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Thursday, March 31, 2011

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:



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):


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


A 50 page manuscript critique


A signed copy of MOONGLASS


A swag pack of POSSESS goodies and a query critique


A 50 page manuscript critique


A signed copy of AUDITION


A query and first chapter critique


A signed copy of LIAR SOCIETY and bookmarks


A box of ten mystery advance reader copies


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


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


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.

Monday, March 28, 2011

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:

1st 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!

2nd 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.

3rd 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.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

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!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

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.
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! :)