National Book Awards Finalists Announced...

The National Book Foundation recently announced this year's finalists for the National Book Awards. Here is the five titles up for the Young People's Literature award chosen from among 274 nominees:

Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains (Simon & Schuster)
Kathi Appelt, The Underneath (Atheneum)
Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic)
E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Hyperion)
Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now (Alfred A. Knopf)


The judges for young lit include Daniel Handler (chair), Holly Black, Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler and Cynthia Voigt. (And yikes--I haven't read any of these yet--I better get on the stick. I like to make predictions)

Follow this link to see the nominees in all categories. And note the covers of the fiction and nonfiction titles. Is it just me or are they collectively dark and depressing looking? They all look like a terribly dreary day. And the titles of the nonfiction picks make me feel like curling up in the fetal position under my covers and not leaving bed for a few days.

Local SCBWI Meeting at the Library...


Tonight I'm attending the local meeting of SCBWI members that takes place at the Sharonville Library branch here in the Cincinnati area at 7 p.m.--I'm the group's invited guest for their October gathering.

I really enjoy attending meetings like these. It's great to reconnect with the local writers, a number of whom are published authors. I like to hear about what they're doing and discuss all things children's publishing with them.

Most of all, I love the chance to get to the library. I love the quiet, the smell of the books, the children's section, all the people reading. But must confess that I haven't been to a library since last year--the last time I spoke to a library group. I go to the bookstore all the time. (Murray and I hang out there regularly.) I buy lots of books. I get lots of books for free. I just never think about checking out a book. Does a library card expire?

I think next time Murray bugs me about going to the bookstore (he really just wants a new Thomas train and some chicken fingers from the cafe) maybe I'll take him to the library instead. He's four--he should have his own library card. The problem is, I don't think he'd be cool with the concept of giving books back. If he brought a book home, I'm sure he'd assume it's his forever. (We've been down this road with DVDs a million time. He insists, "They aren't Blockbuster's; they're mine!")

I guess it's worth a shot.

Fun with Acronyms: Meet the other CWIMs...

Every day I get several Google alerts. Of course I have one set up for my name. (Who doesn't?) I also get one for CWIM, which mostly includes references to my book. But not always--and I've been keeping track of them. (And I might have also done some googling for non-my-book CWIMs when I was bored.) I will now share my list (with descriptions mostly using made up words):

• Covenant Warriors International Ministries (religiousy)
  
• Command Work Information Management (techie)
  
• Cetera Work Information Manager (also techie)
  
• Christian Women in Management (religousy + businessy)
  
• Colorado Women in Music (musicy)
  
• Chris Woollam Icon Magazine (newsy)
  
• Color Wheel Index Mark (printery)
  
• Corwyn's World Instant Messaging (chatty)
  
• Convergent Work Integration Manager (businessy)
  
• China Water Institution Management (environmenty)
  
• Climbing Works International Masters (outdoorsy)
  
• Cat Who Isn't Mine (cat sittery)
  

There is also a Canadian weather station referred to as CWIM but I can't find what it actually stands for. Canadian Weather Somethin Somethin I imagine. (I'll describe that one as predicty.)

Blog of the Week:
Johanna Wright's what's new on JohannaWright.com...

In addition to a portfolio, a bio page, a link to her etsy store and other standard artist's website features, illustrator Johanna Wright offers a wonderfully visual blog on JohannaWright.com. Johanna says blogging allows the public to get to know her, feel connected with her artwork, and follow her career, wherever it may go.

"As an illustrator, a website is key. I feel like having a blog keeps people connected to my work in a way that they haven't been able to be in the past," she says. "I lived in New York for many years, and spent four of those years selling my artwork on the streets of Manhattan. Sitting on the street was a great way to connect with thousands of people, and get them interested in my art on a personal level. Now, blogging has replaced that for me. I can spend the day painting in my studio, record some of my artwork in a blog post, and still connect to more people than I have in the past."

Johanna say she feels like she's "in a really happy place creatively." Her first book, Secret Circus, is coming out with Roaring Brook Press in spring '09. Two other RBP titles she wrote and illustrated follow in 2010, Bandits and Rabbits on Skates. And she illustrated Clover Twig, by Kaye Umansky, also slated for spring 2009.


"I feel like there is a small group of blog readers that have followed my path to this place. That's so great to me! It gives me the freedom to do more of what I love to do, and spend less time trying to get people invested in what I'm creating."

If you enjoy her work and would like to keep up with what Johanna's doing, you can sign up for her email newsletter. I did--I think her style offers the perfect mix of warmth and wonder.

I Have to Post Something Today...

...Or I'll break my streak very soon after my blog-every-weekday resolution.

I took the day off work today. I spent the morning at a pumpkin farm with Murray and a bajillion other four-year olds. I spent the afternoon seeing Obama speak with a bajallion other Cincinnatians. Both events we're exhausting and amazing in their own ways. I'm tired and keyed up.

Come back tomorrow for my Blog of the Week.

I'm Left Handed and So Is Our Next President...

Last night I watched the presidential debate between Barak Obama and John McCain on TV (I'd listened to the first one on the radio) and noticed that, like me, they are both left handed.

Naturally, I did some googling and found that there have been lots of lefties in the White House. Says the Washington Post:

No matter who wins in November, 6 of the 12 chief executives since the end of World War II will have been left-handed: Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, the elder Bush, Clinton and either Obama or McCain. That's a disproportionate number, considering that only one in 10 people in the general population is left-handed.

This phenomenon of lefty Commanders-in-Chief has been covered in a number of other places including The New York Sun (which had a great photo of southpaw Obama autographing books), ACB News (which has a headline like a sugarless gum ad), and Economist.com (which includes a nifty lefty visual).

Come forward all you creative people--who's else out there is left-handed? (Maybe we should start a Facebook group.)

Mark Your Calendar for readergirlz "Night Bites"...

Next week, in celebration of YALSA's Teen Read Week™, the fabulous readergirlz are presenting “Night Bites,” five online themed author chats featuring more than a dozen published authors. The readergirlz event plays off YALSA’s theme of “Books with Bite,” and will take place at the readergirlz forum at 6 p.m. (Pacific)/9 p.m. (Eastern), October 13-17.

Here's their lineup:

• Monday, October 13: Multicultural Bites with authors Coe Booth (Tyrell); An Na (The Fold); and rgz diva Mitali Perkins (Secret Keeper)

• Tuesday, October 14: Verse Bites with rgz diva Lorie Ann Grover (On Pointe); Stephanie Hemphill (Your Own Sylvia); and Lisa Ann Sandell (Song of the Sparrow)

• Wednesday, October 15: Contemporary Bites with Ally Carter (Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy); rgz diva Justina Chen Headley (North of Beautiful); and Maureen Johnson (Suite Scarlett)

• Thursday, October 16: Fantasy Bites with Holly Black and Ted Naifeh (The Good Neighbors); rgz diva Dia Calhoun (Avielle of Rhia), and Tamora Pierce (Melting Stones)

• Friday, October 17: Gothic Bites with Holly Cupala (A Light That Never Goes Out), Christopher Golden (Soulless), Annette Curtis Klause (Blood and Chocolate), and Mari Mancusi (Boys That Bite).

Here's their cool trailer for the event.

This Blogging Daily Thing...

The thing about me and blogging every day is that I'm not always great at planning posts ahead of time. I saw Cynthia Leitich Smith talk at the SCBWI Conference last year and she mentioned that she has, like, a bajillion non-time-sensitive posts on deck in case she doesn't have time to do something fresh. I'm not sure she ever sleeps. Do you other bloggers out there do this? (I refer to the planning ahead thing, not the never sleeping thing.)

It's fun for me when I'm getting my CWIM newsletter together--I know I'll have a few posts to go along with it. (My October newsletter will include my Debut Author of the Month along with an editor interview and the long versions of both of will be posted here.) And later this week I'd like to get a few new CWIM book publisher listings posted here as well. (My assistant Fharris is hard at work getting a few together for you.)

There are also many days where, when I get to the office, I feel like I'll have nothing to blog about, then ten things pop into my head and/or inbox through the course of the day. Today, for example, it was my turn to post on Farmers & Writers. Having a Monday slot is sometimes tough. But I was inspired this morning by my lack of a spam filter and wrote a post with help from the spammers who continually spewed crap into my inbox every few seconds as I wrote.

Blog of the Week:
Lee Wind's I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I read?...

This week I kick off my new recurring Friday feature, Blog of the Week, with I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I read?, "The Place to find out about Young Adult fiction books with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning characters and themes....and other cool stuff from Lee Wind, Teen Action Fantasy author."

Wind began blogging in 2007, and had since amassed a comprehensive collection of GLBTQ books which are listed by category on I'm Here. I'm Queer. "When I was a teenager, I read everything sci fi and fantasy and YA I could get my hands on," he says. "But there were NO gay characters. In anything. Today my blog lists over 170 books that would have changed my life if I could have read them when I was 16. Hopefully, knowing these books are out there so they can get them and read them will make a difference for Teens today."

Lee's blog mission is to:

1. Provide Lists, Synopses and Reviews of every YA and younger book with Gay (GLBTQ) Characters and Themes
2. * Share Hidden Gay History--the stuff they don't necessarily teach in school
3. Talk about Popular Culture, Gay Teens, and Kid Lit
4. Spark and nurture a sense of community--(i.e., providing weekly topics for Gay Straight Alliance Meetings)

* In regards to #2, I asked Lee if there is actually gay history taught in schools. After all, he's in California, I'm in Ohio--things may be way different on the West Coast. There was some effort, he says, to pass a gay history curriculum, but it was vetoed it. "But some schools (especially those with GSAs) seem to be discussing some gay issues and history, even if it's not part of the curriculum. I guess I'm being optimistic and should just say 'the stuff they don't teach in schools!'" [Note: As I was working on this post yesterday, the PW Children's Bookshelf hit my inbox and included an article titled Gay History 101 about Linas Alsenas' Gay America which has just come out from Amulet.]

You can read more about I'm Here. I'm Queer by clicking here. Click on the individual books listed on the blog to read overviews along with reviews from blog readers and add your own reviews. And be sure to direct teens who have an interest in GLBTQ literature to Lee's Blog.

It's Nomination Time for the 2008 Cybils...

The nominations period has begun for the 3rd annual Cybils awards--the premier Web awards for children's lit for which the readership at large nominates books in a variety of categories and a host of top bloggers reads them and chooses winners.

You can nominate books October 1-15. Finalists will be announced on New Year's Day, winners on February 14 (what a nice Valentine's Day gift for an author). In the meantime, Cybils will publish excerpts of reviews of the nominated titles.

Click here for the lowdown on the voting rules and to see the list of judges. Then vote! (Now and on election day.)

You Must Watch Jaime Temairik's Video Because It's Hilarious...

A children's librarian. Zombie sock puppets. Thank you Jaime!

Portland Kidlitosphere Conference Report...

Here's a quick rundown of the kidlit bloggers conference featuring a few words of wisdom from each of sessions I attended:

• Bloggers Jackie Parker (Interactive Reader) and Colleen Mondor (Chasing Ray) gave a session on Making the Most of the Community: Blog Tour Events. Jackie and Colleen coordinate the Summer and Winter Blog Blast Tours, the only mixed author blog tours offered online. They're not in favor of the blog-tour-like-bookstore-tour events set up by publishers. (These publishers tours have the same author on blog after blog day after day answering similar question which can't be exciting for readers.) These bloggers and the other handful who participate in the Blasts strive to offer a good mix of authors that fit in with their varying interests. Their big tip for authors: give good interviews and do them on time.

Reviewers Colleen Mondor & Jackie Parker

• Next up I attended a session with Pam Coughlin, aka Mother Reader in which she offered tips to Kick Your Blog Up a Notch. Pam gave a dozen suggestions for being a bigger (not necessarily a better) blogger. These include having a distinct voice, filling a particular niche, updating daily, commenting on other blogs, and doing self-promotion. Self-promotional efforts can be as simple as including your blog on your email signature, sending out occasional updates to your email list, and asking other bloggers to mention something super-special that's going on on your blog. (Note: Pam volunteered to coordinate the 3rd Kidlitosphere Conference next year in D.C.)

• In Mark Blevis' session, he updated the classic book starring lovable, furry old Grover to There's a Podcast at the End of this Book. Mark, who along with his wife Andrea Ross, produce the popular podcasts for Just One More Book!!, emphasized content, context and delivery in terms of what makes a strong podcast. Then he talked about lots of techie audio geek stuff which I didn't fully understand but wrote down some of: libsyn.com, Samson Zoom H2 recorder, Skype, podsafe music network, Podcasting Legal Guide. Truthfully, all the podcasting business really didn't seem as complicated as I imagined. And I spied Mark with recorder in hand throughout the weekend.

Podcaster Mark Blevis (with Sarah
Vowell & David Sedaris on screen

• After lunch (I had a great prawn salad with mint citrus dressing and mangoes in the hotel restaurant--the other option was eating at the airport) conference co-coordinator Laini Taylor and blogger Jen Robinson (Jen Robinson's Book Page) discussed The Bridge Between Authors and Book Reviewers with much focus on protocol. Bloggers should offer review policies on their blogs and authors should read them and follow them, says Jen. When authors contact reviewers, they should personalize their request as much as possible. (In Jackie and Colleen's session they noted that reviewers can tell if an author doesn't read their blogs when you contact them. That's a no-no.) Authors should never pester reviewers--they have a lot of material and get through, the majority of which comes straight from publishers (which Jen prefers, as it's less pressure for her).

Conference coordinators
Laini Taylor & Jon McCullogh

• Greg Pincus (Gotta Book) offered Promoting Your Book and Yourself on Facebook/MySpace and Other Social Networking Tools. He conducted his own mini self-promo experiment which he ran through with us. Your goal as an author/blogger, he says, is "setting yourself up for the happy accident." He suggests you have a FeedBurner (rss) account. You should give blog posts a strong title (for example the stronger, "Goal!--A Soccer Poem" vs. simply "Goal.") You should link to your blog from your facebook page. It's much harder to reach people if you're not trying to reach people, he says. Check out this wiki link for more tips.

• The last session I attended was with the fabulous author Sara Zarr on Balancing the Personal and Professional on Your Blog. Sara starting blogging around 1999/2000, and ended up deleting five years' worth of posts that were very personal once she got her book deal. An author's blog, she says, needs a voice--posts should represent the face you want to show to the world. It's an author's most controllable aspects of publicity, wholly the author's, not dictated by a publisher. Don't be shy about sharing good news and don't assume that readers are equally interested in your bad news (save that for trusted friends). Don't post anything you wouldn't want your editor or agent to read. In terms of controversial subjects like sex, religion and politics, don't censor yourself, but those types of post must really be thought out, really composed.

Author/blogger Sara Zarr

After the conference dinner and raffle (for which no one at my table was privy to the fact that we needed raffle tickets and therefore had no possibility of winning prizes) the amazing and awesome readergirlz threw a party to celebrate the amazing and awesome Holly Cupala's promotion to official readergirlz Diva!

The Portland Kidlitosphere Conference...

I just got back from the second Kidlitosphere Conference which took place in ultra-cool Portland. I have some pictures, lots of notes and will share some conference info with you starting tomorrow. (Not much time for blogging today. And although I'm usually all for blogging as an event is going as, as I've done SCBWI conferences, I was a little intimidated at this one, what with 70 or so other bloggers with laptops all around posting, twittering and the like. So I just took notes.) In the meantime you can find a nice conference report on conference co-coordinator Laini Taylor's blog. And visit the conference blog for a links to posts from many other conference attendees.

After hearing advice from a number of presenters, I'm going to make a concerted effort to post here every day (M-F; the weekend is for my personal blog). I've always got something to say, I just don't always have time to say it, but I'm going to do my best to squeeze in daily posts. (Posting is way more fun that working, so it's not exactly a sacrifice.)

I've also decided that I will end each week with Featured Blog starting this Friday, so stay tuned for some great author, reviewer and kid lit blogs. (If you're a blogger who attended the kidlitosphere conference you'll likely end up here soon enough.)

Busy Busy, Off to Portland...

I've had a lot going on this week. I've been reading queries, assigning articles, having meetings (Tuesday: solid meetings 8:30 through 5), and helping throw a work party all about pie (we had a bake off, a "pieku" contest, and invented a game called pie hole at which I kicked butt). Hence the no blogging this week.

This morning I'm headed to Portland to attend the Kidlit Bloggers conference--about which I will certainly be blogging.

Gotta go--have to leave for the airport in 45 minutes...

Our New Farmers & Writers Blog Rolls Out...


The editorial staff of Writer's Digest Books has recently debut a new blog called Farmers & Writers. For those of you who don't know, WD Books is an imprint of F+W Media, formerly F+W Publications--the F for farmers, the W for writers. Writer's Digest and Farmer's Quarterly were the first magazines published by F+W back in the '20s. FQ is long gone, but WD magazine and WD Books live on and thrive here in Ohio, so we offer you "footnotes from the midwest publishing empire."

The whole team will participate in the blog--publisher, editors (myself included), designers, and marketing--and we'll be posting daily on weekdays.

Here's the link.