Official Call for Debut Authors for the 2011 CWIM...

Did you all miss me? I sure missed you (and my blog). But now I'm back from my little vacation and a fab WD conference in New York, my deadline-o-rama is almost over, and it's time for me to start thinking about the 2011 CWIM.

And do you know what that means? FIRST BOOKS! I'm looking for debut author and illustrators who'd like to be interviewed for my "First Books" feature in 2011 CWIM.

If you are interested in being featured in First Books, here are the rules and guidelines:

1. Email me at alice.pope@fwmedia.com, subject line "First Books."
2. Tell me about your debut book including the title, publisher, genre and approximate publication date.
3. The book must be available in some form by November (so it can be read before you're interviewed).
4. A cover image must be available by January 2010 (because I don't want to feature a book without showing the cover).
5. Please include links to your website or blog if you have one.
   
6. No self-published books please.
7. Tell me something fun/interesting/exciting/unusual/inspiring about you/your book/your path to publication.
8. E-mails must be received by October 8th.
   
9. I'll be in touch with those I've chosen by the October 30th; otherwise you likely will not hear from me--I simply don't have time to contact everyone, although I wish I could. (I may acknowledge receipt of emails, however, depending on how busy I am and/or how much I do or do not feel like doing other work.)
   
10. Debut authors not chosen to be featured in First Books could be chosen as Debut Authors of the Month which will be resurrected on this blog starting January 2010!

Where Have I Been? Where Am I Going?...

My posts have been light recently (in case you hadn't noticed). I've been busy busy busy getting the last set of market books ready for the printer. (Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market, Songwriter's Market, Photographer's Market and Screenwriter's & Playwright's Market will all be in stores in October and November.)

And tomorrow, I'm going on vacation. It's my annual jaunt to Garden City, SC with my in-laws. Which is always interesting. (There will be tweeting.)


I'm cutting out of vacation a day early, however, to head to New York for the Writer's Digest Conference: The Business of Getting Published, which takes place at the Times Square Marriott September 18-20. (There will be tweeting from there as well, of course. Look for #WDC09 tweets.)


If you can't make the event, be sure to visit our Official Writer's Digest Conference Blog. Members of Team WD (including me) will be live-blogging the 3-day event starting Friday night, September 18, offering posts from sessions as they are happening. (I had a blast as part of SCBWI TEAM BLOG during the SCBWI LA Summer Conference. If you haven't visited The Official SCBWI Conference Blog, be sure to check out our terrific conference coverage.)

After all this excitement, I'll be back in the office Tuesday, September 22, and back to my old tricks--blogging daily, tweeting often, and starting work on the 2011 CWIM. (Note to all you debut authors out there: watch my blog for a call for First Books authors and illustrators in early October!)