The Share the Love Giveaway Starts Here!!

Tip of the Day: Leave a comment every day this week to enter the daily giveaway. Tell us where you linked to author2author.blogspot.com for a second, bonus entry!

I have a Valentine’s Week confession to make about love.

I don’t present myself as a lover of material possessions. I don’t have a secret name for my car. I’ve never missed a utility bill because I couldn’t resist splurging on new shoes. Life, I tell my nine-year-old repeatedly, does not revolve around accumulating things. But I lie! Because there’s one big, big exception to this rule: I love my iPod.

You recall the classic dilemma “if your house was on fire and you could go back in to save one thing, what would it be?” Well, it wouldn’t be one of my personalized, signed books. It sure wouldn’t be any sappy photo album of my children’s babyhood. Really, the only question in my mind would be how I got out of the house without my iPod in the first place.

I love my iPod! I listen to my iPod while writing, while at work, and while in the car. I have playlists for my characters, my settings, and my plots. I know what music my characters love; schizophrenic as it sounds, their tastes in music have expanded my own. My first novel was set in California. Now I’m the station-wagon-driving, upstate New York suburban Mom blasting Daddy Yankee on my way to the supermarket.

Which brings me to my pick for our Share the Love Giveaway: Caridad Ferrer’s It’s Not About the Accent.

In both this novel and Ferrer’s earlier Adios to my Old Life, she includes many references to modern, popular music. The main character in Adios is a musician, but in Accent, we find out the romantic lead’s music tastes because … oh, come on, how could you not want to know? Could you date a man after discovering he loves Toby Keith? Isn’t telling the man you love about the music you listened to in junior high school a touching act of revelation and trust? And there’s something so wonderful about my husband, when I pull up to the elementary school singing along to Wisin y Yandel or Dashboard Confessional, admitting proudly, “Yes, that’s my wife.”

Ferrer’s leading men have strong ethnic identities, which, along with great taste in music, is very attractive. It’s the attachment to something bigger than one’s self (like the musician to his art) combined with the love of the history of who came before you, a theme in It’s Not About the Accent. It’s also lure of the unfamiliar setting, if the main character doesn’t share that culture. Think Kardik in Libby Bray’s trilogy, or Jamie in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Romantic fantasy has this lure; in Stephanie Meyer’s books, Bella sure falls for Edward’s vampire history.

I’ve been writing Middle Grade lately, but my next NaNoWriMo novel will be older YA and I’m already planning to “borrow” these attributes for my main character’s competing romantic interests. In Accent, the leading man is very close to his family. I don’t find that to be an instant turn-on. Lots of great people come from nutty families. But a guy watching out for a younger sibling, I think, has a lot of punch. So while I’m at the character building stage: Anything else you think I should build into my leading men?

I definitely learned a lot about “the guy you want your main character to be with” in It’s Not About the Accent. I wouldn’t call this a RomCom. There are heavy emotional trials in store for the main character, Caroline. Ferrer skillfully writes two love interests for Caroline—the one we’re rooting for and the one we’re not—and lets us see why Caroline makes the choices she does. Her bad boy isn’t a cardboard villain. Eric and Paul are real people, with pasts and futures beyond the pages of the book. As in many YA romances, this novel isn’t all about the romance and doesn’t follow a formula. Like most 17-year-olds, Caroline wants a different life than the one she’s led to date, and, like most 17-year-olds, she finds that’s a pretty easy goal to accomplish … if only she had defined it better because “different” turns out to be way too vague a goal to aim for without shooting yourself in the foot …

Have I intrigued you? So enter already! Leave a comment, either here or on our LiveJournal feed, and you’ll be entered in my drawing to win It’s Not About the Accent. Link to author2author.blogspot.com in your blog/website/little piece of the internet and tell me where in your comment, and you get two entries. Emily will announce the winner tomorrow in her post—a fantabulous interview with Shana Norris, author of her giveaway novel, Something to Blog About!

By the way, right now my husband is blasting America’s “A Horse With No Name.” *Sigh* I swear, he hid this tendency from me until after the wedding. But I love him anyway. Now isn’t that romantic?

-- Kate, Miss Apprentice Writer

Sharing the LOVE Book Giveaway Contest

Tip of the Day: Reading A LOT of books in the genre you're writing in is one of the best things you can do to improve your writing.

In honor of Valentine’s Day next week, we’re hosting a contest where each day, one lucky blog reader can win a lovey-dovey young adult novel. Yep, we’ll be going to our bookshelves and selecting a new or a gently used, but like new, book and sharing the love, in more ways than one.

Here’s how it works.

Each day, we’ll blog about a book we are giving away. Simply leave a comment if you’d like to be entered to win that particular book.

If you’d like an extra entry, post about the contest on your blog, but make sure when you comment on our blog to enter for the contest that you tell us where to find your post for that extra entry. You only need to blog about it once, but when you are leaving a comment, refer to that entry each time, since we have five people doing five different drawings.

Entries must be received by midnight EST (9:00 PST) each day. Sorry, we will only be able to mail to US addresses.

Here are the books you have the opportunity to win!

Monday – IT'S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT, by Caridad Ferrer
Tuesday – SOMETHING TO BLOG ABOUT, by Shana Norris
Wednesday – THE SECRET LIFE OF A TEENAGE SIREN, by Wendy Toliver
Thursday – THE BOYFRIEND LIST, by E. Lockhart
Friday – LOST IT, by Kristen Tracy

The contest begins Monday, February 11th - be there or be square. It promises to be a fun week, as we even have an interview scheduled with Shana Norris on Tuesday!

~Lisa, Miss Pinch Me I'm Pubbed

Who Do You Let Read Your Stuff?

Tip of the Day: Packaged cookie dough from the store (but NOT homemade) is ok to eat when you are pregnant.

Well, they ask and they ask but I just won’t let my family read anything I write. Is that awful? Nah—they are the most judgmental people on earth! Ok, I’m kidding about that of course (really—you guys are great!) but I won’t let them read any of my books. Not yet. If they want to shell out the bucks when they hits the bookstores well then that would just rock. I’ll just disappear for a week until I’m positive that everyone has finished reading and then slowly reemerge. But I’m just not at a point where I can hand it over to them now to read. Is it a problem with me? I don’t know. I keep telling myself that they just won’t “get” my books. They aren’t my target audience.

But I’m not sure that’s it either. On Oprah they are always talking about things like that book The Secret or laws of attraction and how you bring something to your life by wanting it and visualizing it. One woman on yesterday’s show said that she purposely didn’t tell her family when her husband lost his job because they viewed it as a good thing (they even broke out the wine and glasses) and she was afraid the family would put off negative energy and bring them down at a time when they needed to remain positive. So maybe I’m anticipating the chance of negative energy and I don’t want anything to pull me down? Kinda like how I didn’t even tell my family I was writing books until I was about to get an agent? Like if I told them they might have said “that’s stupid”, or “you can’t do that” and I didn’t want to be slowed down so I just plowed straight ahead? Hmmm…I wonder what Dr. Phil would say about all this?

I would let my husband read my books but honestly that scares me a little too. He’s more into science fiction stuff and he reads like 250 books a year. That is a lot of books to compete against. And he HAS to be nice to me so he would just say everything is wonderful right? I kinda almost sorta offered that he could read one of my books once…but he said he wanted to wait until he could hold the book in his hands so I’m just fine with that because he’s probably the only person I’d bend my “nobody in the family reads my stuff” rule for.

That’s not saying that I don’t let anyone read my books—obviously I do that. I have a number of great critique partners, and my agent, and others at her agency, and then editors etc. that read my books. They are all great readers because they “get it”. I willingly and happily send them stuff all the time. So when the family asks me now if they can read something, I practice a number of techniques—1) avoidance, 2) redirection (“Oooh, is that a new shirt?” 3) Fake labor pains and 4) The smile/head bob/no comment thing.

What do you guys think? Am I wrong here? Do you let your family read your books? Who do you let read your stuff?

Kristina, Miss Soon-to-Pub

First Page Critiques (or What Makes Me Wanna Go All Simon Cowell)

Tip of the Day: Click the link in the right-hand pane to my first introductory post for some FABULOUS NEW DEVELOPMENTS in my work life!!!


SCBWI conferences are great for inspiration, learning about the market, and meeting up with other kidlitters.


They are also good for laughs.


I apologize ahead of time for being what some may consider "harsh," but fortheloveofgod people, please do some serious reading and revising before reading your first page at the First Page Critique session at a writing conference. If you do not, these are the thoughts that will be in my head -- and if I were Simon Cowell, you'd be hearing them:


1. Dustballs riding helicoptors and zucchinis running around town looking for dinner are not stories. Not even in picture books. Ever. In fact, just stay away from anthropomorphism all together unless you know how to write a story without it. Oh, and please avoid the word "crotch" in your picture book. I mean, does an illustrator really want to have to deal with that one?


2. Picture book readers do not want to hear 250 words of boring prose before something -- anything -- happens. The wind whispering the name "Martinique" whilst smelling of primrose and frankincense makes me wish I was reading about dustballs, crotches, and zucchinis.


3. Novels that switch point of view three times in one page are confused. Who is the main character? If it's the teen boy, then why do we care what Dad is thinking about while he chews his pork chop? We don't. In fact, we don't even care that he's chewing.


4. Starting out a picture book with child-like imagery that suddenly shifts to the sentimental thoughts of an adult is like watching 35-year-old Luke Perry play a high schooler in Beverly Hills 90210. Not attractive, not believable, not right.


5. Hilarious middle-grade novels are always appreciated, even if they center around puke. Poorly done middle-grade novels that are supposed to be funny and center around anything make me embarassed for the author. You know that feeling you get when you watch the "acting" in the High School Musical series? Like you need to cover your eyes and ears or you'll cry for them? Yeah, that feeling.


6. Rhyming picture books rock
When the text is not a crock.
If the lines only rhyme
'Cause of crappy texty brine
And it makes no sense
But you think it's cute
Just throw it down
The garbage shute.


On the Paula Abdul side, there was one great rhyming picture book first page that had me tappin' my toes. And most of the first pages that made me want to read more were YAs and MGs (yeay!). Some people are really talented and I am excited to see people in my SCBWI region do well.


But the people I am really impressed with are the conference faculty members who sit at the front of the First Page Critique room, listening to each page with all their attention, who don't once let a Simon Cowell comment slip from their tongues.


What are some of the best/worst First Page Critque pages you've heard? If you don't wanna go all Simon Cowell, you can keep them to yourself (but make sure to comment on my post next week for a chance to win a nearly new YA novel!).


Deena, Miss Recently Repped

What's common in YA and how to seperate yourself

Tip of the Day: A little birdie named MySpace told me it was our very own Lisa Schroeder’s Birthday today. Have an amazing birthday, Lisa!

In the YA writing world, some of you might have seen the 25 common phrases and ideas in YA books that Joelle Anthony posted and Agent Kristin Nelson reposted on her blog last week. On one of my online writing lists there has been a small discussion centered around whether it’s okay for new writers to take to heart and/or remove their most common or clichéd phrases from their manuscripts.

I don’t really want to debate that, personally because I think that if someone posted information in an attempt to be helpful to new or established writers, those writers can either take the advice as intended or simply not look at the information. And I come from the camp that you can do anything—even clichéd—phrases if you do them well. I also come from the camp of loving lists—which topped this particular list as the most used idea in YA books—and would hate to see all the “lists” in books suddenly disappear.

However, in seeing the discussion it sparked something in me that I think a lot of new writers, myself included, sometimes forget.

And that’s marketing!

If you think you don’t need to be aware of marketing when just starting out writing a book and trying to sell it, then I am here to tell you, you are wrong. (You can go ahead and throw objects at me for admitting that, if you wish. But please no tomatoes or computers—unless it’s the new MacBook Air, which I will gladly catch and keep.)

Marketing is much more than selling books to readers. From my good old college days, I do remember that there are four main P’s in marketing: product, price, place (distribution), and promotion. Luckily as a new writer just starting to write and sell we only need to be concerned about product at this point.

But another key component to any marketing is that you are aware of who you are marketing this product to. That’s why there’s entire classes devoted to demographics and psychographics of understanding the “customer” and your “competitors.”

So for YA novels, who’s your customer?

Sure it’s teens. Sure it’s adults (because we all know there’s plenty of adults that read YA).

But even before that, the main “customers” of your book are agents and editors. You have to get it by them before you can sell to your end customer.

And you know what, these are the people you have to be concerned about cliché and popular ideas for. Because teens probably wouldn’t be able to spot a clichéd phrase out of a line up (some would, but most probably won’t care if they like the book enough); however, agents and editors read hundreds and thousands of sample pages a year. And if they are seeing stuff come up over and over again, then I think it’s important you know about this, so you can try to separate yourself from the pack.

Just like how on most agent blogs you read that in query letters, agent don’t really like seeing clichés in the letters, since it makes it “appear” like the book is going to be like a bunch of other books already out there.

Separating yourself from the pack doesn’t have to mean completely removing clichéd phrases or concepts. Maybe it’s twisting the phrase or idea on its head. Maybe it’s focusing on the stronger parts of your manuscript instead, such as your voice or your plot. Just something to make it stand out. And most of the time, this happens naturally. But I do think it’s important to be aware of what else is out there.

That’s why, I for one am very grateful to have an inside look at what other writers, editors, and agents are seeing an abundance of. It’s the good old marketing-brain in me that loves to know all about my competitors and customers and how I can separate myself from them in both query letters and my manuscript.

So if you think it might help you, too, then make sure to check it out: here and here. And is there anything else you guys see alot of in YA books?

Bonus tip (since I loved Kate’s idea of one): Make sure to check back on Friday for a special announcement about a oh-so-exciting thing we have planned next week to celebrate Valentine’s Week.

-- Emily, Miss Awaiting an Agent

My Favorite Book as a Teenager

Tip of the Day: Never bet against New York, baby!

A friend blogged on her LiveJournal about a YA novel from the 1920s she picked up at a yard sale and how awful it is. How far we’ve come, she mused. Perhaps, but I have wonderful memories of my favorite novel when I was a teen. It was originally my grandmother’s. I never knew my grandmother; she died when I was 2, so I loved reading her book. By the time I got it, the cover and title page were missing, as were many other pages. As far as I knew, it was the book with no name. And it rocked. Hard.

The book was written in the late 1920s/early 1930s. Inside the book were three “contemporary” stories about a group of teen girls. Each story featured a different friend as the POV main character, ala Babysitters Club.

The first story starred Evelyn, who loved to read books and wanted to be a writer. Like me! What a coincidence! OK, maybe not that much of a coincidence. (Bonus tip: If you want readers to identify with your main character, make her like reading.) But she had the world’s coolest bedroom with a full bookcase and her own writing desk. And she was particular about her pens. How could you not love her? The plot revolved around Evelyn and her friends reuniting an orphan girl with her family based on clues they found in old needlework samplers. There was a general air of “oh, those poor oppressed girls in earlier generations who couldn’t speak for themselves and had to code their knowledge in their sewing!” I got an impression of Victorian teenagers imprisoned in red parlors, slaving away at samplers and seething with thwarted rebellion. No sewing for Evelyn and her friends—they were way liberated.

The second story starred Dorothy, who yelled out windows and made Evelyn look like a wet blanket. This time, the girls were off to a vacation in West Point (which meant they lived near me approximately!) where they encountered—gasp—boys!! They decided to name themselves the Linger-nots. I hated that name, but if it meant they were swooping on the cute boys ahead of the local girls, then I was all for it. Dorothy was always up for adventures with Roger and his buddies.

The third story starred Aline, and the Great Depression was starting to show. To help her family, Aline quit high school when offered a waitress job. I thought the name Aline was the shizzle. The girls were again reuniting an orphan with her extended family. I was willing to overlook the recycled plot because the MC matter-of-factly dropped out of high school to become a waitress. The YA novels published in my teen years never would’ve dared, at least not without a lot of head shaking.

I think this book started my love for YA literature and put me on the path to writing what I write. I had adult books and children’s classics on my shelf, but this old novel that my grandmother and my mother read when they were teens got to the heart of what I cared about: friends, boys, women’s rights, my crappy teen jobs. I read it over and over until it fell apart. About a year ago, I posted about this book on a “lost books” thread on Verla’s [insert link] and a wonderful blue-boarder told me my book was the collected “Linger-Nots” series. The original books are available on the used market for reasonable prices. I always say I’m going to buy them, but I never get to it. I’m afraid in the “real” book, Aline’s name isn’t really Aline and all those missing pages I filled in—probably with illicit meetings between Dorothy and her brother’s friends—have been edited out. Maybe the book reads better as a memory.

What was your favorite book when you were a teen, and when was the last time you read it? Do you think you’d still love it today?

-- Kate, Miss Apprentice Writer

Baby, oh BABY!

Tip of the Day: Sleep when the baby sleeps. And when she's awake, cherish every moment.



I’ve decided having a book published is a lot like having a baby.

You wait and wait for the little bundle of joy to arrive. Some days, you can hardly stand it, you want to see and hold her so badly. But there’s nothing you can do – when she arrives is totally out of your hands.

Once the baby is finally born, you are in awe of the cute little thing, and you want to show her off to the world. Birth announcements and pictures are sent via mail and the internet to anyone and everyone. "Look! She’s here! Isn’t she beautiful!" Well wishes come from far and wide. And it’s a joyful, joyful time.

A couple of weeks later, the flowers are dead, and the delicious food people brought is gone, replaced with peanut butter plopped on a piece of bread and a can of soup, if you can manage to open the can with one hand.

Reality sets in. Having a baby is hard work. There are sleepless nights. There is constant worrying. And there is the work, day in and day out, to help your baby grow into what you want her to be.

Constant questions swarm your brain - Am I doing enough? Am I doing it right? Should I be doing more? What do others do?

Postpartum depression sets in. Once in awhile you look at the baby and think, what have I done? I have no idea what it takes to do this. I can’t do this!

Then, one day, you take the baby out. And someone stops you and says, “That baby is the CUTEST baby ever. Why, look at her smile! You sure did something right with that one.”

Your heart swells with pride. You look at her like you did the first time you saw her. And suddenly, it doesn’t matter that some babies are bigger than her or prettier than her or have their pictures in magazines because they’re so fabulous.

She is here, and she is yours. And it may well be a long road ahead, but in your heart you know, you’ll do the best you can and you promise yourself to remember that’s really all anyone expects you to do.

Yep.

It’s pretty much exactly like that.

~Lisa, Miss Pinch Me I'm Pubbed