Some Book News from Kristina...

I'm excited to share some great news! I sold a new middle grade novel!

From Publisher's Weekly:

Brett Duquette at Sterling Children's Books has acquired Cici Reno Knows it All, first in the middle-grade Yoga Girls series by Kristina Springer. It follows a pre-teen yoga enthusiast who helps her best friend get a crush's attention by impersonating her on Twitter, but a friendly favor turns into a social media love triangle. Publication is slated for spring 2016; Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger negotiated the deal for world rights.

Kristina

CART PRINCESS ~ read for FREE

Want to try a free sample of my writing? My young adult short story, Cart Princess, is free today. Check it out and leave a review. :-)

Kristina

#BoySwap #Free on #Kindle

Boys, Band Nerds, and Backstabbers. BOY SWAP is FREE today on Amazon.

Best Book Club EVER

It's been such a long time since I've posted but last we've talked I mentioned I had moved. That was like a year ago. And my kids go to this really great school and they get to do a lot of cool things and have amazing experiences. Like author visits. They've probably had half a dozen+ authors come to talk to them and each time it's a big deal with everyone wanting signed books and they all read them voraciously so it's a good thing.

I've never been the kind of author mom to push my books on them. But at one event we were at when the kids were going on and on about the authors, "Did you hear how he gets ideas?" "Isn't that amazing how she thought up that title?" I looked at them and said, "You guys do realize I write books for a living, right?"

Fast forward a couple of months and a few more author visits. I was leaving to do an author event in Chicago and something clicked with the kids. "Omg! You write books! Can we read them?!"

Thus started the Springer Family Book Club. The kids all demanded their own signed books. How do you sign a book to your own kid? I wrote smooshy love notes to each and signed it Mommy, aka Kristina Springer. And each night we gather in one bedroom (all 4 kids plus us parents), books in hand, and we take turns reading aloud a chapter from My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours. And it's pretty darn cute I must say. Especially since my kindergartner can only read the fast words he knows (like, for, and, the, you, where etc.) and the girls have to fill in the rest. And the kids laugh at all my jokes. And talk about what could possibly happen next. It's awesome. 

Tonight we're reading the last chapter of the book and they're all dying to know what happens. I keep pretending like I don't know which makes them giggle. They asked if we can start one of my other books tomorrow but I'm hesitant-- I think the YA is a little too mature. I did just finish a new middle grade recently so I'm contemplating printing out a copy of that for us to read.

I've been asked in interviews for years, what do your kids think of your books? And I'd always answered, oh they're too young. Now I have a new answer-- they're the best book club ever. :-)

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

My Milkshake Brings All the Boys to the Book...Wha'?

Tip of the Day: A2A contributor Kristina Springer has a FREE young adult novel for download today. Check out Boy Swap on Amazon!!!!! Also for free is her short story, Cart Princess. And her novel Paparazzi Project is 99 cents!

All of my books up to this point have been female-oriented. Every main character has been female. All the books have been in first person...and I've faced a lot of criticism for having too little romance and too much action.

They're probably right. I'm not a girly girl. I'm the girl all the guys want to hang out with. Not because I have big boobs or flirt or whatever - but because I'm into guy stuff.


The majority of novels I read are written by men, for men. They involve explosions, mysteries, and hot & fast sex with little romance. Not to say I don't enjoy a good romance once in a while, but, for me, that is an exception. I prefer action-adventure movies over sweet comedies. I'd rather spend an evening in sweats playing video games than be taken out.

With HIDDEN, I decided to let go of everything I thought I was supposed to do. I wrote with my man's mind. I wasn't gentle to my characters. I didn't have a lot of kissy romance (though there is some quick & dirty sex). I hacked creatures to bloody pulps. I exacted cruelty on my characters. They live and die by the sword. And things just get worse in the next book in the series, HUNTED.

For the first time in my writing career, I'm getting feedback from men. They love the covers (a few women have written me and said they hate them). Women who are readers of my earlier books are writing me and telling me their husbands and sons are enjoying HIDDEN even more than they are. I have male fans!

I can't tell you how exciting this is to me. I know there are a lot of women out there like me who enjoy reading men's adventure fiction and would rather watch The Expendables than the newest romcom. I'm so happy they're reading my books!!!!

But if I can reach men, admittedly a smaller reading population than women, I'll be thrilled. My only concern........will men go out of their way to buy an action-adventure fantasy written by a woman? I don't know.

I seriously considered publishing HIDDEN under a fake male name. Or using initials. But, I figured, screw that. If indie publishing has taught me anything, it's that we can be and do anything we want. Why hide the fact I'm a girl? Just because I have a vagina, it doesn't mean I can't write with some grit.

I'm excited to see where these books lead me. It's been a blast writing them. Since I'm not writing specifically for teen girls anymore, I can let loose with the plot. I don't have to be afraid. It's so liberating.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that my Dragonlands series can do it. I want men to take a chance on them!

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber
www.meggjensen.com

Picture Book Remix (or Short and Sweet and Funny)

Tip of the Day: This has been seen in the wilds of B&N! Pick up your paperback copy and laugh hysterically today.

My first Book Nook column is up in the February edition of Genesee Valley Parent Magazine! I am very excited about this for a number of reasons:

1. It is my first review writing gig that is paying me in actual dollars

2. GVPM is a fantastic locally owned and run publication with quality articles, relevant ads, and great distribution. Plus they are a sponsor for the Rochester Children's Book Festival.

3. I was "forced" to spend time reading picture books

Some of you may be thinking, "Forced to read picture books? Don't you work at the Children's Reference Desk for seven hours each week in your library? How are you not reading picture books? Besides, don't they take about two minutes each to read?"

The answer to all of these questions is YES. But the truth of the matter is:

a. When I work in the Children's Center, people usually ask for books about a certain thing (trains, dinosaurs, trucks, etc.), not for general recommendations about anything...and if they do, I have some go-to titles that I love (books by Tammi Sauer, Audrey Vernick, Anna Alter, and Jean Reidy to name a few).

b. Believe it or not, librarians do not actually sit around and read all day at work. Not even if each picture book only takes two minutes each. Those two minutes add up to time you are supposed to be spending on ordering, doing reference, answering emails, doing PR, running programs, planning events, etc.

c. I focus most of my reading on YA and MG because they DO take longer to read, and patrons can more easily flip through a picture book to see if it appeals to them than a novel.

That said, reviewing picture books for GVPM has been so much fun! Article due dates have driven me to check out and read lots of them at home, compare them, and actually know and love some of the Caldecott Winners this year. And you know what else about picture books?

They are so stinkin' cute and funny! Don't believe me? Or do? Either way, try some of these:

Will this make me want to try my hand at writing a picture book text? I only have once and it was a disaster, but perhaps if inspiration strikes, I will now have some masters in mind to use as inspiration and motivation....

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Long Time, No See (or What I've Been Doing While Not Blogging)

Tip of the Day: Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a paperback copy of the hilarious MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS!

Hello A2A Readers! Oh my goodness, it has been way too long since I've blogged. But I have been busy busy busy and while I do not yet have a book contract, I have been doing many other very cool Librariany and Writerly Things.

Like what?

Let me share a la list format!

1. After the amazingly awesome Greater Rochester Teen Read Week starring A. S. King, I got a mention in School Library Journal! How awesome is that for our fourth year of GRTRW? Thanks again, Amy! (And if you haven't read her REALITY BOY yet, omg you must!)

2. I got offered a gig writing monthly reviews for board books through YA lit! (I will say more when my first review goes live, because, ya know, I'm slightly paranoid like that.)

3. I presented K-12 book talks with my two amazing colleagues at Library Leadership Academy yesterday for Wayne County/Finger Lakes BOCES -- and got to see Steve Sheinkin do a hilarious/telling keynote lunch speech! Last year I raved about BOMB and was so excited when it won FOUR AWARDS. Getting to hear Steve talk about how this book came to be was so exciting. And he seems like such a cool, real guy who has not let medals on his book cover go to his head. I would love to sit around and talk history with him. Fortunately, I believe he is coming to my town this winter to talk at the middle school.

4. Last night I attended the RACWI (Rochester Area Children's Writers & Illustrators; a local division of SCBWI) holiday party, and what a fun, hilarious, and inspiring night it was. I nailed my "talent" for the talent show (named all 44 presidents in order -- boo yeah!), and chatted with the lovely Robin Pulver about characters with special needs, the prolific Vivian Vande Velde about what she's working on next, the strong Marsha Hayles, the vivacious Linda Sue Park & tall M. T. Anderson about the Rochester Teen Book Festival (no, M. T. is not from Rochester, but was in the area for a school visit so of course we "let" him come as Linda Sue's guest!). I enjoyed spending time with all the other writers and illustrators in attendance as well at my beautiful crit partner's house.

5. My siblings came to visit over Thanksgiving and stayed at my house and we had so much fun! This may not appear to be directly related to the world of librarianship and writing, but you see, they are both writers as well: my brother the professor publishes his research in journals, and my sister the LMT writes original books and continuing ed material so others can keep their certification. They are very talented and cool and we all "get" each other's crazy humor.

6. I finished reading a draft of Megg's adult fantasy dragon novel. I can't wait for everyone to read it! (Head to her website for more info!)

And now it is nearly the second week in December. WOW. I will get back to cranking out the rewrite of my MG novel that takes place in an old mansion-turned-library and keep my fingers crossed that someone wants to buy my insane asylum MG!

What have you all been up to?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Book News! New YA Release Coming this Fall!

COMING THIS FALL...

Boy Swap: The secret to sisterly love and scholarly bliss.

Research shows that seven out of ten girl fights are over a guy. The Boy Swap Club fixes all that. In an effort to spread around male cuteness and minimize fights and backstabbing, they just share boyfriends. And Brooke Thomas, consummate band member, has been asked to join the super secret club because the president of the club has the hots for her guy.

Brooke doesn’t want to share her boyfriend. I mean, who does? But how can she say no? She, a second chair flutist in the school band, finds herself sitting between the Varsity Cheerleader Captain and the Homecoming Queen at the first meeting. Her friends will never believe this in a million years.  Too bad she can’t tell them. But she knows. This one event can change her entire life. What if she becomes actual friends with one of these girls? It might be worth sharing her boyfriend. 

Besides, he'll always love her best, right?

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

Merry Christmas!

Tip of the Day: Katie Klein is giving away a copy of The Paparazzi Project on her blog. Go here to enter!

The Paparazzi Project is out and available on Amazon for $3.99! Makes a great addition on those Kindle Fires you're getting from Santa. ;-)

And stop by my blog to enter to win a $25 Amazon gift certificate and a copy of all four of my books plus swag!

Even Santa gets followed by the Paparazzi. Merry Christmas!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Christmas-Themed YA!

Tip of the Day: 10 days until The Paparazzi Project comes out! So excited!

I've talked about my obsession with cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies over the years and if you're a fan too you'll have to agree this year is the BEST! For weeks now they've been playing the movies one after another continuously. My DVR is so dang full right now. Happy sigh. :-)

What about Christmas themed-YA though? I've been working on one for awhile and I love it. And hopefully one day people will get to read it. In the mean time, here's a list of some Christmas-themed YA:

Let it Snow

by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle

From Goodreads: "Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks. Thanks to three of today’s bestselling teen authors—John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle—the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and breathtaking kisses."

Mistletoe: Four Holiday Stories

by Hailey Abbott, Melissa de la Cruz, Aimee Friedman, Nina Malkin

From Goodreads: "Snuggle up beside the fire with this juicy collection of four different, but equally sizzling, winter romances.

Glittering white snowflakes. The handsome blond ski instructor. The sparkle on a cashmere skirt. Hot cocoa and kisses in front of a crackling fire. The holiday season is the ESSENCE of magic...and romance. Four of today's bestselling teen authors -- Melissa de la Cruz (THE AU PAIRS), Aimee Friedman (SOUTH BEACH), Hailey Abbott (SUMMER BOYS), and Nina Malkin (6X) -- bring us delectable tales of love and lust and holiday cheers (and tears) in this one-of-a-kind collection that teens will devour faster than a plate of Christmas cookies."

Ex-mas

by Kate Brian

From Goodreads: "Two Exes. One holiday adventure. Merry Ex-Mas? 

Seventeen-year-old Lila Beckwith's parents just left for vacation, and Lila's all set to throw the holiday party of the season. But when her Christmas-obsessed little brother, Cooper, discovers that global warming is melting the North Pole, he and his best friend, Tyler, take off on a runaway mission to save Santa.

Lila has to get Cooper safely home before her parents get back on Christmas Eve. But the only person who can help her is Tyler's older brother, Beau — a.k.a. Lila's musician, anti-everything ex-boyfriend.

It'll take more than a Christmas miracle for Lila and Beau to overcome their differences and find their fugitive brothers. But could a journey destined for disaster help these polar opposites fall in love...all over again?"

Last Christmas (Private 0.6)

by Kate Brian

From Goodreads: "Ariana Osgood has everything an Easton Academy girl could want: straight A's, the perfect boyfriend, and a coveted spot in exclusive Billings House. But on the first night of Christmas vacation, a blizzard traps her on campus with irresistible bad-boy Thomas Pearson. Alone. Instead of snuggling with her boyfriend next to a cozy fire in Vermont, she's huddling for warmth with Thomas in Ketlar House.

As the snow transforms Easton into a winter wonderland, Ariana finds herself falling for Thomas. But someone is watching their clandestine romance unfold, someone intent on turning their holiday weekend into a nightmare...

Last Christmas reveals the secret of what really happened before Private began -- and the shocking truth will change everything for fans of Kate Brian's bestselling series."

Secret Santa

by Sabrina James

From Goodreads: "A tale of love, romance, confusion, and Christmas perfectly timed for the holiday season.

Noelle, a hopeless romantic, just knows that her gifts have to be from her senior crush! And geeky Froggy thinks the game is the perfect way to get super-popular Celia to fall for him...except she thinks his gifts are from Jake, the school's resident bad boy, and starts to crush on him! Romantic mishaps abound, but all is revealed the night of the Winter Dance, where there's more than one surprise waiting under the mistletoe!"

The Twelve Dates of Christmas
by Catherine Hapka

From Goodreads: "Lexi's feeling a little holidazed this winter....
Lexi's been going out with Cameron for way too long. Sure, he's a nice guy, but there's a spark missing between them. So she comes up with the perfect plan: get him to fall for another girl so she'll be free -- and guilt-free, too.

But when Lexi sees Cameron looking awfully cozy with Jaylene, her heart melts, especially when her budding psychologist best friend tells her that once a new couple has gone out a dozen times, their relationship is pretty much set. Cameron's twelfth date with Jaylene -- the Christmas Ball -- is coming up. Can Lexi find a way to rekindle her relationship with Cameron in the (saint) nick of time?

Happy Holiday Reading!

Kristina Springer

SCBWI-IL Prairie Writer's Day Conference

Tip of the Day: Check out this interesting article about self-publishing, and side note, Jackie Collins is self-pubbing some books now too-- interesting!

I went to my very first ever writer's conference this past weekend-- SCBWI-IL Prairie Writer's Day. And it was pretty fun. The highlights were getting to hang out with writer friends and listening to interesting editors talk industry. And it was really cute in the opening when we all wore finger lights and they played the Chicago Bulls opening song as the editors and agent walked in.

The editors that came were Dianne Hess (Scholastic Press), Beverly Horowitz (Delacorte), Meredith Mundy (Sterling), Elizabeth Parisi (Scholastic Trade), Lisa Yoskowitz (Disney-Hyperion), and Marietta Zacker (Nancy Gallt Literary).

My very honest thoughts are that it was an amazing conference, well-put together and packed with information, but...I wish I would have gone to it like 8 years ago. The information was mostly geared toward new writers-- how to get an agent, how to write a query letter, how to perfect your first page and so on. And when I looked around the room I saw many people that have been in SCBWI for years and years so I'd think a lot of this information wasn't new to them either. I know the basic writer 101 stuff is needed at conferences but I wish they'd include sessions for published writers too. Like, how to effectively promote my book, how to throw an awesome book launch, maneuvering social media and what authors today need to do, how to make your book stand out from the rest, negotiating future book sales, getting foreign and film rights, how to break out of the mid-list and I could go on and on. I'd also love to see sessions on epublishing and all that goes with that: finding a cover designer, where to upload, formatting mistakes to avoid, how to promote your ebook, managing your hybrid author career ("hybrid author" is a term I just learned from the link in the tip of the day. It's for the many traditional authors who are publishing both with their publishers as well as self-publishing.).

So yeah. I'm happy I went, I had fun chatting and I always love to meet editors and hear their thoughts on the current industry. But if I go to another conference I'm going to try to find one that covers a broader range of writers.

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Worst Christmas Present Ever

Tip of the Day: The cheesy Hallmark channel Christmas movies are back! And every Saturday night 7c/8e there is a brand new holiday movie!

I'm totally in the Christmas mood already. Usually I hold off until after Thanksgiving but I've already switched to the Christmas Starbucks drinks, I'm watching all the holiday movies, and my Christmas shopping is well under way. And I was thinking about my worst Christmas present ever, which I blogged about on here four years ago. It's flashback time:

--
It was my first Christmas with my first REAL boyfriend. We had been together most of the year and were quite in the giggly, touchy feely, calling each other nauseating pet names stage of the relationship. I had big expectations for this first perfect Christmas and the perfect Christmas gift that was sure to come from he, my Prince Charming. I imagined all kinds of things-- would it be a book of love poems that he inscribed with some amazing note that I would look at every Christmas for the rest of my life?


Would it be some amazing piece of jewelry, like a necklace with our birthstones or a locket with our pictures side-by-side?

Whatever it was, I knew it would be momentous and it would be something I'd take out to show my own kids and grandkids someday.

Or not.

Though I still remember it like it was yesterday. We were sitting on our knees, facing each other, in front of the lit Christmas tree in my livingroom. I had just given him an AMAZING gift (no, I don't remember what it was, but certainly it was AMAZING). And he had just handed me mine. It was in what looked like a clothes box, but I knew it wouldn't be clothes. Not on our perfect first Christmas. Clothes is an old person's Christmas gift. Maybe it was a stunning photo collage of our relationship? I nervoulsy lifted the flaps of wrapping paper, stealing glances at him. He was very excited and proud of whatever lay in the box. Finally it was open. I parted the layers of white tissue paper and froze. Him, giant smile, so pleased with himself. Me, afraid to lift the item out of the box and a hundred thoughts flying through my head of how I was going to make this ok and what I would tell people when they were sure to ask about my first glorious Christmas gift from my boyfriend.

Want to know what it was?

It was a navy blue sweatshirt with a white turtleneck sewn into the collar. And on the front of the sweatshirt were two big embroidered teddy bears hugging.

I didn't know what to do. I was a teenager, afterall, not eighty and in a nursing home. I couldn't figure out why he thought I'd wear a turtleneck sweatshirt with teddy bears. "Did you read it?" he asked. Oh god, there's more? I thought. I looked at the shirt and sure enough, over the teddy bears it said "I love you BEARY much." Of course it said that. It couldn't just stop at the teddy bears right? I let out some weird kinda giggle and tried to hide my dissapointment. "I, oh, uh, love it" I said. I never was an actress. "I knew you would," he said. "Wear it to my New Year's Eve party ok?" I almost fell backward. What's this? Some kind of joke? He actually wants me to wear this? In public? I tried to make like I had another outfit already but he was so darn proud of his bears in love shirt and insisted that I wear it.

I did wear it. But only that one time. I remember slipping it over my head and feeling like the turtleneck was choking me. I remember walking down the long hallway from my bedroom to the front door of my house, past my three brothers who were all rolling around on the floor laughing and pointing at me and my sweatshirt. And I remember my boyfriend's big smile and him telling me how good I looked when I walked into his house that night.

That, of course, was the last of the sweatshirt. I got rid of it soon after. It never did become that item I'd show my kids and grandkids. And I never told anyone else this story. Until now.

--

What was your worst Christmas present?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Happy NaNoWriMo!

Tip of the Day: Visit the Kid-Lit Cares: Superstorm Sandy Relief Effort and bid on a critique by an author, a phone call with an editor or agent, and more.

Happy NaNoWriMo to those who celebrate! :-)

If you're new to NaNoWriMo it stands for National Novel Writing Month and all of those who participate attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. Sounds fun, right? Check out their main Web site to get more of the details here.

I've personally never participated in NaNoWriMo but I cheer from the stands for those who do. It looks like a lot of fun and one day when I don't have 4 munchkins at home running me from place to place and always wanting to be fed, I might give it a try. If you're going to give it a try, here are some helpful links:

Follow NaNoWriMo on twitter.

Like NaNoWriMo on Facebook.

30 NaNoWriMo Tips (and really, these are great for any writer, any time).

25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Tips from Veterans

And because there is a YouTube video for everything, The NaNoWriMo song.

Good luck!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Drowning in Edits

Tip of the Day: Check out the first installment in Isobel Lucas's Hell Bent/Heaven Sent YA serial for FREE. I read it last night and it's good-- I think she's got a hit on her hands.

It's one of those days where I'm buried in line edits and wondering how on earth I'm ever going to get all of this done. So I leave you with this fun editing comic and ask, do you worry about this every time you give your book to someone to edit for you?! I do.

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Contest Crazy! Tips & Tricks

Tip of the Day: Enter my contests! :-) Links below.

I'm having a contest crazy week with three contests! I thought I'd tell you a little about each one so you can see if contests are something you'd like to do in the future for promoting your books.

My first one is at Free Book Friday. Every Friday they give out books donated by the author. This week I donated three signed copies of The Espressologist and answered interview questions. They also have pages for fiction, non-fiction, and indie books as well so this is a great option no matter what type of books you are publishing. My verdict on this type of contest? DO IT. This is my third time on FreeBookFriday and it's been the best. I can see visible results from their efforts. For one, my twitter followers took a huge jump. Last time I checked I was up by 125 followers this week. And looking at their rafflecopter, there are 6,424 entries with 14 hours to go. Pretty awesome. Definitely worth it.

My second contest is for The Paparazzi Project cover reveal. Here's the cover again:

I love it! :-) For my contest I'm giving away an eARC, swag, and a $25 Amazon gift certificate. This contest is running for a week and so far has 270 entries. Which is pretty awesome for my blog! I don't have as high as traffic as a place like Free Book Friday (which is why it's great to run contests on sites with good traffic!) but you may remember me talking about some of my earlier giveaways where I'd have only 5 entries. This one is going MUCH better. :-)

My third contest starts at midnight tonight. I joined another blog hop. Do you remember how much I loved the last one? Well, this one is a Jane Austin inspired blog hop so if you love books that are Jane Austin inspired, you'll want to check this one out. 79 blogs will be giving away books from 10/19-10/24.

Things I'd suggest you definitely do with your contests? Use rafflecopter. It is really great at keeping track of everything and super easy for your contestants to use. Give something everyone would like if you can (like an Amazon gift certificate). And have people tweet for you as an entry. The more people tweeting for you the better the word gets out. For example, I have people tweeting this as an entry into my cover reveal contest:

THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT Cover Reveal! $25 #Amazon GC, eARC, & swag! @TinaSpringer #giveaway #YALit #YA #mywana #ebookhttp://kristinaspringer.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-paparazzi-project-cover-reveal.html …

Hashtags are your friends. Don't forget to include them too. :-) And I have to add, that everything I'm learning comes from the brilliant Megg Jensen. She's a marketing machine. :-)

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Ta-Da! Cover Reveal!

Tip of the Day: Follow Free Book Friday? They give away books every Friday. Kristina Springer's THE ESPRESSOLOGIST is up for grabs this week. http://teens.freebookfriday.com/ Keep reading my post for more ways to win Kristina's books!

Today is the cover reveal day for Kristina's new novel, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT. This sounds like a modern blend of romance and humor. First take a look at the eye-popping cover.

And here's the contest...

Kristina's running a cover reveal contest at her blog. Hop on over to http://kristinaspringer.blogspot.com/ and you'll be eligible to win an Amazon gift card, ebook ARCs, and swag, swag, swag. 

And here's the blurb...

THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT

Livvie Peterson thought taking Interpersonal Communications her junior year would be an easy A. But when the first assignment is given, her world flips upside down.  Here’s the deal: the class is assigned a six-week project and is split into three groups— Paparazzi, Tabloid, and Celebrities. The Paparazzi follow around the Celebrities taking pictures and grabbing any kind of quotes they can. The Celebrities try to navigate being tailed on a daily basis. And the Tabloid receives all the information collected by the Paparazzi and decides what makes the weekly summary report. Sounds harmless…and it’s all just pretend anyway, right?

Livvie is assigned as Paparazzi and when she is matched up with the über-cute Chas Montgomery as her Tabloid boss she’s pretty sure things couldn’t get much better. Livvie’s uncanny ability to capture the Celebrities in compromising photos matched with Chas’s skill of exaggerating captions and editing the photos make them an unstoppable team. And the long hours working side by side with Chas aren’t a bad bonus.

Livvie simultaneously launches an anonymous blog, leaking the class’ photos and stories on the Internet. Her rising follower number quickly becomes addicting and she possibly spills too much information online. Once she finds her own celebrity will she be able to give it back? And will Chas be gone before she ever has the chance to find out?

*available in kindle format on December 15th.*

Congratulations, Kristina! Happy Cover Reveal Day.

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Can I Write This Off?

Tip of the Day: Stay tuned for Monday 10/15 when I reveal the cover for The Paparazzi Project. Lots of contests coming up next week!

I haven't been home for the last week. I've been busily having a great time on a road trip first to visit family that live up on this really cool mountain in West Virginia.

And then for a couple of days in Washington D.C.

And then the day after I got home I was off again, this time with Megg to the Illinois Library Association Conference in Peoria, IL.

And like most writers, I'm always taking mental notes of places, people, situations and thinking about how I can fit them into a book. Take our first night in D.C. We could have driven into D.C. and parked in a parking garage. But someone told us no, take the metro, it's the best way to travel. So we took a shuttle from our hotel, to the metro. Had problems figuring out how to get tickets and whatnot but finally did. And got all 6 of us to the White House in once piece, though we spent about $30 doing it when there was a nice big parking garage with a sign that said $9 all day parking available. :-) 

We walked and walked and walked until we were exhausted. The littlest in our group being 4 and having walked his little legs off. At the end of the night, we realized we were at least a mile either direction away from a metro stop. Crap. We picked a direction (over the Arlington Bridge to the Arlington Cemetery stop) and started walking. We had to stop to sit down three times in that mile because everyone was so tired. When we finally got there we found that the metro stop was closed! There were no signs anywhere saying that this stop would be closed. It was a new thing as of October 1st. And now we were two miles away from the next stop. We were getting really worried as the hotel shuttle driver warned us his last pickup was at 10:45 so we had to call him before then and it was about 9:15-9:30. And we were stuck on an empty road with 4 kids. 

We tried for a half an hour to hail a cab. No one would stop. I guess because there were 6 of us. I finally called the hotel and told them our situation and they gave me a number for a cab company. My husband called and when they said we'd need two cabs he got mad and hung up on them. And I started crying. Our situation was really sucking. By some luck, a taxi driver finally stopped for us and I squished all 4 kids in the backseat with me. We didn't care what it cost, we just wanted to get back to the hotel. Only the driver wouldn't drive us all the way to Alexandria. He said he could drop us off at the airport. We agreed. There was no way we were getting back out of that taxi. So now it's 10 something and we're running through the airport trying to figure out where the metro is. We find it, pay another $20 for tickets and catch a train. And we caught the last shuttle to the hotel too. 

My husband was upset at what a mess it was trying to get back to the hotel but I was cracking up. How crazy was it that we walked to a closed stop, got stuck on the side of the road, caught a ride to the airport just to catch a train, to catch a shuttle? Spending hours on travel and almost $100 just to get from the hotel to the National Mall and back? When we could have drove and spent $9 on parking? 

I've got to use this in a book some day, right? And then I can write it off. :-)

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Books and Relationships

Tip of the Day: If you're a book blogger and you want signed bookmarks of my next book, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT, for giveaways, e-mail me at Kristina at KristinaSpringer.com.

You know how we're always comparing the book business to relationships? How publishing a book is like giving birth to a baby. Or breaking up with your agent is like divorcing your husband or breaking up with a boyfriend. Well, I thought of a new one this week.

I've been trying to make myself work on one book, a book that I do like a lot but is not the one I'm currently infatuated with. I've been making myself work on it for months because it's the book that will do better in the current publishing industry. The one that would fit a wider audience. And it's been going reallllllllllly slowly. Mostly because it's not the book I want to be working with. Take book number two. I really love book number two. I'm excited about it. Pages come out quickly because I know where it's going. I'm thinking about it all the time. Even though it's not the "right book" for the market, I love it. I'm always writing myself little notes for when I can get back to working on it.  And in the mean time, I keep pushing myself to concentrate on book number one. The right book.

You know what this is just like? Guys! Take Guy #1-- this great guy that maybe my Mom picked out. A friend's son. Everyone is telling me to go with Guy #1. He's so perfect, he's stable, he's so "right" for me. Everyone thinks we're great together. But, I'm not feeling the chemistry. I'm making myself go out with him and sit through endless conversations about his fantasy football league. The Guy I'm really digging? Guy #2? He's totally wrong for me. No one can picture us together. We're total opposites. My mother would freak out. And I want him.

So yeah, I just came to this realization this past week and decided to chuck it all. Forget about what other people think, what's "right" for me. I'm going with Guy #2! I mean, Book #2. :-) And it feels good to be back on track.

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

If It's on Wikepedia then...

Tip of the Day: Add my forthcoming book, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT to your "to-read" list on Goodreads.

It must exist! Ok, something rather cool popped up on Wikepedia this week. An entry for New-Adult Fiction. Maybe you've heard the term tossed around between your cool author friends and wondered what the heck is New-Adult? I know I did the first time I heard it. According to Wikipedia:

"New-adult Fiction or post-adolescent literature is a recent category of fiction for young adults first proposed by St. Martin's Press in 2009.^[1] St. Martin’s Press editors wanted to address the coming-of-age that also happens in a young person’s twenties. They wanted to consider stories about young adults who were legally adults, but who were still finding their way in building a life and figuring out what it means to be an adult.^[2]"

I remember a time, not terribly long ago (about 2006), when I was querying agents with a book about a college freshman and was told several times that no one would ever buy a book with a main character of that age. That I either had to jack up the ages of my characters and make it an adult book or lower the ages and make it a young adult. I'll tell you that I made the characters younger and went along with what I was being told. But I often wondered, why don't people want to read about characters in college? What do the readers who feel young adult books are too young for them (and I don't know what age this happens at as I've yet to reach it myself) and don't want to read adult books read?

And finally there is a genre! New Adult is getting increasingly popular with stand-out self pubbers like Jessica Park and Jamie McGuire.

  

And you may have noticed that traditional publishers have taken notice of these NA self-pubbers and are snapping up their books left and right.  

And finally Wikepedia has given the genre their own entry!

What do you guys think about New-Adult Fiction? Would you read it? Would you give writing it a try?

Kristina, Miss Author in Action