Bookanistas Book Buzz! Shimmer (by Alyson Noel)

Sorry I have not been here much.

Not only have I been under deadline, but I was at the beach for Spring Break all last week and just catching up.

I know most of you know Alyson Noel, especially her Evermore series. But she just started a new MG series with a spin off on Riley's character that is awesome.

Radiance came out last year and it was adorable. Well the sequel Shimmer just came out and hit the bestseller list.

I met Alyson Noel last year and she is just as

sweet as this series. IN Shimmer - Alyson has packed a lot of stuff into it - slavery, death, humor. The story of Rebecca and the slaves on Virgin Islands during the turn of the century is heartbreaking. In this book, Riley is forced to mature when faced with serious issues and anger.

Having solved the matter of the Radiant Boy, Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying a well-deserved vacation. When Riley comes across a young ghost named Rebecca, Riley soon learns Rebecca's not at all what she sees. The daughter of a former plantation owner, she is furious about being murdered during a slave revolt in 1733. Mired in her own anger, Rebecca is keeping the ghosts who died along with her trapped in their worst memories. Can Riley help Rebecca without losing herself to her own nightmarish memories?

Here is an excerpt

Check out the other Bookanistas!

LiLa Roecker adores Alice-Miranda at School

Christine Fonseca caws about Scrawl

Shannon Messenger gets passionate about Possession

Scott Tracey raves about Red Glove

Carolina Valdez Miller interviews Invincible Summer author Hannah Moskowitz

Jessi Kirby feels The Pull of Gravity

Shana Silver delights in The Day Before

Carrie Harris takes The Goddess Test - with giveaway

Corrine Jackson swoons for Starcrossed

Stasia Ward Kehoe is outspoken about Addie on the Inside

Sarah Frances Hardy celebrates The Best Birthday Party Ever

Kirsten Hubbard fawns over Family - with giveaway

Bookanistas - A dash of "Radiance"

Bookanistas discuss Radiance by Alyson Noel

I got this book at BEA and was excited to read it. First, I love Alyson (hello! who doesn't) and 2nd I was interested to see the other side of Riley. I've read the Evermore series so I wanted to follow Riley's experience from that fateful day. I also think its wonderful that paranormal is moving into the MG and tween market.

About the book:

Welcome to the Here & Now

Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he's never met Riley...

My take on it:

If you are a fan of Alyson Noel's Immortal Series , then you will enjoy finding out more about Riley and what happened to her on that fateful day. If you haven't had the chance to read the series, it doesnt matter b/c this book stands on its own.

First I LOVE the cover. I'm kinda getting tired of the same ole animated or cartoonish covers that a lot of MG books seem to get. I think most Middle graders and tweens want books that are more like the cool YA books we see everyday. More books showing real people doing real things.

I also love the sassiness of Riley. She funny and spunky and like most tweens - you cant tell her what to do. If you do, she'll probably want to do it even more. I think it's rare to see this kind of sassiness in MG and I like that it is opening up to something more than just sugar sweet tweens. I think Riley shows us exactly what it might be like to be a tween and have your life ripped away from you. You would not be happy. You would be kinda annoyed. right?

I also love that Radiance seemed to "talk up" to tweens. It was a little more advanced in vocabulary and it was first person so you really got to know how Riley felt. I think some MGs today are too simplified for kids this age. (I wish we could see more MGs that have more layers - like Harry Potter. I think that's why kids loved HP so much!)

The book is a very easy read. You can read an excerpt of Radiance.

Question - If you died today, what do you think would be the first thing you would do in the AfterLife. Kinda morbid but kinda fun at the same time. (Am I sick?)

Here's what the other Bookanistas are up to this week:

Lisa and Laura - Paranormalcy
Myra McEntire - WHITE CAT

Elana Johnson - THE ETERNAL ONES

Christine Fonseca - THE HEALING SPELL

Shannon Messenger - NIGHTSHADE CITY

Carolina Valdez Miller - THE MOCKINGBIRDS
Jamie Harrington - PARANORMALCY

Day 3 BEA Bonanza: Be Jealous. Be Very Very Jealous.

Winner of Mitali Perkins' Bamboo People in hardback (using random number generator) is

Niki Smith!
(congrads! email me your address girlie - sjohannes@bilaninc.com)

Dont' forget to watch my twitter for spontaneous BEA Book Combustion - AKA random book giveaways.

Also - BIG CONGRADS to my blogger buddy, Michelle Hodkins , on her new book deal! Here's her story (be sure to follow her - this is someone to watch! Plus she's giving away some cool ARCs too. )

Pictorial Representation of my time at BEA!

Here's me with the adorable Joanne S. Volpe,
literary agent and genius at Nancy Coffey. She's just as nice and cute in person as online. Query her! She rocks! You can follow her on Twitter for scoop!




Here is my and Kody Keplinger (author of The Duff - surely you've heard about it! ) meeting in person for the first time. Though we've been blogger buddies for a while. I'm so happy for her! Go follow her blog!





Here is my Hilary Wagner's wonderful book Nightshade City at the Holiday House booth. Put this one on your reading list people because Rick Riordan just blurbed it!





Oh and here are my BEA Partners in Crime,
Shana Silver and Jen Hayley (part of YA Rebels). I love these girls...

I know, they look all sweet and innocent, but don't let that fool you. They were serious BEAers. They did not play. Shana even had a spreadsheet printed for all of us when we got their with signings, galley giveaways. She even said, "If we lose you, you are on your own!" She's definitely on my team again next year.


Here's Holly Cupala and I getting coffee. Yes there was a Starbucks conveniently in the building. So when we got tired, we would get a caffeine drip and get back to business. BTW her book, Tell Me A Secret, is awesome and just coming out this month. Not to mention, she is just as sweet as she looks :)


How cool is this - I met the Ghost Hunters!
Need I say more.....




Michelle Zink - one of my fav authors. Ready for this?
She actually knew me from my blog! Crazy right?
I was freaking out inside, but look how calm and collected I look. She was so supportive and chit-chatty. Love her.




I have to say, this one was especially a highlight for me. Alyson Noel was signing her new tween paranormal, Radiance. She recognized from my blog picture. INSANE! I was first in line and when she sat down, she said, "Hey Shelli!"




And of course I have to rub it in!!!! ;) Here is my stash!!!!






Jealous? Don't be.

I'm only keeping about a 1/3 of this.

The rest, along with the Swag pile, goes to all of my faithful followers this month - so keep visiting daily.

Since I hung out with Kody (and her agent Joanna) at BEA. Today, you can win an ARC of her book, THE DUFF. Comment and tell me the book you are most anticipating for Fall 2010 and why!

Come back tomorrow because I am announcing my Agent Pitch Contest with (Bree Ogden at Martin Literary) and what you need to do to prepare for Monday's entries!!

Marvelous Marketers: The Smart Chick Tour Gang

Contest winners - I am still in the process of mailing out all the prizes. Bear with me. If you havent gotten yours yet, it is coming! :)

Today we have a special treat. Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, and Alyson Noel are here to talk a little about marketing and their upcoming Smart Chicks Kick it tour (10 authors/8 cities).

First, can each of you tell us a little about your author career.

MM - I taught university lit for a while. In 2003, I switched to part-time teaching and allowed myself 3 years to try writing. In 2004, I wrote the short story that evolved into my first published novel (WICKED LOVELY) in 2005. I wasn't very optimistic - there was no major paranormal YA market yet. (not even Twilight) In 2006, I had just decided to go back to fulltime teaching when WL sold. Harper bought WL and the yet-to-be-written INK in a 3-book deal. Right now, I'm writing the 5th WL novel.

KA - My first adult book (Bitten/Otherworld series) came out in 2001. Book 11 (Waking the Witch) will be released in August. I also have a crime series with 2 books so far. For this tour, though, the focus is my young adult paranormal trilogy. The third book in the Darkest Power series (The Reckoning) comes out in April. Right now I'm editing the first book in the next YA trilogy.

AN - I’m the author of 12 novels for adults and teens, including the bestselling THE IMMORTALS series, and its soon to be released spin-off series, beginning with RADIANCE on 08.31.10. In a nutshell, I talked about writing for years, taking a writing class here and there where I worked on the same short story for about fifteen years. Then when 9/11 hit I was working as a flight attendant in NYC and figured it was as good a time to go after my dream. I expanded the same short story into a novel, and as soon as I typed “The End” I sent it off to a whole slew of publishers, (mistakenly thinking I didn’t need an agent –I can’t even begin to stress how very wrong that is!), and getting a slew of rejections for my efforts. So I took more classes, one of which led me to my then agent, who urged me to revise before he sent it out on submission. Ultimately selling what became my debut novel, FAKING 19, in a two-book deal to St. Martin’s Press, and I’ve been writing for them ever since. Today, I’m busy working on Untitled Immortals #5 (and yes, I’m also working on a better title for it!), and the second book in the spin-off series, as well as a new, exciting, super-sekrit project I’m hoping to reveal very soon . . .


What three things do you feel ever author needs to do to promote their book?

MM - I don't think there is a set list of such things. Each author & each book is individual, so it's really about what works for that author/book. I love Twitter, conferences, & blogging, but some authors love school visits, MySpace, & bookmarks. Others might prefer Skype visits. It's about what is best for YOU, not a "one size fits all" plan.

KA - I think there's only one thing EVERY author needs. A website. Beyond that, authors should be aware of all the various ways they can promote their books, try as many as they can, and stick with the ones they find both effective and enjoyable. For example, I don't blog; Twitter works much better for me. But I'd never say authors must use Twitter, because if they don't like it, their discomfort with the medium will show and leave a negative impression.

AN- While I still think it’s important, I also still believe that you should do only what you enjoy and what you’re comfortable with, saving most of your energy for writing the next book because that’s all your readers truly want from you anyway.
Though I will say that the number one, absolute, must have is a website. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, just a nice, easy to navigate place to showcase you and your books. (Alyson's Twitter, Alyson's Blog)


I know you run contests – how do you feel this helps to connect to readers and promote your book?

MM - I run contests because I like giving away books. Most of the contests are to win books I've enjoyed and think my readers will enjoy. As to giving away my books, I try to give away a few when I get copies because 1) I don't need them all and 2) it's fun. I wish I could tell you I thought it was a clever marketing idea, but it's really just a matter of enjoying sharing.

KA - I use contests in a number of ways. A fan art contest gives me art I can put on my site as extra content for readers. A fan-made trailer contest puts promotional videos on YouTube. Running a contest along with an announcement makes it feel less like "tooting my own horn" (eg. "It's my book's 10th week on the NYT list and I'm celebrating with a contest!") Likewise, contests are a way to gently remind readers of a release (e.g. giving away a book a day in the week leading up to a release) Most often, though, I just run them to say "Thanks for being a reader."

AN-I don’t run many contests anymore because with a deadline schedule like mine I don’t have the time. IN the past, they’ve turned out to be pretty popular . . . which makes me think I should consider starting up again!


What was the goal of starting the Smart Chicks Kick It tour? How did you come up with the authors that would attend?

MM - I'd done a few co-author events with Kelley and other authors, and at them, I'd had a great time. Then, in 2009, Harper set up a group tour. It was fun, but with a publisher driven group tour, the authors are all from ONE house. I talk to my readers a lot, and they aren't buying/reading from just one house. So, I started talking to authors to see if we could set up our own series of events with authors from various houses. Kelley and I started trying to come up with YA that our readers were reading or might like. We sent out a few invitations, including one to Alyson, and it just grew. Of course, it may be a fiasco, but we thought it might be fun to try.

KA - For me, the goal is to create exactly the sort of tour I want to be on. Publishers do a fantastic job, but there are always things I'd do differently. This is my chance to try them. As for choosing authors, when it comes to YA, I'm still a relative newbie. So I let Melissa's experience guide the choices, simply suggesting authors whose work I liked. That's one of the goals of the tour--introducing our readers to our favourite YA authors. Of course, there are many YA authors I like who aren't on the tour (or it would be huge!) but it's a good start.

AN-This was purely the genius of Ms. Melissa Marr and Ms. Kelley Armstrong. I am just thrilled to be along for the ride, so I will turn this one over to them!


What other creative marketing have you or your house done for any of your books?

MM - I'm not sure if it's creative, but I've done temporary tattoos, reminder bands, USB drives with deleted scenes and "extras" pre-loaded. With my publisher's support, I've done book trailers (with the fab Circle of Seven folks; my publisher uploads my playlists onto iTunes. Right now, I'm writing a series of short stories in the WL world that are being made available through retail outlets. The first is free online and as an "extra" in the paperback of FRAGILE ETERNITY in March. I went to Harper and proposed it last summer, and they've supported the idea.

KA - I've run a couple of "release promos," where readers send me the receipt in the first few weeks after a release, and they get something for it (from books to shirts to bookmark sets) I design swag both for giveaways and my CafePress store. My favourite kind of marketing, though, is writing free stories for my readers. Since 2003, I've done an annual e-serial. I solicit ideas from readers, post a poll with ideas I like, then write a novella on their top pick, posting a chapter a month etc. In 2009 and 2010, collections of those stories from my adult series came out in book form, with all my proceeds going to charity (which gave me another promotional push--it's easy to publicize a charitable endeavour!)

AN-The coolest thing my publisher ever did was The Immortals Series website. It’s completely amazing—I was gobsmacked when I first saw it—the graphics are beautiful, and it’s a fun place for readers to visit. They also made some incredibly cool ads that they’ve run on Facebook and other sites, and as for me, well, I’m not sure how “creative” it is but I always make the usual bookmarks, bookplates, trailers, and such.


What do you want authors to know about marketing and publicity?

MM - That it shouldn't be a stressful thing. If it's fun to do, give it a go, but don't let the marketing stuff get in the way (if possible!). It's the writing that matters most. Some authors do no PR/marketing, and they function just fine. There are things I don't do because they're more stress than they're worth for me. Know yourself. Know your strengths. Don't let the not-writing part of this job consume you.

KK - First, it's a necessary part of being an author. I think authors need to know that before they sell. Otherwise, it comes as a huge shock, as it did to me. However, as important as self-promotion is, it should never interfere with the main job of an author: to tell the best story possible. You need a good product to sell. You don't want to reach a point where your promotional efforts for the current release take precedence over writing or editing your next one. The book must come first.
AN - That you should concentrate only on what you enjoy and what you’re comfortable with, and to not worry about what everyone else is doing, or getting from their publisher that you’re not. Put the majority of your efforts into writing your next book—I truly believe it’s the absolute best thing you can do to market yourself. It keeps your readers happy, helps keep your backlist in stock, and helps build your name more than any ad, trailer, or bookmark ever could!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Marvelous Marketer: Bestselling author Alyson Noel (Immortals series)

Hi Alyson, I am so excited (and all geeky nervous) you agreed to stop by.

**pause for the gooby starstrucked feeling to pass**

So before we get into marketing, let's pretend as if no one knows who you are and tell us a little (or a whole lot!) about yourself.:)

I’m the author of ten novels for adults and teens, including the bestselling THE IMMORTALS series, which you can read more about at my author web site or the series web site.

In addition, I run a blog

Psst!!! In case you didn't notice, Alyson is being very modest about her bio. In addition, Shadowland, releases on November 17th and is already getting rave reviews. But what did we expect :)>


So how was your road to publishing? Did you start any of your platform or marketing prior to getting an agent or selling your book?

Well, the embarrassing truth is, I was as green as they come. Seriously, there was no one as clueless as me. And while I wanted to be a writer since I read my first Judy Blume book back in sixth grade, I didn’t get serious about it until late 2001, just after 9/11 happened and I was working as a flight attendant in NYC and figured it was as good a time as any to go after my dream. So I started writing in whatever spare time I had, on layovers, on flight delays, on cocktail napkins, you name it, I was determined to get it done.

The moment I typed “The End” I bought a copy of Writer’s Marketplace, jotted off a query letter, and sent it directly to a long list of publishers, mistakenly thinking I didn’t need an agent (I can’t even begin to stress how very wrong that is). And while every one of them requested the full, they all rejected me in the end. Still, they were the nice kind of rejections, the kind that welcome you to resubmit if you choose to revise.

So I enrolled in some online writing classes, and through one of those classes I met a fellow student who referred me to her agent. He read my mss, loved the voice but told me my structure was a mess (it was!), and suggested I read STORY by Robert McKee. I bought it straightaway, read it in two days, took the next three weeks to ruthlessly revise my mss, sent it back to him, and a few days later he signed me. And several months later he sold my debut novel, FAKING 19, to St. Martin’s Press in a two-book deal (this happened in Feb 2004).

But even with the book deal in hand, I still had no idea what I was doing marketing wise, or how publishing even really worked. I didn’t know any other writers, and was sort of living and working in a bubble. And aside from my website (at the time crafted from an Author’s Guild template), I didn’t blog, or join any professional writing organizations until my third book, LAGUNA COVE, was already on the shelves. It was through my memberships with SCBWI and RWA that this whole new world opened up and I realized that simply crossing my fingers before each release does not a publicity plan make! So I spent the next several months getting a blog together, joining a slew of social networking sites, and generally playing catch up.


Hate to say this, but it's kinda nice to know you got rejections too. Gives me hope :) As a bestselling author, I'm sure you do a lot of marketing. What are the top three things you think every author should do to promote their book?

While I think it’s extremely important to find a way to connect with readers, whether that be blogging, myspace, twitter, facebook, or all of the above, I’m also a big advocate for doing only the things you truly enjoy and scraping the rest. Because the truth is, keeping up with all of those sites is a major time suck, and if you’re not enjoying them, then it’s a colossal waste of energy that’s better used for writing!

I think the number one most important thing an author can do is to put together a nice website to showcase themselves and their books. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and you don’t have to spend a ton of money, just make sure it’s professional, inviting, easy to navigate, and a fun destination for readers and potential readers to learn more about you and your books.

If you like blogging and can keep it going and keep it fresh, then by all means, have it. It’s a great way for people to get to know you and your writing style. But if you don’t enjoy it, and can’t provide regular content, it’s probably better to skip it and find another way to reach out—or even join a group blog where you don’t have to post as often, and can cross promote with other authors and poach off each other’s readers.


Thank you for emphasizing that it is important to market your book the way you feel is best and the way you like to do it the most. In addition to blogging, how important is social networking to you?

I’ve found it to be a great way to stay in touch with readers, and I really enjoy keeping up with my Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter pages. I also keep a bulletin board on my site where I answer questions and chat. And while I’m a member of GoodReads as well, I admit that I rarely visit, I have super tight deadlines to meet and I had to draw the line somewhere!


I notice you team up with other authors on various projects. Do you feel it is beneficial for authors to promote books as a group?

Yes I do. I’m a member of two group blogs: The Teen Fiction Cafe and Living Your Five. I’m a huge advocate of the group book signing, because the reality is, unless you’re a huge, name brand author, it’s hard to fill up a room by yourself—especially when the majority of your readers are teens who can’t even drive yet. Not to mention, after you’ve released a few books in a row, it’s hard to get even your own family members to show up and look excited (not that I’ve had that experience or anything—mom, dad, are you reading this?!).

A group signing not only attracts more readers, but it’s a great opportunity to cross promote, which is why I’m especially excited about the Smart Girls Kick It Tour—the brainchild of Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong that’s kicking off in fall 2010. When they asked me to join them I was beyond thrilled. Most tours are set up by the publishers, meant to promote their own stable of authors, but this is something different—this is purely an author generated, grass roots effort, that is sure to be not only successful but fun!


I cannot wait for the Smart Girls Tour. If it does not go to Atlanta, I'll have to find one to road trip to :) Sounds like you do a lot of different types of marketing: blogs, group tours, signings. Can you give us any insight into what your publicist and marketing department does for you and how you two work together?

I’m lucky to work with such a great team at St. Martin’s Press—and it really is a team effort, a whole collaboration from the front cover design to the back cover copy to publicity and marketing, etc. They’re always brainstorming fun, new ways to promote the books, and they really knocked it out of the park with the Immortals website they created and the “overheard in Summerland” audios are amazing! Every time you click on a tulip (an important symbol in the books) you can hear a scene not included in the books—I was stunned when they came up with it!

On my own, I make bookmarks and bookplates which I send to readers who send me a SASE, I also make sure to blog about each new release and announce it on all of my social networking sites. And I always hire Circle of Seven to put together a trailer because they do a great job and they have the most amazing distribution (it’s all about the distribution!), then I pretty much hope for the best, and get to work on my next book! Because the truth is, while my efforts have merit and make me feel like I’m doing my part, it’s nothing compared to what my publisher can do. They have much bigger reach, far more resources, and much deeper pockets than I—and their efforts make a much bigger difference than mine ever could.


So in addition to signings and your publisher's marketing efforts, what other creative things have you done to promote a book?

While I’m not sure that they’re particularly creative, I’ve made bookmarks, bookplates, done blog tours, made trailers, bought ad space on reader centric Internet sites, signed stock in bookstores both near and far, Myspaced, Facebooked, Twittered, (yup, they’re verbs now!), taken part in group signings at bookstores and book festivals, given presentations at libraries and schools, all of which, no doubt, helps to get my name and books “out there.”

The truth is, and this may not be wildly popular but I believe it to be true—the absolute best thing you can do to market yourself as an author is to write your next book! At the end of the day, that’s all your readers really want from you anyway. And with books getting such a short shelf life these days, the best way to ensure yours books maintain their space is to keep ‘em coming, to build up a nice backlist for your readers to explore and for bookstores to reorder with each new release.

Thank you so much for joining us today and good luck with Shadowland! (not that you will need it! :)

THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW, SHELLI!!!