Bookanistas Give Back!

Charitable donations are a very personal thing. There are so many ways our hard earned money can help others, and lately our world seems to be breaking into pieces around us. Needs are many and great. The Bookanistas want to give back, so in the coming months, we're going to be looking for ways to pour into communities, both bookish and worldwide.

For the month of April, the Bookanistas have chosen to spotlight Run For Your Life, an event that's raising money for a cancer hospital, largely because the framework is already set up (we'd like to keep it simple our first time out), and also because of personal connections to the cause. Most everyone has lost a loved one to cancer or knows someone who has.

To encourage you to donate, we're going to give away some sweet prizes! Here's how it will work:

1. Go to the Run For Your Life page.

2. Make a donation. $5 is suggested, but lower or higher is fine. (Also know that for every dollar you donate, you'll be entered to win a private, advance screening for twenty people for Breaking Dawn. The Bookanistas have NOTHING to do with that part - that's all Charlie Bewley and Summit Entertainment.)

3. Come back and fill out the entry form on this page.

We're trusting you to be honest about giving, and about the amount you give. Don't be a mamby pamby. Keep up our faith in mankind.

4. The Bookanistas will be giving away a selection of prizes (see list below). You will be entered one time for each dollar you donate ($5 = 5 entries). If you wish to be entered to win a specific prize, let us know in the designated section of the entry form.

5. We're following the guidelines set forth by Run for Your Life, which means this particular event will only be open to those in North America. Entries will be closed on April 30th, and we will contact randomly selected winners shortly thereafter.

6. Spread the word. Tweet, post the Run For Your Life logo (above) with a link to Charlie's site on your blog, or Facebook about the event, and receive an entry (one entry TOTAL for doing all or one of these things). Place a link/links in the place provided on the entry form.

HERE'S THE LIST OF BOOKANISTA PRIZES (this list WILL be added to, so check back):

From Shannon Messenger:

A signed copy of WHITE CAT and a signed copy of RED GLOVE by Holly Black

From Carrie Harris:

A 50 page manuscript critique

From Jessi Kirby:

A signed copy of MOONGLASS

From Gretchen McNeil:

A swag pack of POSSESS goodies and a query critique

From Corinne Jackson:

A 50 page manuscript critique

From Stasia Kehoe:

A signed copy of AUDITION

From Shana Silver:

A query and first chapter critique

From Lisa and Laura Roecker:

A signed copy of LIAR SOCIETY and bookmarks

From Shelli Johannes Wells:

A box of ten mystery advance reader copies

From Elana Johnson:

A Dystopian Trifecta of Awesome - a signed copy of DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES by Carrie Ryan, a signed copy of MATCHED by Ally Condie, and a signed ARC of Elena's own POSSESSION

From Christine Fonseca:

Signed copies of EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS and 101 SUCCESS SECRETS FOR GIFTED KIDS

From Myra McEntire:

A signed copy of DEMONGLASS by Rachel Hawkins, a signed copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis, a signed copy of TORMENT by Lauren Kate, and a signed and annotated advance reader copy of HOURGLASS.

Winner(s) of Diana Fox Agent Pitch Contest!

CONGRADS everyone - here's Diana with the winners!

This was a hard decision, because there were so many great pitches in this contest! Thanks so much to Shelli for hosting it, and to everyone who entered.

Winners:

1^st place: A. Lockwood, OLYMPUS GATE

Genre: YA Historical Fantasy

Pitch: A girl from a broken future travels back to ancient Rome to stop her sister's murder, confront the gods, and prevent the coming apocalypse.

Comments: Post-apocalyptic dystopias, time travel, AND ancient Rome and the gods? I'm hooked!

2^nd place: Elizabeth Briggs, ALTERNATE

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Pitch: A teen hacker is drawn into a war between parallel universes when she meets an alternate version of herself from another dimension.

Comments: I love the concept, it's kind of like Hackers meets Fringe.

3^rd place: S. Kyle Davis, BLACKBIRD

Genre: YA Fantasy Technothriller

Pitch: Spy chick bypasses a top-of-the line security system to steal an object before the sorcerers do in this "Mission:Impossible w/ magic" tale.

Comments: This just sounds FUN!

Winners, please email your full manuscripts to submissions@foxliterary.com and mention the pitch contest in your subject line.

Top ten honorable mentions:

Jen, BOYFRIENDS, SPIES, AND LIES

Genre: YA Contemporary

Pitch: If Carissa's oppressive parents weren't paying her boyfriend to be her bodyguard, art school would have been her perfect escape.

‪Carmen Ferreiro Esteban, THE REVENGE OF THE WOLF KING

GENRE: YA Medieval Fantasy

PITCH: Princess Ines's love for her whipping boy is put to the test when the king accuses him of the queen's murder and sentences him to death.

‪Elizabeth, FLICKER

Genre: Sci-Fi YA

Pitch: A grl w/a bad ♥ learns shes being kept alive by an alien virus that gives her the pwr 2 bend reality &save the wrld from an insidious force

‪Lori M. Lee, SOUL WITHOUT A BOY

Genre: YA urban fantasy

Pitch: In a world where souls can be ripped free and harnessed as a weapon, a 17yo boy learns the hard way that standing out can be deadly.

‪Cheree Smith, SHADOW EMBRACED

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Pitch: To control the creature threatening to take over her, 16-year-old Scar joins an underground fight club of witches, werewolves and vampires.

‪Lindsay Cummings, CHANGED

Genre:YA dystopian

Pitch: After an ecological disaster caused by environmentalists, a girl uses enhanced vision to find where the Disappeared go in a walled-in world.

‪Tracey Neithercott, ALIVE

Genre: YA sci-fi

Pitch: When she discovers Eli's healing ability, Alex plans to bring her sister back to life. She never expects 2 uncover lies about her childhood.

‪Emma Hollingberry, SKYBORNE

Genre: Literary YA Sci-Fi

Pitch: The emperor forces a hardcore racer onto his assassin team and then pits her against the people who deserted her as a child in an inter-galaxy war she'll refuse to fight.

‪Janet Johnson, THE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY FRIENDSHIP

Title: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Friendship

Genre: MG Contemporary

Pitch: When selling her appendix on e-bay doesn’t work, ten-year-old Annie seeks other ways to save her best friend’s house from foreclosure.

Huntress, OF OAK AND DRAGONS

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Pitch: An unexpected inheritance, a snarky rapier with delusions of grandeur, and a tall stranger put Leah in the middle of an ancient war.

If you have an honorable mention, I would LOVE to see your query and sample pages!

Please email me at submissions@foxliterary.com and mention the pitch contest in your subject line.

Belated Bookanistas - Going to "Dark and Hollow Places"

Sorry about the late post. (ugh a day late! to be exact)

Carrie Ryan is one of my favorite writers. If I could pick a writer to write like - Carrie would be in my top 3. Why? because I LOVE how she walks the line between commercial and literary.

I love that she can write beautifully while having a pacy novel.

Oh yeah and after I met with her

(And Megan Miranda) last fall for lunch (aka Mexican fiesta!), I developed a huge writer crush on her. Not only is she so sweet, but she is hilarious - and you all know how much I love funny, sweet people.

Now, if you have not read this series because you are telling yourself "I am not a zombie person" I want you to know - "I am not a zombie person either!"

But a couple years ago, I happened to watch

Forest of Hands and Teeth trailer on Amazon and it scared the crapola out of me. yet intrigued me so much I bought the book that day. And a) i never read zombie stuff b) hate horror, and 3) hate to be scared like that. But the words on that video pulled me in.

And I've read all 3 books happily.

So after just finishing the Arc of TDAHP (which btw the sequels are really companion novels because they follow 3 different characters though they are all connected closely) - here is my shout out:

My top reasons why I love Forest of Hands and Teeth series (especially The Dark and Hollow Places)

1. The writing is gorgeous! Carrie is amazing with words.

2. The fast paces and scare factor - seriously, I was reading until late at night even when I had to get up early (damn you Carrie!:)

3. It is written with such a beautiful style that when I first started it - I'd forgotten it was a zombie book. 

4. Carrie was a lawyer but wanted to write. So after long days at the office, she would go home and write a chapter for her husband.

5. the nice romance that is not with a bad guy. But in a bad  - okay fine - crappy -situation.

6. I love the covers!

7. In an SCBWI YA masters class, Carrie's editor Krista Marino taught us about voice by dissecting Forest.

You know what? I could talk forever about how much I love this book, but I don't want to hold you up from reading it!

Check out the other Bookanista reviews:

Elana Johnson reveals the cover of The Eleventh Plague

LiLa Roecker wonders What Happened to Goodbye

Christine Fonseca wants to be Like Mandarin

Jamie Harrington falls for Falling Under

Shelli Johannes-Wells visits Dark and Hollow Places

Beth Revis discovers Lost and Found

Carolina Valdez Miller is wild about Wither

Megan Miranda swoons for Anna and the French Kiss

Bethany Wiggins commends Ketura and Lord Death

Shana Silver gushes over What Happened to Goodbye

Jen Hayley peers into Clarity

Carrie Harris is mesmerized by Memento Nora

Matt Blackstone visits The Ninth Ward

Stasia Ward Kehoe spotlights Strings Attached

Wrapping up loose ends - giveaways and contests!

Today, I have a few things to wrap up today....so here goes.

The winner of The Liar Society book from the Launch Day post is Brenda Drake.

The winner of Cheryl Klein's book from Part 2 (there was also a Part 1 you can check out) is Kate Higgins.

All of the books I have given away to date have been shipped and should have already been received. If you have won something on my blog and didn't receive it, please email me.

Now, on to the winners of the Pay It Forward Agent Query Contest.

Once again, I could not decide on only one so.... I picked one from each genre to suggest to Alyssa. To be honest, I really liked them all - it was more a matter of what I felt was more ready.

• MG - Rita Monette
• YA - Marcy Kate Connolly

Congrads! :)

Please email me offline at sjohannes@bilaninc.com for my suggestions and instructions! There are a few conditions that go along with this win.

For the other three finalists, I'm sorry :( I know how disappointing it might be. Because I want to thank you for entering - I'd like you 3 to email me offline for an ARC of your choice.

To the 5 finalists, I am still working on the query critiques (but I'm under agent deadline) and hope to have them done in the next couple of weeks. At that time, I will send the query critiques and a few notes on the manuscript pages to help you move forward.

That's it for now! :)

Part 2 - Cheryl Klein (Second Sight Giveaway)

Last week, Cheryl Klein stopped by to talk about her new book, Second Sight, An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults.

Part 1 aired last Thursday.

This week, in Part 2, Cheryl talks more about the editing side of her career.

Let's get started.

Cheryl, in addition what are the top 3 reasons you reject a book?

Not necessarily in order:

1. I don’t find the characters or their conflicts all that interesting.

2. The narrative voice annoys me, and therefore I don’t want to spend two years listening to it. (Most likely because of broadcasting, as above.)

3. It isn’t something that I think I can publish effectively, either because I don’t think it’s very good, or because there are a lot of books like it already in the market, or because it’s not really an Arthur A. Levine Books type of book (meaning it will do better published as something other than a literary hardcover book).

Can you give us an idea of day in the life of Cheryl Klein?

I get up between 7 and 8, do all the typical morning stuff, take the B train from my neighborhood in Brooklyn to the Broadway-Lafayette stop in Manhattan, and arrive at the office by 9:30, where I have a cup of tea and check my e-mail. I deal with any fires there, then try to turn to the first thing on my to-do list—whether it’s negotiating a contract (which can involve a lot of talking to other departments) or writing flap copy or preparing for a presentation or line-editing a manuscript or examining proofs.

The day then alternates among those tasks, attending meetings, and continuing to deal with what comes in from our production department or over the phone or e-mail—though when I’m in the middle of a novel line-edit, that tends to subsume everything else for me, because I find the work so interesting and absorbing, and because line-edits take a while.

The last thing I do every night at work is write my to-do list for the next day, so that I have my priorities set and ready to go the next morning.

There are so many books on writing out there. What is your favorite book on plot? How about voice? (besides your own of course :)

My favorite book on voice, by far (and character, too), is Orson Scott Card’s Characters and Viewpoint.

The book on plot from which I’ve learned the most is Aristotle’s Poetics, which I read for the first time in college, but I was really lucky to have a great professor teaching me the significance of all the jargony theoretical statements in the book (the edition we read, anyway).

I also like The Fiction Editor by Thomas McCormack, which is also jargony, but says some really useful things about the larger points toward which plots should work.

What is the one piece of advice you would give a writer who keeps getting so close but doesn't make it?

Figure out what (1) your two greatest writerly strengths, (2) your favorite subject to read about, and (3) your two biggest weaknesses as a writer are.

Develop (do not yet start actually writing) a book that uses (1) to portray (2) and minimize (3). For instance, if you know your strengths are awesome characters and dialogue, and your favorite subject is romance, but you’re terrible at plotting and creating tension, come up with your awesome characters, but put them in a simple story that doesn’t involve a lot of tension—a love story with a straightforward central conflict that lets the characters do their thing.

Then get help with (3) to improve it as much as you can before you dive in; then write the book and revise it.

And have fun. When writers have fun, readers do too.

In the spirit of Actor's Studio, here a few questions for you. We'll call it Editors's Studio. First, what is your favorite word?

My boyfriend will tell you the word I say the most is “Meh” or “Feh.” The word whose sound I like the most . . . I’ve always been fond of “spackle.”

Wait, is that a word? :) Okay, how about the word you hate the most?

Hmm. Soundwise, I think I must have blocked this offending word from my mind, because I can’t think of one! Meaningwise, “failure.”

What is your favorite thing to do in your personal time (you cant say reading! :)

I love cooking and baking—the absorption of putting all these ingredients together in just the right quantities, the ability to listen to music or NPR while I work, the deliciousness that results, the pleasure of serving it to others (sometimes!) and eating it.

And lastly, what profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

In the realm of reality, I think I really would enjoy being a professional baker. In fantasy, I’d love to sing and dance in a Broadway musical. Both of those professions are about being part of a community and making other people happy through your work, and those are two of my greatest satisfactions in being an editor, too.

Thanks Cheryl!

Comment and your name will be entered into a drawing for a copy of Second Sight by Cheryl Klein.

The Bookanistas love Cheryl Klein's new book, Second Sight

Cheryl Klein stops by to talk about her new book - Second Sight, An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults.

For those of you who have not heard Cheryl speak - I'm sorry :( because you are missing out. The woman is brilliant and every time we talk, I have so many "aha" moments.

I've had the pleasure of being on faculty with Cheryl and she was as fun and engaging as she is smart.

A personal tidbit I learned - she loves music. Like goes to concerts all the time. That's how cool she is.

Anyway, never fear, now all of her best, amazing talks are in this book.

This will be a 2- part interview with a giveaway on Part 2.

Hi Cheryl, tell us about yourself.

Hi Shelli. I’m a narrative nerd of long standing: I love stories of all kinds—true, false, books, film, theatre, biographies, for children, for adults—and thinking about how a good story works or why the bad ones don’t. I’m lucky enough to get to work with lots of brilliant writers and stories in my job as a senior editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc. And I have a book coming out that brings together all the writing I’ve done over the years about plots, character, voice, and all those other great components of written stories. The title is Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults, but thinking about it now, I really could have called it The Collected Narrative Dorkery of Cheryl Klein.

What made you finally decide to do this book (besides all the begging we have done!)

Ever since I started putting a good number of my writing talks on my website, people had been asking me when I was going to publish a real book on writing. And while I love editing other people’s books, I thought it sounded pretty awesome to have a whole book of my own.

You talk a lot about plotting in this book. What do you find is the biggest problem writers have with plotting?

The writers are so close to the characters and understand so much of their backstory and thoughts that actions and plot developments that seem hugely significant to them (“them” meaning “the characters and writers”) only make the reader say “Um, what just happened there . . . ?” A lot of the work I do with my authors focuses on building in the backstory and character development that makes the action in the book matter as much to the reader as it does to the writer.

I've heard you say voice is so critical to you loving a book. What do you find is the biggest problem writers have with voice?

I’d say it’s either that the voice isn’t distinctive—that it sounds like a hundred other narrative voices already out there, with no particular personality or beauty to distinguish it from anything else; or that the voice too-obviously broadcasts everything the character is feeling, oncoming plot developments, other characters’ true natures, etc., etc., without regard for proper pacing of the information or emotional flow.

The book touches on how to write from various POVs. What can a writer do to write an effective 3rd person vs 1st person character?

A first-person narrator has to do three things effectively: (1) tell the story; (2) be believable and compelling as the voice of that particular character; and (3) bring a personality and richness to the story beyond mere factual narration—some imagination, charm, or elegance. In third person, (2) is removed, so all the voice has to do is tell the story well.

==================

Was this enough for you? No? Cheryl will be back Monday with Part 2 - talk about a cliffhanger :)

In the meantime, what questions do you have for Cheryl?

Check out the other Bookanista posts:

Elana Johnson shares her love for Like Mandarin

Christine Fonseca purrs over Save the Cat

LiLa Roecker is sweet on Like Mandarin

Carolina Valdez Miller gushes over Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Bethany Wiggins is enchanted by My Fair Godmother

Carrie Harris falls for Head Games

Rosemary Clement Moore travels Across the Universe

Katie Anderson goes Retro

Corrine Jackson celebrates Where She Went

Stasia Ward Kehoe sings about The Mockingbirds

I would give anything to be like....

NOTE: If you want to enter Diana Fox's agent pitch contest, enter here - the contest is open until midnight on Wed night. (If you include your entry on this post, it might get lost and not count.)

Kirsten Hubbard's Like Mandarin hits the stores this month.

In Like Mandarin, 14-year-old Grace Carpenter would give anything to be like 17-year-old Mandarin Ramey -- the bold,

carefree wild girl of their small Wyoming town.

Kirsten is running a contest on her blog so go check it out.

I love this book.

How many times growing up did you wish and wish you could be someone else?

When I was growing up, I always wanted to be like my mom.

I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. Though, I'd never suck up my pride and tell her.

• She was tall and thin and petite. I was short with an athletic build.
• She had boobs. I didn't.
• She could play tennis. I could only play if it counts when the ball bounces off your head because you forget to swing. Though my dad made me keep trying.
• She went disco dancing with my dad every friday night. I could not dance if my life depended on it. Seriously, even Elane on Seinfeld dances better than me.
• I loved her hands - so soft and petite. My hands - scarred from being dragged by a dog.
• Her hair was blonde. Mine was mousy brown.
• She never tooted, burbed, or made any noises that were less than ladylike. Me - not so polite.
• She won 1st runner up in Ms. Palm Springs. I never won anything, especially not a pagent.
• She had thin arms and long legs. I had stubby legs that made a hydrant laugh and muscular arms that I was self conscious about until ---- 5 minutes ago. Ok so they still bother me.
• She looked great in tank tops. I did not (still don't)
• She got to see Elvis. I saw Kenny Rogers and Dolly Pardon in the Islands in the Stream tour. (uh - not the same thing)
• She is a summer color. Me a fall. Not easy to find in Florida because it is summer all year long.
• She used to sing in a local theatre. I was in the audience.

My mom was everything I wasn't.

And to add insult to injury, people used to always tell me I looked like my dad ------ um gee thanks.

When I was in high school - it was Appolonia from in Purple Rain. (Specifically, I mimicked her cool striped eye makeup.)

When I was in college, it was my best friend, Beth (also a petite blonde).

When my ex-fiance called off our wedding, I wanted to be ANYONE but me.

Now, I want to be (okay, write) like Kirsten. (because I could never look this cool in grass Yes that is her adorable author picture. It's so good, it makes you sick right? Oh yeah, and she's funny too.)

So don't let me embarrass myself alone and own my pitiful, let's hear it in the comments. Who's your Mandarin?

Agent Pitch Contest - Diana Fox (Fox Literary)

NOTE - My Pay it Forward winner will be announced Friday!

It's time for another agent twitter pitch contest!

Today, the pitch is being judged by Diana Fox from Fox Literary. You can follow her blog or catch her on Twitter.

Here are some other interviews to help you get to know her taste and style:
Literary Rambles

The Blog Realm

Winner: Gets to submit manuscript!

When: Begins today, (Wed at 10AM EST) and ends tomorrow (Thursday) at midnight EST (I will close comments when it officially ends so if you get a comment in, you are counted.)

Why Twitter pitch? Because if you can't get your book in a Twitter pitch, you need to work on narrowing down the story and hook. You can check your character count either on Word (file, Tools/Word Count/Characters with spaces), on Twitter, or here.

Eligibility/Rules:

• Your pitch MUST only be 140 characters to be counted so please check it twice! This includes spaces and punctuation so you might have to be creative. If your pitch is over 140 characters when I test it, it will not be eligible.
• Your pitch can be for adults or children.
  
• This is for unagented/unpublished book writers only. (if you've published articles or essays - you may enter!)
• You can only enter ONCE so choose wisely!
• You MUST be a follower of my blog (and I'd love to see you on Twitter too.). It's only fair to those who are .
  

What To include: In the comments you MUST leave the following information to be considered:

• title of book
• genre
• your Twitter (140 characters) pitch
• your email

Example:
Title - Untraceable
Genre - YA Survival Suspense
Email - sjohannes@bilaninc.com
Pitch - When her forest-ranger father disappears,Grace uses her survival skills to search the NC mtns & finds a secret group plotting against nature

References: Here are a few articles on writing short, one sentence pitches:

Nathan Bransford (agent)
Rachel Gardner (agent)
Query Tracker
Scribe Chat
140 character pitch

Winner(s) will be announced next week!

Good luck!