encourages collaboration. If executed well, social media can not only create dialogue, but foster the creative process.

What are some social media practices that have worked well for your platform? I’d love to hear your ideas.

After all, I don’t just want to be liked.

…I want to be loved!

Boy Sees Hearts on facebook

Boy Sees Hearts on twitter

Boy Sees Hearts on tumblr

Boy Sees Hearts on flickr

www.BoySeesHearts.com

Enter the Boy Sees Hearts Sweepstakes

UPDATE NOTE: In the week since this was written, he is gained another 1000 followers!!! - JoSV

A Writer's Guide to Comic Con

Hello All!

I'm back from Comic Con, and it was tons of fun.  But really? It's boring if I talk about Comic Con.  Better to hear from one of our lovely clients, who can describe it much better than me (writer and all).  Merrie Destefano is the talented author behind FEAST and AFTERLIFE.  You can read more about these books and buy them here.  You can also read more about Merrie at her website.  But wait to do all that.  First read her blog post about the Con!

The Road to Comic Con

The road to Comic Con is paved with superheroes, movie stars and cartoon characters. For someone like me—who spends 24/7 immersed in a world of sci fi and fantasy—it’s a tiny bit like heaven. Every year I get to spend 4 days with fellow geeks and nerds. And for once in our lives, we’re actually the cool kids in the crowd. Nobody laughed at the Viking-sized guy whose centaur costume had fully-functional, motorized hind legs. Instead, we stood in awe. Whether you came as a professional, like I did, or as a participant, there’s always plenty of time to play fan girl (or boy).

If you’ve never been to Comic Con, here are a few of my favorite things:

1. The author panels:

Panel subjects range from Magic & Monsters to Immortality: An Obsession With Youth to Writing the Apocalypse. This year’s authors included Kim Harrison, Richard Kadrey, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Carrie Vaughn and more. It was a great opportunity to hear your favorite authors talk about their books and their creative process. On top of that, there was almost always a book signing right after the panel. This year, I spoke on the No Damsels in Distress panel with Marie Lu, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Carrie Vaughn, Kathy Reichs, Chloe Neill and Jeanne Stein. It was a lot of fun, especially once the audience started asking questions.

2. The movie star / TV star panels:

Morning to night, the Comic Con universe is star-studded. Iconic figures from film and television fill the panels, with topics that range from existing TV shows like Big Bang Theory and Vampire Diaries to movies-in-production like Snow White And The Huntsman and (last year’s) Cowboys And Aliens. Fans sometimes wait in line for hours to get in to the panel they want. Here’s a trick I learned last year: If you want to see a really popular panel (like Vampire Diaries), get in line for the event held an hour earlier in the same hall. You can stay in the hall for as many events as you want, plus you can move up to better seats between events.

3. The costumes:

This is one of the few times in your life when you can dress like a kid and get away with it. At Comic Con, every day is Halloween and no costume is too outrageous or silly. Granted, some of them look pretty uncomfortable—like the Spiderman full-body suit that even covers your face—but I’ve never seen anybody complain. Well, okay, I did see a Disney princess get irritated when a guy standing behind her on the escalator trampled on her gown. But in reality, she did a good job of staying in character and barely batted a glittering eyelash. My favorite costume this year was a zombie superman that I saw at the Marriott. Cool note: People weren’t the only ones who got dressed up. The Marriott dressed up too. Take a look at the elevator doors below.

4. The freebies:

There’s almost no end to all the swag you can find at Comic Con. From signed movie posters to ARCs to tote bags, you’re going to be tempted to take it all. Just remember, you also have to carry it all and you won’t get to sit down very often. Comic Con is a standing room only event, where crowds swarm from one end of the convention center to the other—but they almost never stop and they rarely sit down. There just aren’t enough chairs. So, I waited until the last day to gather up my swag and I focused almost entirely on books. ARCs I snagged include: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee, Unleashed by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts and Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon. (I’ve already started reading!)

5. The Comic Con bag:

Nothing compares to the amazing Comic Con bag, given freely when you register at the entrance and get your badge. One side of the bag displays a popular television show like Fringe or Vampire Diaries or Big Bang Theory, and the bag can hold an unbelievable amount of swag. This year’s bag was phenomenal—it could be used as a super-long tote bag or it could be configured into two different styles of backpack or it could be folded in half to look like a woman’s handbag. I’m definitely keeping my bag and have already used it for errands.

Was Comic Con fun, exhausting, like an adventure to another world? Yes. Will I go again next year? You better believe it! This is one event I don’t want to miss.

Ooo! Pretty Thing!

Off to Comic Con tomorrow!  Here's something pretty to look at while I'm gone:

Read more about this here.

Ladies and Gents, meet Kaki Warner

I don't know if you all know this yet, but the wonderfully, talented author Kaki Warner recently won the 2011 RITA award for Best First Novel.  PIECES OF SKY is a fantastic read, and I talked about finding it in the slush pile here. Well, Kaki decided to stop by to share her thoughts about winning and how she stays grounded.

Kaki...it's all yours.

Jo

We all have those moments.  Moments when every word we utter is brilliant.  When the planets have aligned exactly right and everything is absolutely ohmigod freaking PERFECT.  We’re hot.  We’re cool.  We’re invincible.  Nothing can stop us.

Except a loved one, of course.  They have such an endearing way of keeping one firmly grounded in the mundane, don’t you think?

Picture this:  7-something PM, July 1st.  Washington State, a world away from the RWA National Convention in New York.  My loved one is grousing in the next room about what we’re going to eat for supper while I’m in my office, staring at the computer screen, waiting for the next tweet from the awards banquet to pop up. 

(Loved one)  “Sandwiches OK?”

“Whatever.” 

“You gonna fix them, or should I?”

“Whatever.”

“I guess that means I will.” (More grousing)

Then suddenly there it is:  “Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner wins First Book.”

OMG!  I blink.  It’s still there.  I close my eyes for at least three seconds, open them, and IT’S STILL THERE!  Jumping up, I rush into the other room.  “OMG!  I just got a RITA!” 

“Just gotta read a what?  And where’s the sandwich meat?”

“In the fridge.  A RITA!  It’s a thing!  A statue!  A statue-thing.  All silver and shiny and FABULOUS!”

(Peering into the open fridge) “What are you going to do with a statue?”

“Put it on my desk.  The hood of the car.  Make it into an earring.  Whatever.”

(Straightening with a zip lock bag of something reddish) “But you don’t even like statues.  You never use the one I gave you for the garden.  What kind of meat is this?”

“That wasn’t a statue.  It was a fountain-thing of a kid peeing.  Every time you turned it on I had to run to the bathroom.  Sniff it.”

“Sniff it?”

“The meat.  The point is, I got an award that comes with its very own statue.  I’m practically famous.”

“Smells like pastrami.”

“Maybe I’ll put it in the garden.  Right in the middle of the pansies.  Like a little RITA shrine.”

“Practically famous, huh?”

“Well, almost semi, anyway.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, it is.  Make mine on rye.”

Kaki is an award-winning author, a horseback rider, a wife, mother, and long time resident of the Northwest (though she grew up in the Southwest!).  PIECES OF SKY is her first novel, and she has since published 3 more with 2 on the way!  For a complete list of Kaki's books, check out her website.

Book Trailers Work!

This book trailer made me buy this graphic novel.  I can't wait until it get here! 

*eyes mailbox longingly*

If you are equally as intrigued by Anya's Ghost, you should buy it, too!
And check out the author's blog here. 

IndieBound

Barnes & Noble

 Amazon

Brilliant Response to the WSJ Article

Professor of Literature and YA writer, Loretta Nyhan has responded in the International Business Times to Meghan Cox Gurdon's two articles in the Wall Street Journal about Young Adult books.

Read it here.

The Speed Limit on Story Telling

I normally would make a confession on Confessions from Suite 500, but I'm working on a new First Page Shooter for that blog today.  In fact, after you read this, you should go check it out!

So here is my confession:

I am not a fast reader.

I know, I know!  I work in publishing.  I work with some of the speediest speed readers I've ever seen.  But I'm just not that fast.  And I've never admitted it in public before, because being a fast reader is the type of thing that people expect of an agent.

Well.  I'm just not.

But that doesn't mean that I don't love reading. I do. So much so, that I've made it a huge part of my life.

A good story is good for the soul.

Because I'm not so fast, I like to keep my client list on the smaller side of average.  I'm working with some incredible writers, and I love, love their respective styles. I want to have time to read each manuscript they send me closely, not quickly. I find that the times when I am forced to read quickly, I miss things.  Not big things like plot and character moments, but I miss the subtleties of the language, the creative use of the words, and even lines that later become my favorite upon second or third read.

And those are usually the parts that take me from "This is a decent story" to "This is AMAZING!"

I say that as an agent, and as a reader.

So.

I read the article by Katie Crouch in Slate.

Although I don't appreciate the overall sarcastic jabs she takes at YA as a genre, (in fact, a number of authors have responded quite perfectly on that matter, Last Leigh, and Oh, Courtney to name a couple), I do understand what she means by the generally fast turnaround that has been the expectation of authors lately.

But Katie got this wrong here--this is not just happening in YA.  Aside from two specific fiction genres (literary and epic--whether it be epic fantasy, sci-fi or historical), I've seen the same quick-quick-quick pace happening across the board.  And it's been getting faster.

Where is this coming from?

I have my theories, as do others, and they all make good points.  The digital age has created a shift in how quickly we can communicate, write, edit, market to a wide audience--everything.  And not just for books.  People are getting used to instant gratification with everything.  And when it's not there right away, they move on.  Right?

But here's the rub.  At least for me.

Stories are not like other products.  They aren't put together in a factory. They aren't told and written by an entire department of people. And all of the advertising in the world isn't going to make a story have lasting power.

It may take an entire team to get a book published, but publishing a book is NOT the same as telling a story. And before anything else, stories are told by just one or two people (if you have a co-author).

They take time to create and unfold just right. And rushing them only shows in the writing eventually if not immediately--the writers have less time to hone their craft, to focus on the prose, to weave everything together; the editors and agents-who-edit have less time to really dig deep into the characters, plots and themes. And the story will eventually suffer for it.

So what do we do in a time when the audience is looking for instant gratification?

I haven't found the answer yet, but I do know I'm digging my heels in a bit on rushing things when I know it will affect the work.

What are your thoughts on all of this as writers/readers/industry persons/whatever?

Please share!

When you have been rejected...

....please DON'T resend your same query over and over.  We have passed.  Case closed.

....please DON'T tell us off and curse our names.  At least not in a Reply email to us.  It just puts you on our black list.

...please DON'T send the same query with a different title.  More often than not, we remember.  And it's annoying.

Now, when your query has been rejected...

...please DO give yourself a few moments to be bummed out.  No one likes to be rejected and we all face it in this industry at every level. It sucks.

...please DO query us with future projects if you think they are appropriate for our list.

...please DO file it away and just keep writing. Every writer I've ever worked with has been rejected!

That is all. :-)