Okay, we've got a copy of Myra McEntire's HOURGLASS and a Andrew Smith's MARBURY LENS up for giveaway this week.
To win, just complete the form below by next Thursday, 3/8/12. Good luck. Both are phenomenal reads!
Book Reviews and Giveaways
- DO NOT miss all these great contests and giveaways.
Writing Links, Contests, and Giveaways - Looking for the scoop on CITY OF LOST SOULS? Here's the TOC.
City of Lost Souls Prologue & Chapter Titles! - Enter by 3/10 to win THE PRINCESS CURSE.
MARVELOUS MIDDLE GRADE INTERVIEW WITH MERRIE HASKELL AND THE PRINCESS CURSE GIVEAWAY - Page turning and creepy in more ways than one. Here's a review of THE BUTTERFLY CLUES by Kate Ellison.
Spotlight: THE BUTTERFLY CLUES by Kate Ellison - Unique voice in THE VANISHING GAME. Read the first page.
First Page: THE VANISHING GAME - Enter by 3/10 to win INVISIBLE SUN by David Macinnis Gill.
GIVEAWAY—INVISIBLE SUN by David Macinnis Gill - Free ebooks on Pinterest and how to find them.
How To Find Free eBooks on Pinterest - Looking for great March reads? Here's the YA release lineup.
March 2012 YA Releases - Darker than DELERIUM and better. Here's a review of Lauren Oliver's PANDEMONIUM.
Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver - Want an ARC of STARTERS? Comment by 3/9.
Book Signings and STARTERS Giveaway - Into SciFi?@ElanaJ says CASSAFIRE is one to pick up.
CassaFire by Alex Cavanaugh - Five great prize pack giveaways to celebrate the release of PERCEPTION. Entery by 3/15.
Perception Release Contest - Wonderful video of drawings, paintings, and thoughs by Kevin Henkes.
Illustrator Video: Kevin Henkes - Do you look back fondly on discovering Harry Potter? She's writing for adults!
J.K. Rowling to Publish First Adult Novel - GalleyCat
Craft, Self-Editing, and Critiquing
- Do you have too much backstory for more than one book?
When Your Backstory Becomes Your Story - Three great tips for creating sympathetic characters.
Sympathetic Characters - First person POV? Does your mc's dialogue sound the same as her narrative voice?
Hearing Voices: Narrative and Dialogue - AMAZING schedule and lineup for the NYC Teen Author Festival in March.
NYC Teen Author Festival 2012 - Inner dialogue can elevate the emotional depth of a scene. Here's how.
Inner Dialogue—Writing Character Thoughts - Fresh (really) perspectives on how to fix your novel.
25 Ways To Unfuck Your Story - What makes a reader or agent put down your book? Any of these eleven things.
Eleven Ways Writers Annoy Readers - When you can't get the sentence right, look at the bigger picture.
Drawing Attention to Things - Two ways to cue your reader to distrust a character without losing your reader's trust.
Using Ambiguity - The Difference Between Tension and Mistrust - Good discussion on POV and great examples of going deeper.
Point of View - What are the crucial four events of plot and character revelation in your character's journey?
The Act 1 Turn - Eight things to avoid in writing a novel--and why you should write many novels to succeed.
The Eightfold Way: The 8 Basic Don’ts for Novel Writers - When the baby name book falls short, read this to help create names suited to your world.
How to Invent Names for Your Genre Novel - Establish, Build, Resolve--a pantser's guide to three act structure.
The Author’s Bucket List on Plot Structure - Fabulous list of 15 ways to grow your writing chops.
Forty Years of SCBWI Wisdom - It's not just about the dialogue. An example of how tone matters. :D
Anything sounds filthy if you say it right - Here's a nice characterization exercise to flex your writing muscles.
A Little Creative Flexing - The benefits of typing/writing fresh words on an edit.
Revising Equals Rewriting - YES! I agree on all points: rocks. Give it a try!
YA Highway: How I Became A Plotster aka I Love Scrivener! - Ask yourself "Why Not?" to test if your "I can't!" is valid.
Kidlit.com · Bad Obstacles - Three steps to defining and using the mc's goal and the story objective to restructure your novel. Edit
I can (FINALLY!) announce my book deal! | Elizabeth May - Writing about a flood? Here's another brilliant, comprehensive post in the Weather Thesaurus.
Weather Thesaurus Entry: Flood - How many scenes are in your novel and how many do you need?
How Many Scenes Does Your Novel Need? - Three keys to bringing a fantasy world to life.
Guest Blog with Kenya Wright - How to Create a Well-imagined Fantasy World - The mc should discover information after the reader and other great insights on revelations in your ms.
Revelations and Reveals - how to surprise your reader - The emotional processing of rejection is a kind of grief.@jenunedited shares the stages.
Five Stages of Rejection - Live in the moment, make mistakes, and other great tips for writing a YA voice.
A Discussion on Voice in YA with Janice Hardy - Leave your readers dangling on your hook when you end a scene. via@KMWeiland
Don’t Tie Off Your Scenes With a Ribbon
Inspiration and Smiles
- Writing? You can't read enough.
Learning to write: Reading - Mindblowing post about the true complexities of storytelling. Read it and give yourself a break.
Your Story: It’s All in the Mix - GREAT post about regrets to avoid in pursuit of pub and why it's important to prioritize.
10 Things I Wish I Would Have Done Differently - Got your typos on? Need a literary laugh? Watch this.
Its impotent to proofreak - Ask yourself "Why Not?" to test if your "I can't!" is valid.
Kidlit.com · Bad Obstacles - If you want to be a writer, stop looking for maps and start walking your own path.
A Moment Of Unsolicited Advice - Writing is magic, a living performance that surprises and awes the audience.
Writers Aren't Painters They're Magicians - Three things you know as a writer that connect you to the world.
3 Things Writers Know - Having a plant in your writing space can keep you grounded.
How Plants Can Help Your Writing! They can... I promise...
Issues, News, and Congratulations
- Thinking of sharing something on Pinterest? You're giving up copyright!
Pinterest Terms of Use Raise Copyright Concerns - Congrats to Scott Bailey of the Literary Lab for his book deal!
Book Deal - Lit agent Jill Corcoran is looking for two unpaid interns to help screen queries w/ potential to learn about industry.
2 INTERNS NEEDED - How much should readers or authors be able to control what they can do with their e-books?
DRM Isn't the Answer, But It's Not Not the Answer Either - Penguin, libraries, overdrive, and collateral damage to readers.
We will measure our loss - How much do you remember when you read? A reminder for writers.
How To Cure Reading Forgetfulness - Another BIG library system jumps on the YA lit reading bandwagon.
Los Angeles Public Library launches teen reading series - HarperCollins will market their fiction on Figment as Figment takes control of InkPop.
Figment to Manage HarperCollins’ Inkpop Writing Community - AMAZING schedule and lineup for the NYC Teen Author Festival in March.
NYC Teen Author Festival 2012 - What do teens want to read? Top ten survey and hope for contemp authors.
Will contemporary YA make a comeback? (Meet Callie Kingston.) - SFWA sends book links to IndieBound, B&N, or Powell's instead of Amazon.
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America Site Drops Amazon Links - HathiTrust digital library of seven million scanned books teeters on the legal brink.
Authors Guild Files Motion for Fair Use Ruling in HathiTrust Lawsuit - Congrats to Ruta Sepetys,@KateMessner and the other Golden Kit Award Winners and Honorees!
BREAKING NEWS: The 2012 Golden Kite Award Winners and the 2012 Sid Fleischman Award Winner!
Social Media, Author Promotion, and Self-Publishing
- Using social media strategically as part of your "lucky" work process.
Four Ways to Make Your Own Luck Using Social Media - Going to a conference? Some great tips to market yourself professionally.
Writers Conferences: Editor & Agent Appointments - Nine tips for doing radio interviews.
Radio Interviews - Ten tips for streamlining your email footprint.
Your Email Might Be Somebody’s Last Straw - Are you running your writing and promotion like a business or throwing things into the wind?
Is Your Promotion Making Sense - 71% of publishers want to have a more direct marketing relationship with their readers.
Publishers To Invest In Reader Data For Marketing - Blog posts have a longer shelf life than tweets or facebook for book marketing.
Must a Novelist Promote on Those Pesky Social Media? - Is it worth adding your book on Smashwords?
Shortchanging Yourself and Your eBook - An example of taking your book to market
Why Amazon’s KDP Select Is God’s Gift to Authors - Signed a book contract? Hooray! Now get to work. 9 things you must do now.
WOW! Women On Writing Blog: 9 Things You Must Do After Signing a Book Contract - Twitter/Facebook/blogging/etc. cutting into your time? How to cut back without losing out.
.W.I.P. It: 7 Ways to Cut Back Without Losing Out - Want a book trailer? Here's how to make one.
How to Make Your Own Book Trailer - How to develop blog and website content optimized for the way readers read online.
5 Keys to Writing for an Online Audience - Five reasons you may not be getting as many comments on your blog as you used to.
Blog Commenting - Is It Going Extinct? - GREAT post on how to keep readers on your author site longer and bring them back for more.
Author Websites: Layering Yours With Sticky Extras - The marketing of your book isn't markedly different between indy/self pub and the big 6.
Susan Kaye Quinn, Young Adult Author: Sweat Equity in Book Publishing
To Market
- Writing fantasy? Get your short story entries in for the Fantasy Faction Anthology competition.
Fantasy-Faction March 2012 Writing Competitions - Copyright and more you need to know about your book contract.
What does an author need to ask about book contracts? (Part 1) - Six important news items in publishing, plus two posts you'll want to read if you're looking for an agent.
What Do Writers Need to Know? - Five things you need to know about book contracts.
What does an author need to ask about book contracts? (Part 2) - Pitch contest opens 3/2 with 10 agents. Wind up your 35-word pitch and your first 150 words!
March Madness Agent Pitch Match. Game on. -Friday, March 2 - Submission Information - Do writers still need agents? Yes, if you want to consider traditional book deals.
Why writers need agents: 4 pros weigh in - The new pitch formula: show what makes your book special and unique, don't try to sell it.
The new author pitch: Show, don’t sell - Guidelines for submitting to Greyhaus Literary Agency when it reopens to subs.
Greyhaus Is Open To Submission - TOMORROW! - FANTASTIC post including real reasons your query or manuscript may be passed on when you query.
17 Reasons Book Manuscripts Are Rejected - Maria Lamda especially wants moving or hilarious YA/MG general, or women's fiction.
Agent Spotlight: Marie Lamba - Great collection of writerly, agent, and publishing tweets from the past week.
Field Trip Friday, Twitter Version: February 24, 2012
Other Weekly Round-Ups:
- Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsationsdoes a Cynsational author, craft, and book news review.
- Elizabeth Craig posts a comprehensive weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
- Stina Lindenblatt does a fabulous Cool Links Friday post every week.
- YA Highway's Friday Road Trip hits the high points of the publishing industry, writing craft, submissions process, and other fun stuff.
Happy reading and joyous writing,
Clara and Martina
Wow! As usual you amaze me with how you keep on top of everything. Thanks for sharing them all with us.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Perfect post to compliment my Friday and my George Michael playlist.
ReplyDeleteI find your Friday links both informative and interesting. Thanks for doing this! :)
ReplyDeleteLove, love, LOVE all these links. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteFabulous list of links! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteTwo books and a great list of articles? Awesome.
ReplyDeleteLoved the link roundup!!
ReplyDeleteAnother great summary. I don't know how you guys get around like you do, but I'm so glad you're able to do it!
ReplyDeleteBecca @ The Bookshelf Muse
I've just spent the last 20 minutes looking for this Google+ roundup and I'm baffled! Maybe it has to do with following you on Google+? I swear I am visiting the second I find it (or could you kindly leave a link?)
ReplyDeleteLots of great links! I've missed a lot this week (computer woes continue...) so this will help! :)
ReplyDeleteLink-a-mania rocks. I don't get as panicked about missing something. You are better than anti-anxiety meds.
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