Tip of the Day: Can't make it to NYC SCBWI this weekend? Follow this blog for updates throughout the weekend!
This has been an exciting week in kidlit. On Monday morning, the Youth Media Awards were announced at the ALA Midwinter Conference. I nerded it out and cheered for the winners while watching the live stream and working the Children's Reference Desk at my library. GO KIDLIT BOOKS!
And on Friday, the SCBWI NYC 2013 Conference begins. Woo hoo! And guess who's going? Kate and I!
While I await responses on my latest batch of agent queries, I'm excited to get reinspired and energized for my next project at this conference. It's great spending time among those who love writing and illustrating for children and teens.
Who else will be at the Grand Central Hyatt this weekend?
Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Paparazzi Project is FREE!
Hey Guys! Check it out:
The Paparazzi Project is FREE! Click HERE and download it for free! Two days only, don't miss it!
The Paparazzi Project is FREE! Click HERE and download it for free! Two days only, don't miss it!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Need Your Help in a Literary Tug of War
Tip of the Day: Want to make cool pictures, but don't understand how to use Photoshop? Check out PicMonkey, it's my favorite! :)
I don't make resolutions. Partly because I like going with the flow, but also because I really don't like to set myself up for failure. Unfortunately, that strategy is backfiring on me this year.
I currently have two works-in-progress begging for my attention - and I honestly don't know which one to work on.
First, there's Hidden, my next YA high fantasy. I'm really, really excited about this. I'm also going to pub it under my Megg Jensen pen name. Megg needs a little love. She hasn't had a new release since last fall, which is practically an eternity in the ebook world.
But, there's this YA contemporary adventure I started three years ago. I abandoned it then because I wanted a career as a fantasy author - not contemporary. Every conference, article, tweet told me to pick a genre and stick with it. Publishers didn't like authors jumping genres.
But I'm e-pubbing now. I can do anything I want! So, the contemporary is whispering in my ear, begging me to pay attention to it - while my fantasy won't leave my imagination!
What I need are two brains, four arms, and another computer. Then I could do everything I want. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure none of those are an option right now.
How do I choose? I honestly don't know. Has this ever happened to any of you? How did you decide which story to work on when you're equally passionate about both???? HELP!!!!!
Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber
I don't make resolutions. Partly because I like going with the flow, but also because I really don't like to set myself up for failure. Unfortunately, that strategy is backfiring on me this year.
I currently have two works-in-progress begging for my attention - and I honestly don't know which one to work on.
First, there's Hidden, my next YA high fantasy. I'm really, really excited about this. I'm also going to pub it under my Megg Jensen pen name. Megg needs a little love. She hasn't had a new release since last fall, which is practically an eternity in the ebook world.
But, there's this YA contemporary adventure I started three years ago. I abandoned it then because I wanted a career as a fantasy author - not contemporary. Every conference, article, tweet told me to pick a genre and stick with it. Publishers didn't like authors jumping genres.
But I'm e-pubbing now. I can do anything I want! So, the contemporary is whispering in my ear, begging me to pay attention to it - while my fantasy won't leave my imagination!
What I need are two brains, four arms, and another computer. Then I could do everything I want. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure none of those are an option right now.
How do I choose? I honestly don't know. Has this ever happened to any of you? How did you decide which story to work on when you're equally passionate about both???? HELP!!!!!
Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Twenty-Thirteen (or Predicting the Future)
Tip of the Day: Read about Kate's 2013 goals here, and Tina's 2012 recap here.
Happy 2013, readers!
In my library world and writing life, I'm constantly thinking about...(read with a booming voice)... *The Future of Books and Reading.*
So what topics are occupying my mind? Probably the same ones that many of our readers are thinking about, namely:
1. Ebook sales to libraries. Will *all* publishers soon allow libraries to purchase and lend their ebooks? I hope so! Right now it looks to patrons like libraries are lagging behind in ebook purchases when in reality it is the publishers who have not yet decided how to sell these books. I can't wait for this perception and reality to change.
2. Ebook lending on OverDrive. Right now OverDrive, my library system's lending platform, does not allow all self-published books to be sold through OD to libraries so we can lend them to patrons. I'm not sure what the cost to OD is to "stock" books for libraries to purchase, but I know that as the YA Librarian I would love to be able to puchase and lend self-pubbed YA titles. Right now authors must apply to OD to sell their books and they can be rejected. I'm not sure why and I hope this changes.
3. New YA lines. Merit Press, Soho Teen, Entangled Teen, Spencer Hill Press, Month9Books, Strange Chemistry, Poisoned Pencil, Algonquin Teen.... Hopefully this list will continue to grow! I love having more options of lines to buy from for my library. I also love having more publishers that may be interested in reading my work! But with the popularity of YA fiction, will even more writers be submitting to these publishers, still making it hard to get noticed in a glutted market? I know good writing trumps all, but the reality is that pubs can only release so many books per season. Time will tell....
4. New YA agents. It seems that Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents Blog regularly posts new agents hunting for authors to rep, and many of them rep YA fiction. Yay! I'm so glad there are pros in the field who love YA fiction as much as I do. But when I look more closely I see that many of them do NOT rep MG fiction, which I also write...and some may actually be better agents for adult fiction and are only hoping to score a YA author since that is a hot seller now. OK, so I might be reading too much into agent interests, but it's hard for an MG/YA author to find the right agents to query for this reason.
5. New Adult: the "genre." This December 14 Publishers Weekly article on the "New Adult" label made the rounds last month and sparked many discussions about the topic on both writing boards and YA Librarian lists I belong to. I plan on giving my thoughts on this in more detail in another post, but for now I will say I am a) excited that books targeted to 18-24-year-olds are gaining momentum because it is a gap that needs filling, and b) I've always wanted to write stories featuring MCs of those ages so I like that the market is opening for them.
Thoughts on any of the (5) topics above?
Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing
Happy 2013, readers!
In my library world and writing life, I'm constantly thinking about...(read with a booming voice)... *The Future of Books and Reading.*
So what topics are occupying my mind? Probably the same ones that many of our readers are thinking about, namely:
1. Ebook sales to libraries. Will *all* publishers soon allow libraries to purchase and lend their ebooks? I hope so! Right now it looks to patrons like libraries are lagging behind in ebook purchases when in reality it is the publishers who have not yet decided how to sell these books. I can't wait for this perception and reality to change.
2. Ebook lending on OverDrive. Right now OverDrive, my library system's lending platform, does not allow all self-published books to be sold through OD to libraries so we can lend them to patrons. I'm not sure what the cost to OD is to "stock" books for libraries to purchase, but I know that as the YA Librarian I would love to be able to puchase and lend self-pubbed YA titles. Right now authors must apply to OD to sell their books and they can be rejected. I'm not sure why and I hope this changes.
4. New YA agents. It seems that Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents Blog regularly posts new agents hunting for authors to rep, and many of them rep YA fiction. Yay! I'm so glad there are pros in the field who love YA fiction as much as I do. But when I look more closely I see that many of them do NOT rep MG fiction, which I also write...and some may actually be better agents for adult fiction and are only hoping to score a YA author since that is a hot seller now. OK, so I might be reading too much into agent interests, but it's hard for an MG/YA author to find the right agents to query for this reason.
Thoughts on any of the (5) topics above?
Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing
Friday, December 21, 2012
Vacation Time and Reflections on 2012
Tip of the Day: I'm participating in a blog hop & giving away a ton of Amazon money and ebooks. Check out the giveaways here and here.
Wow, so 2012 was kind of crazy year for me professionally. In January, out of the blue and a total surprise to me, my books kind of exploded. The amount of ebooks I sold in January was half the total of what I sold in the entirety of 2010. Talk about a bit of spike! Sales only continued to climb through April, then held steady until August 6th, when inexplicably, my sales on Amazon were cut in half. I never recovered that high of the first half of the year. In fact, just this past Tuesday, I had my lowest sales day on Amazon in a year.
This crazy rise in sales led to agent interest. Very few outside my inner circle know that I was contacted by some pretty big agents (who shall remain nameless), possibly interested in repping me. It was exciting and scary. But, just like my sales, those fizzled out. Even the one who was most interested in me ended up rejecting me with a form letter. Depressing!
So while you're reading this, you're probably thinking, Gee, Megg, your career was great and now it sucks. Guess you're going back to querying. If you thought that, you wouldn't be the only one. Friends keep asking me the same question. While I've tossed the idea around in my head, I really can't see any advantage to sending out queries now. Look at what I accomplished on my own - and I got to keep 70% of the income. I made more money this year self-publishing than I've ever made at any job in my life. Plus, I'm inching ever closer to that 50,000 sold mark. Not too shabby for a nobody self-pub.
I've got a new book in the works already for 2013. I'm not telling a lot about it now, but if you're interested, you can follow here to get updates.
Enjoy your holidays and see ya in 2013!
Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber
Wanted to let y'all know at the top of the post that Author2Author is going on vacation for the next couple of weeks. Plus, our format is changing a bit in 2013. Instead of hearing from us on a daily basis, we will be blogging only when we have interesting, informative, and fun things to pass on to our readers. You are guaranteed to hear from each of us at least once a month and please email us with and questions or topics you want covered.
Wow, so 2012 was kind of crazy year for me professionally. In January, out of the blue and a total surprise to me, my books kind of exploded. The amount of ebooks I sold in January was half the total of what I sold in the entirety of 2010. Talk about a bit of spike! Sales only continued to climb through April, then held steady until August 6th, when inexplicably, my sales on Amazon were cut in half. I never recovered that high of the first half of the year. In fact, just this past Tuesday, I had my lowest sales day on Amazon in a year.
This crazy rise in sales led to agent interest. Very few outside my inner circle know that I was contacted by some pretty big agents (who shall remain nameless), possibly interested in repping me. It was exciting and scary. But, just like my sales, those fizzled out. Even the one who was most interested in me ended up rejecting me with a form letter. Depressing!
So while you're reading this, you're probably thinking, Gee, Megg, your career was great and now it sucks. Guess you're going back to querying. If you thought that, you wouldn't be the only one. Friends keep asking me the same question. While I've tossed the idea around in my head, I really can't see any advantage to sending out queries now. Look at what I accomplished on my own - and I got to keep 70% of the income. I made more money this year self-publishing than I've ever made at any job in my life. Plus, I'm inching ever closer to that 50,000 sold mark. Not too shabby for a nobody self-pub.
I've got a new book in the works already for 2013. I'm not telling a lot about it now, but if you're interested, you can follow here to get updates.
Enjoy your holidays and see ya in 2013!
Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber
Thursday, December 20, 2012
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
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!
Kristina, Miss Author in Action
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
It's the End of the Year As We Know It (or I Feel Busy But Fine*)
*with apologies to REM
Tip of the Day: Check out THE AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker for a great adult book with teen appeal (I hope it makes the Alex Award list). The earth's rotation is slowing, making the days and nights longer...will it stop or be the end of life as we know it? (And will it happen to us on Dec. 21??? :))
Happy Holidays, A2A Readers!
Lately I've been swamped with a few things:
1. Christmas preparations, including making the house decent enough for my bro and his wife to stay with me and attending various holiday soirees (aka Festivus).
2. Revising the end of a MG novel I hope to query agents with by February.
3. Reading the Morris Award nominees, some adult novels that may be Alex Award contenders, and two books to review for VOYA.
4. Using up my vacation time at work, while still trying to pull together a teen art opening and reception tomorrow night.
My post today is lacking real concrete content due to said busy times, but I promise in January to recap my top five reads of 2012 out of 200 books read (yes, I will hit 200 by Jan. 1; am at 196 now).
Until then, enjoy the days getting longer and the New Year!
Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing
Tip of the Day: Check out THE AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker for a great adult book with teen appeal (I hope it makes the Alex Award list). The earth's rotation is slowing, making the days and nights longer...will it stop or be the end of life as we know it? (And will it happen to us on Dec. 21??? :))
Happy Holidays, A2A Readers!
Lately I've been swamped with a few things:
1. Christmas preparations, including making the house decent enough for my bro and his wife to stay with me and attending various holiday soirees (aka Festivus).
2. Revising the end of a MG novel I hope to query agents with by February.
3. Reading the Morris Award nominees, some adult novels that may be Alex Award contenders, and two books to review for VOYA.
4. Using up my vacation time at work, while still trying to pull together a teen art opening and reception tomorrow night.
My post today is lacking real concrete content due to said busy times, but I promise in January to recap my top five reads of 2012 out of 200 books read (yes, I will hit 200 by Jan. 1; am at 196 now).
Until then, enjoy the days getting longer and the New Year!
Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing
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