My Favorite Room (And news about Espressologist the web series and a book sale at the bottom!)

Hey Author2Author readers!

I've been MIA for quite awhile. It seems I can't to do too many things at once. We moved in mid-April and the process of getting all of the stuff for 6 people packed and moved was enormous for me! I barely got any writing done. Ok, I didn't write at all during that process. But we're all moved in and I'm getting back to work now. I've been working on the first book in a middle grade series, making notes on a new middle grade book that I'm super excited about, and starting edits on a young adult book. And of course enjoying summer with the kids.

I wanted to share my favorite room in our new house: the library. I've always wanted a library! And this one comes with a coffee bar so I'm hooked (ok, they used it as a library/wine room, but you know me: coffee, coffee, coffee!). Anyway, it's a little room right off of the family room and the kids (and me) love to go in here to read. Here are some pics.

 (looking in)

 (the coffee bar)

(cute window to sit by)

(kids fave place to read)

(up close of the books. Still a work in progress as I keep finding boxes of books in the house)

In other updates, in May Alloy Digital announced the web series, Espressologist, at Digital Content Newsfronts, which was SO cool!. You can read about that here. They included some new details about the script:

"Based on the popular book by Kristina Springer, The Espressologist mixes one part Central Perk from Friends with a splash of Jane Austin’s Emma to create a series brimming with humor and heart.

Working at her neighborhood coffee shop as a barista, twenty-something Chelsea has a front-row seat to people and their crazy, entertaining lives. Always an astute observer of human nature, Chelsea stumbles upon a methodology that makes a love connection between her customers’ personalities and their drink orders. This comedic series follows Chelsea as the stakes are raised and her bizarre dating formula leads to more people (namely friends and co-workers) looking for Chelsea to replicate her success. But will she ever make a match for herself?"

So excited to see the book come to life!

There is also some great sales on my books this week. On Amazon, the paperback of The Espressologist is only $3.60. Just Your Average Princess in hard cover is $6.40. And The Paparazzi Project is on sale for 99 cents at B&N and Amazon.

Thanks for reading all the way through this lengthy post. More soon from me, I promise!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Why Blog? (or What's the Use?)

Tip of the Day: WriteOnCon is happening again this year! Mark your calendars on August 13-14 for this free online kidlit writing conference. Thanks, WriteOnCon team!

A few weeks ago, agent Michael Bourret blogged about why he hasn't felt like blogging lately. To paraphrase, he wonders if there is anything left to blog about that hasn't already been said -- sometimes better -- by someone else. He also speculates that there is so much internet "noise" out there that he doesn't necessarily need to add to it.

I understand where he's coming from. From someone who used to blog weekly on Author2Author, and periodically on my own LiveJournal where I now only post book reviews, I am definitely in blog fatigue. I also have a FaceBook page that I use more to keep up with my friends than talk about myself, and I tweet for my library @bmlkidsteens when I have time or am so inspired. Now that I am preparing to self epub my YA novel, I need to get a website up and running -- but it feels like a daunting prospect (another web presence to keep up with!) and redundant (I'm already on the web in four different places!).

Similarly, I used to bookmark blogs from writers, librarians, and other kidlit industry pros to check daily, or follow them on LJ or through RSS feeds. Now, though, I don't have time because there are so many out there, and also the "groundbreaking" stuff tends to find its way to me through other means.

So, what purpose does blogging serve me now? And what purpose do others' blogs serve me?

My answer? I now look at blogs as part of a "body of work" rather than an up-to-the-minute view of one's life.

To expand on that, if I want to stalk someone -- and come on, we all do it -- I will check out their recent tweets or FB posts. But if I want to see substantial information about a person, or learn more about their writing or life pursuits, I will go through multiple blog posts on their site at one time. In other words, I will read their body of work in one sitting and most likely not "follow" the blog after that once I've learned what I need to know.

So when I'm researching agents, I don't check in every day with the blogs/tweets/posts of all those I'm considering querying; instead I just find one person, read all I can to feel informed, send the query or not, and then move on. If I get a request for pages from the agent, I might dig a little farther.

And that is how I'm thinking about my own blogging now. If I query an agent who wants to learn more about me, he/she can click on the link to this site and see my "body of work" here. That is more imporant to me than showing that I am capable of posting a few paragraphs every week.

This is a place to get to know me, my style, my sense of humor (hopefully!), and that I do enjoy social media but am not devoting my life to my presence here.

At least, this is how I'm thinking today....

How is everyone else using their blogs these days?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Read the Book (or Teen Book Fest #8!)

Tip of the Day: The best time to visit Rochester, NY, is in May during our annual Lilac Festival and Teen Book Fest! We were extra lucky this year and even had perfect weather today.

Wow. Where do I even start? With my gushing or back story?

OK, first one, then the other.

OMG TEEN BOOK FEST IS THE MOST AMAZING TEEN AUTHOR FESTIVAL EVER AND I AM SO LUCKY TO BE PART OF A LIBRARY SYSTEM THAT PUTS SO MUCH LOVE AND EFFORT INTO TEENS AND TEEN LIT AND TO BE A COLLEAGUE OF STEPHANIE S'S (THE TBF FOUNDER)!!!

Phew, OK, got that out of my system. :)

Now to backup.

Eight years ago I was starting to write teen fiction, and had just completed my MLS where I learned that I needed to be a teen services librarian. I began reading tons of YA lit, including SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. Needless to say I fell in love with that book. Soon after I went to her webpage and nearly fell over when I saw that she was going to speak at a Teen Book Festival in my very own Rochester, NY.

I went that to TBF that first year as an attendee and was blown away by the amazing authors presenting there (Lauren Myracle! Nancy Werlin! about 12 in total?), and was thrilled that another Fest was planned for the following year. In 2007 TBF was a bit bigger, and I went again as an attendee. Then in 2008, I got my YA Librarian job and worked TBF as a volunteer -- and have ever since.

What has also been amazing to watch over these past eight years?
--the growing number of presenting authors
--the increasing size of the attendee crowd
--the number of teens devoting an entire Saturday to volunteer with authors and talk about books
--the number of authors who come back to TBF again because they had such an amazing time before
--the care the TBF Committee takes in making each author feel like a rock star
--the number of publishers that now sponsor their authors' visits to TBF
--the number of authors (and illustrators!) who hear other authors talk about TBF, making them want to come too
--the time Nazareth College takes in making the authors and teens feel at home on their campus
--the dedication of Stephanie and her TBF Committee who devote so much time to this amazing event so it becomes more organized and successful every year

I know I'm forgetting some of the thoughts that struck me today as I looked into the crowd of teens, authors, illustrators, teachers, parents, and librarians, but suffice it to say I am lucky to live in a city that really knows how to rock out to teen books.

And a special shout out to my author panel, who have now increased the size of my TBR pile by talking about their current and forthcoming titles! (Forgive me, I was too busy to take pics of the actual event, but check out tweets and retweets from @TBFLive for some great ones.)

And a high-five to the other authors who I chatted with, hugged, and who also made my TBF pile taller:

 Thank you, again, to everyone who made this awesome day possible.

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Living on Hope!

Tip of the Day: Shucked is on a book blitz this week, with 77 bloggers signed up. You can enter to win a copy - all the details are on my blog.

Shucked is the book I queried. It's the book I wanted to traditionally publish. I queried only eight agents.

Not a whole lot, I know. The chances were infinitesimal. And I got rejected by six of them. The other two are we-don't-contact-you-unless-we're-interested agents. I'm assuming they didn't want Shucked.

The whole time I was waiting on responses, I prepped Shucked for self-pub. I'm not one to sit around waiting, but I was respectful enough to wait to hit the publish button until I knew Shucked was passed on. Anything else is unprofessional.

I'm happy knowing I queried my dream agents (the three I wanted most were the first three to reject me, which lessened the sting of the others). I wouldn't settle for just any agent anymore (not like in 2010 when I queried 50-something agents for Anathema). Self-publishing is a better choice, for me, than going with an agent who I feel meh about.

What am I hoping for with Shucked? I want it to be traditionally published. Yes, still. I've epubbed Shucked and put it up for free in its entirety on Wattpad. How will this help? Well, let's say on the off chance people love it (some do, and some already don't, lol). It gets popular. There's word of mouth and buzz. Then maybe someone will want to pick it up for print rights, or foreign, or film. You never know.

Don't tell me the book is dead if it's already out there. That's simply not true anymore. And if Shucked does nothing more than live on as an ebook, I'm certainly not going to complain. I've already sold enough copies to cover the money I spent on it. I'm making a profit and I will never turn away a paying customer.

So let the dream carry on! No book is ever dead. :D

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

A Decision Is Made (or Time To Publish)

Tip of the Day: Check out my husband's new music by his band Blue Falcon! I am biased but I highly recommend his tunes, particularly the humorous "Internet Celebrity."

So, I'm going to do it.

I'm going to self e-pub a YA novel.

Ahhhhh!

This is a huge step for me -- actually getting my work Out There for real readers to read -- but I'm excited! I've hired a cover artist, and just picturing my book with professional art and my name on it makes me very happy.

Why did I decide to go this route? For a few reasons:

1. Some of you may recall my post from last month where I listed all of my MG, YA, and NA works. I know some of these books need to remain in the trunk, but I also know that others are really good and I can't keep fiddling with them -- not when I have so many other ideas I want to write. In order for me to be able to move forward, I need to publish some of my "back list" and call them DONE. And if publishing companies aren't asking for them, it's up to me to pub them myself. So I will -- and I am!

1a. I have to add that I'm glad self epubbing was NOT a viable option when my first, second, oh heck first 7 manuscripts were completed because they were NOT ready for the world and I might've put books out that, well, sucked. But I'm so glad that it IS a solid option now.

2. I love writing YA, but the market is so tight that it feels extra hard to break in. Recently, I found myself shying away from new YA ideas because of this. While I've loved working on my MG novels instead, I didn't want to give up on my YAs -- and I have to say it has been so nice and freeing and fun to polish up my YA without worrying if it is "good enough" to sell to a publisher. Instead I know that I WILL get it out there for consumers to buy and read and enjoy or hate, but the power to publish is mine and the choice to read it will be in the buyers' hands.

3. I'm not getting any younger.

I am in no way giving up on traditional publishing; I'm actively working on getting my MG novel out to agents, and I have another MG waiting for revisions in the wings.

I'm also sure my passion for writing kidlit will only grow as I get my books out there for ebook readers.

Stay tuned for my first YA novel to be published in late summer...details will be coming!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Soft Book Launches

Tip of the Day: My new book, SHUCKED, debuted yesterday. Check it out on my website.

In self-publishing, ebooks are forever. My first day, week, month don't matter in the grand scheme of things. No one's going to pull my book down in shame if it doesn't hit the top of the charts right off the start line.

I LOVE THIS!

I'm not one of those authors that has rabid fans foaming at the mouth for my next book. Okay, maybe I have a few, but not enough to drive me to #1. So here's my strategy for book releases....

1. Facebook. That's where I have the majority of my followers. Generally, they are the ones who will buy my books when they release. Not thousands of them (wouldn't that be nice?), but quite a few.

2. Book Bloggers. I maintain a separate mailing list for bloggers. When I have a new release, I send them a message, asking if they want to read my book. I've had a handful of requests, which is great.

3. Fan Newsletter. These guys get the good stuff. Look, if you want people to sign up for your newsletter, give them a reason. With my announcement, they all get the chance to win 1 of 15 free ecopies. They can also be the first to receive signed bookmarks in the mail. Yes, that slows sales a bit at first. If they don't win the ebook, the bookmark in the mail will remind them about my book.

4. Book Blast. I want to sign up for one. I've contacted one blogger, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. If she doesn't by tomorrow, I'll contact another. This is a one-day blast on bloggers' pages about my book. It's a good, cheap, way to get the word out.

While it's a goal to sell, I also have a bigger goal - to entertain. I put a lot of my heart and soul into this book. I hope people enjoy it. :D

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

Give the Muse Fairy a Vacation!

Tip of the Day: Looking for cover art? My friend Traci directed me to morguefile.com - it's an incredible database of stock photos!

I'm a frantic writer. Once I get a golden idea, I write constantly. Evenings, weekends, in the car, in bed, in the bathtub - doesn't matter where or when, I must write until the book is done.

It's not an easy way to live.

Give the Muse Fairy a Vacation!
courtesy of Microsoft Clipart

And once I've vomited out the first draft of a book, the last thing I want to do is write. In fact, every time I finish a book I quit. I tell my husband I'm done. I look for jobs online. I consider other careers. I dream about going back to school and getting my MA in Museum Studies (my BA is in medieval history with a minor in evolutionary anthropology).

So how do I get the writing mojo back again? I do something new or something that makes me happy - and here's the key - it has nothing to do with writing. Writing prompts annoy me. Begging the muse to come back is futile (even muse fairies need a vacation once in a while).

Here's how I recharge:

1 - I read - but only books outside of the genres I write. This means no YA and no epic fantasy. I love drowning in thrillers (James Rollins), detective novels (Joe Konrath), romance (Tracy Garvis Graves), scifi (Ernest Cline), classics (Chaucer), nonfiction (Dian Fossey), and mystery (Elizabeth Peters).

2 - Day trip - I visit museums, zoos, and aquariums. These are some of my favorite brain vacations.

3 - Volunteer - I help out at my kids' school or with my local Friends of the Library.

4 - Catch up on TV shows - Right now I'm loving Vikings. I've also got Game of Thrones, Season 1 on Blu-ray waiting for me.

5 - Clean my house - Okay, so I'm not a clean freak. I don't clean anything but the bathrooms on a regular basis. So when I finish a book, I tend to look away from my computer for the first time in weeks and see that the house really needs a good scrubbing. I organize, donate, and toss.

By the time I've worked my way through a combination of these stress busters, I always think, "OMG, I really miss writing! Why have I been wasting my time with all of this other crap when there's a novel waiting to be written?"

You may have already guessed by now...I'm not the writer who says you must write 1,000 per day every day of the year. When I'm in the writing groove, I frequently pump out 3,000 to 4,000 words a day. It works for me. The books get written - and that's the most important part of being a novelist.

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber