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Hi All! As many of you know, I just finished a series on the building blocks of a novel, which dove deep into a metaphor comparing a novel to a city. We compared words to bricks, sentences to walls, paragraphs to buildings, scenes to streets, and chapters to neighborhoods.

Today, I want to acknowledge that sometimes a novel is not like a city at all.

I think most regular readers of this blog know that my debut novel, Ivory and Bone, releases tomorrow, June 7. These last few months leading up to the on-sale date have been a very exciting, sometimes terrifying, often exhausting time. Over the past few days—and especially today, on the eve of the launch—I’ve been forced to admit that there is another apt metaphor for a novel. In many ways—at least from my personal perspective—I’d have to admit that a novel is a lot like a child you’re sending out into the world.

We’ve all heard novels referred to as “book babies.” Here are three reasons I have to agree that writers’ books are like their children.

First, like a child, a novel has a mind of its own. If it doesn’t want to conform to your expectations of it, it simply won’t. You may want it to grow up to be a fast-paced thriller, when it might instead become a quiet psychological drama. Some things are within the author’s control, of course, (you can simply start over if things aren’t going well,) but just like with children, you  may find that letting them choose their own path can lead to amazing results. It can be maddening when things don’t go the way we intended them to with a manuscript, but just like kids, books tend to find the path they were meant to be on all along. (The author—like a parent—just needs to keep up!)

Second, when your book baby meets with rejection, it feels a little like someone has insulted your child. Every author receives a certain amount of rejection, but knowing that rejection is unavoidable and generally not personal doesn’t make it any easier to process. It hurts, even when you know it’s a part of publishing. When the book I wrote right before Ivory and Bone failed to find a publisher, I took it very hard. The characters in that book were incredibly real to me after I’d worked on the book for so long, and I felt like I’d let them down. Of course, the opposite holds true, too. Now that Ivory and Bone is almost here, I feel so happy and proud for my characters.

Third, when your book receives praise, it feels (at least to me,) like the praise is for this separate entity, rather than for you yourself. This is another way that a book is like a child. As a mother, I’m always proud and flattered when someone praises my child, and I feel like I can accept the praise graciously because it’s not really directed at me. In the same way, even though a good review of your book feels personal, it still feels separate and distinct from a direct compliment. You may have brought your book baby into the world, but it’s got a life of its own.

I’m extremely excited to be posting this on the eve of my book baby’s birth! Though I’ve said it here before, I can’t say it enough—thank you all so much for your support on my path to publication. I joined PubCrawl in early 2010, when it was still Let the Words Flow. This has been a long pregnancy—book babies take a long time to gestate—but it’s been amazing. Thank you all so much, and please check the acknowledgements at the back of Ivory and Bone for a special shout-out to all the readers of this blog!

What do you think? Are your books and manuscripts like your babies? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Happy New Year! Can you believe PubCrawl is four years old this year? How time does fly! This little blog will be toddling off to grade school before we know it, sniff.

Anyway, to start off another awesome year with us, we thought we’d let y’all know what we PubCrawlers (current and alumni) are publishing this year!

E.C. Myers

Against All Silence

Available May 23, 2016!

After being a key figure in the exposing of government corruption, Max Stein has spent a quiet semester abroad in Paris, studying, staying off the Internet, and looking for his long-lost mother. But just as he is about to fly back to the United States for the holidays, trouble manages to find him once again.

Max receives a call from Penny, his on-again-off-again girlfriend who is part of the expert hacking duo DoubleThink. She wants him to meet with Ada Kiesler, a high-profile whistleblower hiding out at a foreign embassy in Berlin. Max has no interest in getting drawn into another corporate conspiracy. But when airport security suddenly detains him on suspicion of cyber-terrorism, he has little choice but to get involved. Soon Max and Penny are tangling with a new group of shadowy figures who are determined to control how the world shares its information. And some figures from Max s past resurface, including his own mother, whose life has mirrored his own in more ways than he d realized.

In this action-packed follow up to The Silence of Six, Max and his hacker friends must fight to expose a corrupt corporation that has been systematically taking control of the Internet.

E.C. MYERS was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and the public library in Yonkers, New York. He is the author of the Andre Norton Award–winning young adult novel Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, as well as numerous short stories. His latest novel, The Silence of Six, is a thriller about teenage hackers and government conspiracies. You can find traces of him all over the internet, but especially at ecmyers.net and on Twitter @ecmyers.

Stacey Lee

Outrun the Moon

Available May 24, 2016!

From the author of the critically acclaimed Under a Painted Sky, an unforgettable story of determination set against a backdrop of devastating tragedy. Perfect for fans of Code Name Verity.

San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.

On April 18, an historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Mercy can’t sit by while they wait for the Army to bring help. Fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, yet Mercy still has the ‘bossy’ cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenaged girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city?

Breakout author Stacey Lee masterfully crafts another remarkable novel set against a unique historical backdrop. Strong-willed Mercy Wong leads a cast of diverse characters in this extraordinary tale of survival.

Stacey has two books coming out in 2016!

Catch a Falling Heart

Pub date not yet available

A 16-year-old aromateur with an extraordinary nose, the last in a long line of love witches, scrambles to reverse the effects of a love elixir after giving it to the wrong target—all while trying not to fall for the woman’s attractive son. Publication is set for fall 2016.

STACEY LEE is a fourth generation Chinese-American whose people came to California during the heydays of the cowboys. She believes she still has a bit of cowboy dust in her soul. A native of southern California, she graduated from UCLA then got her law degree at UC Davis King Hall. After practicing law in the Silicon Valley for several years, she finally took up the pen because she wanted the perks of being able to nap during the day, and it was easier than moving to Spain. She plays classical piano, wrangles children, and writes YA fiction.

Jodi Meadows

The Mirror King

Available April 5, 2016!

Wilhelmina has a hundred enemies.

HER FRIENDS HAVE TURNED. After her identity is revealed during the Inundation, Princess Wilhelmina is kept prisoner by the Indigo Kingdom, with the Ospreys lost somewhere in the devastated city. When the Ospreys’ leader emerges at the worst possible moment, leaving Wil’s biggest ally on his deathbed, she must become Black Knife to set things right.

HER MAGIC IS UNCONTROLLABLE. Wil’s power is to animate, not to give true life, but in the wraithland she commanded a cloud of wraith mist to save herself, and later ordered it solid. Now there is a living boy made of wraith—destructive and deadly, and willing to do anything for her.

HER HEART IS TORN. Though she’s ready for her crown, declaring herself queen means war. Caught between what she wants and what is right, Wilhelmina realizes the throne might not even matter. Everyone thought the wraith was years off, but already it’s destroying Indigo Kingdom villages. If she can’t protect both kingdoms, soon there won’t be a land to rule.

In this stunning conclusion to THE ORPHAN QUEEN, Jodi Meadows follows Wilhelmina’s breathtaking and brave journey from orphaned criminal on the streets to magic-wielding queen.

Jodi also has two books coming out in 2016, plus an e-novella!

My Lady Jane

Available June 7, 2016!

For fans of The Princess Bride comes the comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey.

Lady Jane Grey, sixteen, is about to be married to a total stranger—and caught up in an insidious plot to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But that’s the least of Jane’s problems. She’s about to become Queen of England. Like that could go wrong.

JODI MEADOWS lives and writes in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, with her husband, a Kippy*, and an alarming number of ferrets. She is a confessed book addict, and has wanted to be a writer ever since she decided against becoming an astronaut. She is the author of the Incarnate Trilogy and The Orphan Queen Duology (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen).

*A Kippy is a cat.

Julie Eshbaugh

Ivory and Bone

Available June 14, 2016!

The only life seventeen-year-old Kol knows is hunting at the foot of the Great Ice with his brothers. But food is becoming scarce, and without another clan to align with, Kol, his family, and their entire group are facing an uncertain future.

Traveling from the south, Mya and her family arrive at Kol’s camp with a trail of hurt and loss behind them, and hope for a new beginning. When Kol meets Mya, her strength, independence, and beauty instantly captivate him, igniting a desire for much more than survival.

Then on a hunt, Kol makes a grave mistake that jeopardizes the relationship that he and Mya have only just started to build. Mya was guarded to begin with—and for good reason—but no apology or gesture is enough for her to forgive him. Soon after, another clan arrives on their shores. And when Mya spots Lo, a daughter of this new clan, her anger intensifies, adding to the already simmering tension between families. After befriending Lo, Kol learns of a dark history between Lo and Mya that is rooted in the tangle of their pasts.

When violence erupts, Kol is forced to choose between fighting alongside Mya or trusting Lo’s claims. And when things quickly turn deadly, it becomes clear that this was a war that one of them had been planning all along.

JULIE ESHBAUGH writes young adult fiction. She is the author of the upcoming Ivory and Bone (HarperCollins, 2016.) You can visit Julie’s website, add her on Goodreads and follow her on Pinterest and Twitter @JulieEshbaugh.

S. Jae-Jones

Wintersong

Available September 13, 2016!

Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

S. JAE-JONES (called JJ) is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the author of Wintersong (Thomas Dunne, 2016). Before moving to grits country, she was a YA fiction editor in New York City. A southern California native, she now lives in North Carolina, and many other places on the internet, including Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and her blog.

Stephanie Garber

Caraval

Available September 20, 2016!

An original world. A legendary competition. A mesmerizing romance. An unbreakable bond between two sisters.

Welcome to Caraval—the spell-casting first book in a fantasy series that’s perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series and The Night Circus.

Before you enter the world of Caraval, you must remember that it’s all a game . . .

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their ruthless father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the legendary, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

Then, Scarlett’s long-dreamt of invitation to Caraval finally arrives. So, Tella enlists a mysterious sailor’s help to whisk Scarlett away to this year’s show. But as soon as the trio arrives, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nonetheless soon becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with her sister, with Legend, and with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

STEPHANIE GARBER loves Disneyland because it’s the one place on earth where she feels as if the fantastical stories she loves to write about could actually come to life. When she’s not writing young adult fantasy, she teaches creative writing a private college in northern California. Her debut novel, Caraval, will be published by Flatiron Books/Macmillan (US) and Hodder & Stoughton (UK) in fall 2016.

And of course we couldn’t let the publication of our dear PubCrawl alumni pass without a mention! Here are some forthcoming books from PubCrawl members past!

Alexandra Bracken

Available now!

Susan Dennard

Available now!

Sarah J. Maas

Available May 3, 2016!

Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass #5 (no pub date available)

Marie Lu

The Young Elites #3 (no pub date available)

Amie Kaufman

Gemina (Illuminae #2) (no pub date available)

(with Jay Kristoff)

Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) (September 27, 2016)

What a year 2016 is shaping up to be! Go us!

Although Thanksgiving was yesterday here in the United States, we PubCrawlers figured it was never too late to be thankful for our blessings and privileges. Without further ado:

S. Jae-Jones (JJ)

I’m thankful for my Skullcandy Aviator headphones because not only do they look good, they tune out everything around me so I can concentrate on writing.

Kelly Van Sant

I’m thankful for my local library branch!

Hannah Ferguson

I am thankful for my nerdy writing group. We are self named The Fellowship and when we aren’t writing, we’re drinking wine and talking about it. I daresay they’ve saved my sanity on more than one occasion.

Rachel Seigel

I’m thankful to have a job that I enjoy, and that gives me the opportunity to read amazing books & get paid to sell them!

Julie Eshbaugh

I’m thankful for my online writing friends. Because of them I never feel like I’m toiling alone.

Kat Zhang

I’m thankful for my writing friends, too!

Stephanie Garber

I am thankful for every single thing that has happened this year and for all of the new people who have come into my life.

Stacey Lee

I’m thankful for this post so I can say how thankful I am to join Pubcrawl this year. I’m also thankful for my parents, who are still vibrant (even though Dad’s 81) and I’m also thankful for friends and emojis.

E. C. Myers

I’m thankful to have a family that supports my writing goals and helps me keep my love of telling stories a priority even when life gets busy, demanding, and stressful.

Jodi Meadows

I’m thankful for so many amazing books to read.

And we are all, of course, thankful for each and every one of our readers. <3

Illuminae

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra–who are barely even talking to each other–are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents–including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

Happiest of book birthdays to Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff! You guys, there are NO WORDS for how awesome this book is. Literally. No words. A collection of digital ephemera in book form? House of Leaves meets Battlestar Galactica? WE CAN’T DO THIS BOOK JUSTICE. Trust us; this is a book that must be experienced, not just read.

But don’t take our word for it! Here’s what others had to say about Illuminae!

★ Ambitious, heartbreaking, and out-of-this-world awesome.

—Kirkus Reviews starred review

★ Hints of romance and references to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey interweave with the text, itself an arresting visual experience that weds form with expression and content. . . . Kaufman and Kristoff have created a fast-paced, quasi-political sci-fi thriller that is completely unique.

—Booklist starred review

★ …a stylistically mesmerizing tale, where story and art are interchangeable, and words act as pictures.

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

The characters are immediately real and with harrowing accounts, unexpected twists, and gut-wrenching selflessness, they become even more endearing over the course of the book. While reminiscent of the works of Isaac Asimov and Orson Scott Card, this work is a distinct piece that stands alone.

—School Library Journal

Alternately humorous, charming, horrifying and electrifying, Illuminae is unforgettable and a game-changer for its genre.

—Shelf Awareness

You’ll cheer, you’ll gasp, you’ll hang on for all 600 pages.

—Romantic Times Book Reviews, Top Pick Gold

Alternately humorous, charming, horrifying and electrifying, Illuminae is unforgettable and a game-changer for its genre.

—VOYA

Prepare yourselves for Illuminae.

—EW.com

One look at a hard copy of Illuminae and you know you’re not in for an ordinary novel experience. . . . Illuminae is a wholly ambitious work that never sacrifices emotion or story for its unique form.

—Bustle.com

A truly interactive experience for the reader. . . . A fantastically fun ride.

—MTV.com

Brace yourself. You’re about to be immersed in a mindscape that you’ll never want to leave.

—Marie Lu, bestselling author of the Legend trilogy

Nervy chicks, cute fighter pilots, lots of heart, lots of heartbreak, a mentally unstable battleship, and even pink hair! This book is ****ing awesome.

—Laini Taylor, bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone

An edge of your seat thrill ride that left me breathless. Genre: Undefinable. Novel: Unforgettable.

—Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures & author of Unbreakable

Not only is Illuminae a twisting, heart-pounding story moving at the speed of light, but it is a truly beautiful novel that redefines the form. I have never read anything like it. And it certainly filled the Battlestar Galactica shaped hole in my heart.

—Victoria Aveyard, bestselling author of Red Queen

An exuberant mix of space opera, romance, zombies, hackers, and political thrills, told with eccentric aplomb. Illuminae is both the weirdest and most heartfelt thing you’ll read this year.

—Scott Westerfeld, bestselling author of Uglies and Zeroes

Stunningly creative. Smart, funny, and romantic. This is the book I’ve been waiting for.

—Veronica Rossi, bestselling author of Under the Never Sky

You guys. YOU GUYS. Just…go grab yourself a copy. We promise your minds will be BLOWN.

Buy a copy here today! And to celebrate, we are giving away ONE HARDCOVER COPY OF ILLUMINAE TO ONE LUCKY WINNER! (Sorry, US only!)

Comment, tweet, add to your Goodreads page! Giveaway ends October 28, 2015.

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Hi everyone! I am so excited for today’s post because it’s a very special day for my dear friend, and fellow pub-crawler, Stacey Lee. The cover for her sophomore novel, OUTRUN THE MOON, is live on Entertainment Weekly.

I adore this cover! If you haven’t seen it yet, you can (and should) check it out by clicking here.

But make sure to read the rest of this post, because Stacey has answered a few questions about titles, and plotting, and port-o-potties. She’s also giving away an advanced release copy of OUTRUN THE MOON (and trust me when I say you want to read this fabulous book).

And now to the interview with Stacey Lee!

Stephanie: Before we get to the questions on craft, I am dying to ask, how did you feel when you saw the amazing cover for OUTRUN THE MOON?

Stacey: I was in line to buy a taco, and my phone was loading extra-slowly. Seeing the cover was a like a book cover strip tease, one pixel at a time. I honestly didn’t think I would love the first cover as it took several comps to arrive at the final of UNDER A PAINTED SKY. But I think cover artist Theresa Evangelista (who did the cover for UAPS as well as many other books like Jacqueline Woodson’s BROWN GIRL DREAMING, Renée Ahdieh’s WRATH OF THE DAWN and David Arnold’s MOSQUITOLAND) really captured the drama of the setting in one take, and I loved her choices of color, too.

Stephanie: Yes! She totally captured the drama of the setting. Thinking about it now, it’s hard for me to imagine that OUTRUN THE MOON was not your original title. Could you share how you came up with a new title?

Stacey: We wanted something poetic and memorable, something out of the ordinary. I spent a week reading poetry for that perfect turn of phrase. I even stayed extra-long in a port-a-potty which had the poems of Jack London written on the inside. I was desperate. It was in the course of filling my head with poetry that the title came to me.

Stephanie: Wow—spending extra time in a port-a-potty—that is dedication. But it paid off. Whenever I tell people about OUTRUN THE MOON, almost everyone responds by saying, “I Love that title!” Is there any specific meaning behind it?

Stacey: The main character’s mother is a fortuneteller. She tells her daughter she can’t outrun the moon, or escape her fate, though she can change her perspective on it.

Stephanie: That totally sounds like something a mother would say. You wrote your first draft of this book on deadline in three months, which just amazes me! Are there any tips you can give writers who might be working with a tight deadline?

Stacey: As a pantster and a stewster (someone who likes to stew with their ideas before putting them on the page), I can honestly say that writing a first draft in three months was hard. It helps to have a good plan, in particular, plotting out your turning points, pinch points and end point. Where do you want your character to be at the end of the story? Then you have something to write towards, even if those things change (as they will!).

Stephanie: When I first read OUTRUN THE MOON I remember highlighting so many lines that I absolutely loved. (This book seriously has a lot of amazing lines!) Would you mind sharing one of your favorites with readers?

Stacey: The universe never jokes. It is always profoundly, unflinchingly serious.

Thanks so much for sharing all of that, Stacey. I am so excited for this book to be out in the world next May. But one of our lucky readers can get a copy early. To win all you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter below. Please note: Stacey has not received her ARCs yet, but as soon as she does, she will be sending one out to our lucky winner.

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The Rose Society

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

Happiest of book birthdays to Marie Lu’s The Rose Society! If you love immersive high fantasy, morally grey protagonists, villain stories, then you’ll definitely have something to love in Marie’s work. But don’t just take our word for it: check out these great reviews!

★ A tightly woven tapestry of a story that ensnares even as it disturbs.

—Booklist, starred review

★ Lu constructs a fascinating triangle of opposing forces seeking power, and the ensuing twists and epic battles leave many dead, broken, or forever changed.

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Original and sobering, Adelina is an antihero of nigh-unremitting darkness: an unusual young woman in the mold of such archetypes as Lucifer, Macbeth, and Darth Vader.

—Kirkus Reviews

Teens will be fascinated to watch the main character descend into villainy and revel in it.

—School Library Journal

Doesn’t this sound AMAZING? We think it’s pretty fitting Marie wrote a villain book, as she wrote a lot about villains for us here at PubCrawl.

Buy a copy here today! And to celebrate, we are giving away ONE HARDCOVER COPY OF THE ROSE SOCIETY TO ONE LUCKY WINNER! (Sorry, US only!)

Comment with your favourite villain, tweet, add to your Goodreads page! Giveaway ends October 20, 2015.

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This week Kelly and JJ talk about CONTRACTS. Yes, contracts. No, it’s not boring, we promise. Also, how Ernest Hemingway can help you write middle grade and how everything is still Hamilton. EVERYTHING WILL ALWAYS BE HAMILTON.

Show Notes

We haven’t written a ton on the subject of contracts here at PubCrawl, but here is a post by alumni Joanna Volpe and Jordan Hamessley-London:

• The Great Debate: An Agent and Editor Discuss the Latest in Contract Negotiation

TL;DR (or TL;DL for Too Long, Didn’t Listen), the three most important clauses to which you should pay attention in your contract are:

• Rights of Termination
• Delivery
• Option/Non-Compete

Creative Endeavors

JJ is still working on her middle grade novel and is reading Ernest Hemingway for research. Not because her middle grade is about bullfighting and notions of masculinity, but because from a craft perspective, no one does spare yet emotionally resonant better than Hemingway.

Books Discussed This Week

• The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
• Duck Sock Hop by Jane Kohuth, illustrated by Jane Porter
• Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
  • the Regency romances of Georgette Heyer
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
  • the whimsical works of Diana Wynne Jones
  • The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper
• The League of Seven by Alan Gratz

Off-Menu Recommendations

• Alpha Bear game
• Sailor Moon manga, the not-so-good TokyoPop versions and the much better Kodansha reissues
• Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (Good news! It is translated into English!)
• Sandman by Neil Gaiman
• Saga by Brian K. Vaughan
• Miss Marvel by G. Willow Wilson

That’s it for this week! Next week, we will be talking about how to take a story FROM BRAIN TO BOOK: A Look Into the Behind-the-Scenes Publishing Process. As always, if you have any questions or comments, sound off in the comments, or ask us on Tumblr!

This week JJ and Kelly discuss submission and acquisition, and give a little insight into the reasons behind why an editor might reject a manuscript. Also, Hamilton. We’ll explain that later.

Copy the URL, open iTunes, go to File > Subscribe to Podcast, paste the URL, and click OK. Our podcast should show up in your Podcasts app now!

Show Notes

• On Being on Submission by Stacey Lee and Stephanie Garber
• Agony! Misery! Woe! (JJ’s song filk and cover of Stephen Sondheim’s “Agony”)
• Bringing Your Baby to Editorial Board

What We’re Reading

JJ’s Reads

• Golden Son by Pierce Brown (audio)
• She’s still working her way through Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
• Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Kelly’s Reads

• The Martian by Andy Weir
• Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Off Menu Recommendations

This week both Kelly and JJ have the same recommendation: HAMILTON.

For those who aren’t plugged into musical theatre buzz, Hamilton is a hip-hop musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

Wait, what?

YES. The score, lyrics, and book are by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony Award-winning composer of In the Heights, based on a biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow. The story goes that when Miranda was on vacation from In the Heights, he picked up Chernow’s book at the airport and was so inspired by the life of Hamilton as “the ultimate hip-hop/immigrant story”,¹ he started writing the musical.

In 2009, he performed the opening number (then a workshopped piece of poetry/rap/spoken word) at the White House for President Obama:

Words can’t describe how transformative and (not to be punny) revolutionary this musical is. The majority of the cast is made up of people of color, and in fact, all the principal characters are not white (except, appropriately, King George III). Miranda has said it’s the story of America, and it looks like America now.

The album is available for digital download (and is currently streaming on Spotify), but if you’d like the physical album with booklet, it will be available on October 16. Rumor has it that it will also be released on vinyl, and JJ may need to buy herself a record player now.

That’s it for this week! Next week, we’ll be discussing CONTRACTS. As always, if you have any questions or comments, sound off in the comments, or ask us on Tumblr!

This week JJ and Kelly discuss submission and acquisition, and give a little insight into the reasons behind why an editor might reject a manuscript. Also, Hamilton. We’ll explain that later.

Copy the URL, open iTunes, go to File > Subscribe to Podcast, paste the URL, and click OK. Our podcast should show up in your Podcasts app now!

Show Notes

• On Being on Submission by Stacey Lee and Stephanie Garber
• Agony! Misery! Woe! (JJ’s song filk and cover of Stephen Sondheim’s “Agony”)
• Bringing Your Baby to Editorial Board

What We’re Reading

JJ’s Reads

• Golden Son by Pierce Brown (audio)
• She’s still working her way through Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
• Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Kelly’s Reads

• The Martian by Andy Weir
• Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Off Menu Recommendations

This week both Kelly and JJ have the same recommendation: HAMILTON.

For those who aren’t plugged into musical theatre buzz, Hamilton is a hip-hop musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

Wait, what?

YES. The score, lyrics, and book are by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony Award-winning composer of In the Heights, based on a biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow. The story goes that when Miranda was on vacation from In the Heights, he picked up Chernow’s book at the airport and was so inspired by the life of Hamilton as “the ultimate hip-hop/immigrant story”,¹ he started writing the musical.

In 2009, he performed the opening number (then a workshopped piece of poetry/rap/spoken word) at the White House for President Obama:

Words can’t describe how transformative and (not to be punny) revolutionary this musical is. The majority of the cast is made up of people of color, and in fact, all the principal characters are not white (except, appropriately, King George III). Miranda has said it’s the story of America, and it looks like America now.

The album is available for digital download (and is currently streaming on Spotify), but if you’d like the physical album with booklet, it will be available on October 16. Rumor has it that it will also be released on vinyl, and JJ may need to buy herself a record player now.

That’s it for this week! Next week, we’ll be discussing CONTRACTS. As always, if you have any questions or comments, sound off in the comments, or ask us on Tumblr!

Six of Crows

SIX DANGEROUS OUTCASTS. ONE IMPOSSIBLE HEIST.

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

As someone who’s read it already, all I (JJ) can say is that YOU ARE ALL IN FOR A TREAT. But don’t take my word for it!

★ Bardugo broadens the universe she created in the Grisha Trilogy…cracking page-turner with a multiethnic, band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family.

—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ [Six of Crows] has all the right elements to keep readers enthralled: a cunning leader with a plan for every occasion, nigh-impossible odds, an entertainingly combative team of skilled misfits, a twisty plot, and a nerve-wracking cliffhanger.

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ Taking what could have been stock characters of young adult fiction—the loner, the rebel, the outcast, and the con artist, the author has fashioned fully fleshed out, dynamic protagonists who will engage and enchant readers. What a thrill it is to return to the world she created with her popular Grisha Trilogy.

—School Library Journal, starred review

★ Great characters with complex backstories, dynamic relationships that show growth, and plenty of action to keep the pace lively, are set into a landscape that offers a variety of occupations and social strata…This is an easy choice for teens who enjoyed The Grisha Trilogy, Diviners, or any of the Shadowhunter books.

—VOYA, starred review

Look at all those stars! If you loved The Grisha Trilogy or Ocean’s Eleven (or BOTH), then we definitely recommend you give Six of Crows a try.

Buy a copy here today! And to celebrate, we are giving away ONE HARDCOVER COPY OF SIX OF CROWS TO ONE LUCKY WINNER! (Sorry, US only!)

Comment, tweet, add to your Goodreads page! Giveaway ends October 6, 2015.

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LEIGH BARDUGO is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Grisha Trilogy: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising. She was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University, and has worked in advertising, journalism, and most recently, makeup and special effects. These days, she’s lives and writes in Hollywood where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band. Her new book, Six of Crows, is available now!

Show Notes

• The Art of Writing Copy (and further query tips)
• Publishers Marketplace
• Query Tracker
• Agent Query
• Manuscript Wishlist (and the accompanying hashtag #mswl on Twitter)
• Verla Kay Blueboards
• Preditors & Editors
• Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents

What We’re Working On

Kelly’s sourdough bread!

My first sourdough ever, and made with my own starter! If all goes well tomorrow there will be bread. #feedthebitch

A photo posted by Kelly Van Sant (@bookishchick) on Sep 16, 2015 at 9:24am PDT

Sourdough! I’m not thrilled with the baking method I followed, so I’m excited to make the next boule with a few tweaks. But it’s sour and its bread and I made it! #feedthebitch A photo posted by Kelly Van Sant (@bookishchick) on Sep 17, 2015 at 10:41am PDT

JJ’s Whiskey-Drinking Chair

Who knew reupholstering an armchair would be so messy? Finally got this sucker stripped down.

A photo posted by JJ (@sjaejones) on Jan 17, 2015 at 5:38pm PST

It probably wasn’t my smartest idea to reupholster an armchair without first learning how. #jjsdiy A photo posted by JJ (@sjaejones) on Jan 24, 2015 at 11:12am PST

Okay. After replacing a broken needle and after a few more test stitches, I THINK I’m ready to tackle the real thing (armchair cushion cover.) I think. *gulp*

A photo posted by JJ (@sjaejones) on Sep 12, 2015 at 3:35pm PDT

I’ve sewn a zipper! I’ve sewn it BACKWARD. And now to rip these stitches out… #undomesticgoddess A photo posted by JJ (@sjaejones) on Sep 14, 2015 at 4:43pm PDT

First sewing machine project complete! Cushion of armchair re-covered. I EVEN DID THE ZIPPER. I only had to rip out stitches 5 times… #undomesticgoddess

A photo posted by JJ (@sjaejones) on Sep 14, 2015 at 7:25pm PDT

Finished whiskey drinking chair! #undomesticgoddess A photo posted by JJ (@sjaejones) on Sep 21, 2015 at 3:59pm PDT

What We’re Reading

JJ’s Reads

• Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown (audio)
• Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (audio)

Kelly’s Reads

• Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
• Serpentine by Cindy Pon

It’s the Libba Bray Fangirl Hour! A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing, Going Bovine, The Diviners, and The Lair of Dreams discussed in addition to Beauty Queens. (As well as Libba’s grocery lists. JJ is an enormous fan, if you can’t tell.)

Other Recommendations

• Dusted by Story Wonk (a critical analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
• Tanz der Vampire (German-language musical by Jim Steinman¹)

Totale Finsternis

It’s TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART sung by Vicomte de Chagny and an ingenue named Sarah as a VAMPIRE LOVE DUET. I mean, c’mon.

It’s All Coming Back to Me Now (as performed by Jeremy Jordan)

That’s it for this week! Next week, we’ll be discussing SUBMISSIONS AND ACQUISITIONS. As always, if you have any questions or comments, sound off in the comments, or ask us on Tumblr!

Kelly & JJ

How did you get your start in publishing?

The old-fashioned way: networking. And by accident.

I had been writing and reading for as long as I could remember, but never thought much about the process by which a book is made. I mostly imagined them springing onto my bookshelves fully formed, a la Athena from the head of Zeus. After graduating college I emptied my bank account, stuffed a red Jansport backpack with as many clothes as it could hold, and ran away to New York City to find my fortune. There may also have been a handsome guy waiting for me at Grand Central Station—most of the questionable decisions I’ve made in my life involve a handsome guy. Although I had no apartment of my own I got a job in a restaurant on the Upper East side that same day and spent the next few months couch surfing and loving life, as only a 22 year old girl could do. But I knew I didn’t want to wait tables forever.

At the time a friend was doing reader reports for a literary scouting agency. When she got a full-time job at a big publisher, she recommended me to the agency and I took up the task.. After a few months another friend introduced me to the head of the internship program at a prestigious literary agency and encouraged me to apply. I almost didn’t. Things had ended terribly with the handsome guy and I was content to spend the rest of my life in my pajamas waiting for the next disk of Buffy to arrive from Netflix (this was back in the olden days, before streaming). But allure of all those shining, possible books was too much to resist. I was granted an internship and upon completion of the program I was hired on as an assistant. Things took off from there, and nearly a decade later I’m still working in this industry and love it as fiercely as ever.

We both love archetypes, so I have to ask: Which member of the Babysitters Club are you?

I’m Mary Anne. I’ll own it. With maybe a smidge of Dawn.

For years and years and years, I resisted being labeled Claudia because I didn’t want to be identified with the only Asian girl in the group. (C’mon, too obvious!) Also Claudia wasn’t a good student, which offended my straight-A sensibilities. However, I have finally come around to admitting that, yes, I am Claudia Kishi, and I’m okay with it.

JJ and Kelly, at a bar on the Lower East Side with a bunch of other publishing people, back when they both lived in NYC. Also, check out the couple visibly making out on the street behind us.

We go out and suddenly it’s no longer a PubCrawl but a Pub BRAWL! What weapon are you wielding?

Hermione Granger’s wand. Boss witch.

If you could craft the perfect “literary cocktail”, what would it contain?

Friendship, adventure, a generous sprinkling of humor, deft and wonderful prose, riveting conflict, and a touch of believable romance. Magic often helps.

KELLY VAN SANT is a Publishing Gal Friday with nearly a decade of experience in the industry. Currently she handles contracts for Quarto Publishing Group and provides a variety of services through Pen & Parsley Editorial.

Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah, it’s finally here!

If you guys have been living under a rock, then you might not have heard of Erin’s awesome new YA Western pitched as True Grit meets the legend of the Lost Dutchman. I’ve wanted this book ever since I read the synopsis:

Vengeance Road

Welcome to the Wild West.

When Kate Thompson’s father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the eighteen-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate discovers more about her family’s secrets, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there’s room for love in a heart so full of hate.

In the spirit of True Grit, this novel makes the cutthroat days of the Wild West come to life for a new generation.

If that doesn’t make you want to read this, then just check out this trailer!

If you’re still not convinced, then look at the heaps of praise piled on to Vengeance Road!

★ An unflinchingly bloody tale of the Wild West…Thoroughly engrossing.

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

A vivid portrait of a lawless world…The book demands the same stoicism from its readers as the heroine herself possesses.

—School Library Journal

Refreshingly believable. Readers will be entranced by Bowman’s swiftly paced, romantic revenge drama.

—Booklist

Fast-paced [and] entertaining.

—VOYA

A story of grit, love, and deadly revenge that climbs off the page and into your heart–saddle up for a thrilling, harrowing ride!

—Alexandra Bracken, NYT bestselling author of The Darkest Minds trilogy

Vengeance Road is a page-turning, unputdownable story of revenge. Bowman paints a thrilling, vivid picture of 1877 Arizona, and Kate is a heroine to be reckoned with.

—Jessica Spotswood, author of The Cahill Witch Chronicles

Gritty and honest, Vengeance Road captures the heart of the Wild West.

—Mindy McGinnis, author of Not a Drop to Drink

A take-no-prisoners heroine with a bloody debt to settle. I’m still breathing in the dust and hot Arizona sun.

—Megan Shepherd, author of The Madman’s Daughter

Relentlessly readable, Vengeance Road is a perfect western. You won’t be able to turn in until you get to the very last page!

—Saundra Mitchell, author of The Springsweet

Flinty and fierce, Kate is a formidable addition to the pantheon of tough young adult heroines. Her story and voice crackles to life.

—A.C. Gaughen, author of the Scarlet trilogy

Gold madness, a good-for-nothing posse, and frontier justice: Vengeance Road is everything you could want in a Western.

Jodi Meadows, author of the Incarnate trilogy

Vengeance Road had a bit of everything I love most in storytelling: a kick-butt heroine, life-or-death stakes, action to make my heart pound, and morals that go gray around the edges. This is the kind of book I’ll re-read again and again.

—Susan Dennard, author of the Something Strange and Deadly series

PLUS, Vengeance Road is one of PW’s Picks of the Week!

Based on all the excitement over Erin’s cover reveal, I know I’m not the only one dancing to read this. I love a good western. Growing up in California, my family history was shaped by the Wild West, gold mining, and cattle ranching, and the cowboy mystique holds some shiny for me still. I can’t WAIT to share this book with y’all!

To celebrate Erin’s release, I am giving away one hardcover copy of Vengeance Road. Tweet us a message, visit our Facebook page, add to your Goodreads shelves, or leave us a comment letting us know what your favourite Western is! Contest open until September 8, 2015 (sorry, US only!).

CONGRATS, ERIN!!!!!

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ERIN BOWMAN is a YA writer, letterpress lover, and Harry Potter enthusiast living in New Hampshire. Her Taken trilogy is available from HarperTeen, and her new book Vengeance Road is out now from HMH. You can visit Erin’s blog (updated occasionally) or find her on Twitter (updated obsessively).

ALSO! Two other PubCrawlers (one current, one alumna) also have books/novellas out today! Congrats to Jodi Meadows for the release of The Glowing Knight (an Orphan Queen novella) and Sarah J. Maas for the release of Queen of Shadows!

C-O-V-E-R
R-E-V-E-A-L
D-A-Y!!

Today we have the honor of revealing the cover for THE SERPENT KING by Jeff Zentner, forthcoming from Random House on March 8th, 2016. Jeff is a really cool guy and I was so excited when his book sold, and while book deals are crazy exciting and life changing, I was REALLY pumped when Jeff messaged me with the beauty we’re revealing today. Once you manage to pull yourself away from this arresting cover be sure to continue scrolling to learn more about the book, Jeff’s thoughts on the cover, an insightful look into the cover process between Jeff’s editor Emily Easton and cover designer Alison Impey, how you can win 1 of 5 arcs, and a high-five from yours truly.

HERE’S THE COVER! Isn’t it glorious?

Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, as he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and his very public fall from grace.

The only antidote to all this venom is his friendship with fellow outcasts Travis and Lydia . But as they are starting their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. The end of high school will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is happy wherever he is thanks to his obsession with the epic book series Bloodfall and the fangirl who may be turning his harsh reality into real-life fantasy. But Dill’s only escape is his music and his secret feelings for Lydia—neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, Dill must cope with another ending—one which will rock his life to the core.

Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and, at times, comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past.

JEFF’S THOUGHTS ON THE COVER

ADAM SILVERA: Jeff! Dude. I’m obsessed with this cover. The scaly font is pretty baller and the tone has this cross appeal vibe for both the YA and adult markets. I would’ve cried happy tears to find this attachment in my “Book Cover!” email. But this is YOUR cover so tell me how YOU feel.

JEFF ZENTNER: Let me tell you how I feel about this cover. If Crown had given me money to hire a designer and do anything I wanted, I might have come up with something I love half as much as this cover. Not only is the cover beautiful, the book has a gorgeous velvet matte finish that you just want to roll around on naked. I truly feel fortunate to have a brilliant designer like Alison and a brilliant editor like Emily in my corner.

CREATING THE COVER

EMILY EASTON (Editor): When you publish a book you have taken to heart and nurtured for so long, it is sometimes difficult to know what to put on the cover to help readers love it as much as you do—or at least to make them pull it off the shelf, which is the first step on the journey toward loving it. With such a richly textured story, there were so many directions we could have gone—and did try—as part of the process.

ALISON IMPEY (Cover designer): There was one line in the book that really stuck with me. In English class, Dill is asked what Lord of the Flies is about. He answers, “I guess it’s saying that we’re all born with seeds in us. And if we let them see sunlight and air, they’ll grow through us and break us. Like a tree growing up through a sidewalk.” This inspired a couple early cover concepts. One was a screen-print-style image of a guitar with a tree growing out of it that represented the creative seed in Dill that with a little “sunlight and air” could grow. A second option featured a tree, its branches reaching up through the title, with a snake wrapped tightly around the trunk. We then found the perfect illustrator to help bring these concepts to life.

EMILY: We shared these illustrated covers, and while everyone agreed the images were striking, the consensus was that the illustrated approach was making the book look too young for our targeted audience. There was also concern that the symbolic snake pushed the book more in a fantasy direction, while the content is realistic fiction.

ALISON: At this stage we agreed to go back to the drawing board. We enlisted a couple of designers to bring as many new ideas to the table as possible. We wanted to make sure no stone went unturned. As new ideas started to roll in, some featuring snakes, we realized that with our title—The Serpent King—we had fallen into the trap of saying and showing the same thing.

EMILY: As we moved in a new direction, we were drawn to the idea of showing the main character, Dill, to somehow depict the strength of his inner light, which allowed him to prevail against the darkness that threatened to extinguish it. Dill is really the heart of the story, and we thought putting him front and center could draw readers in.

ALISON: It was very helpful for us to regroup and prioritize what we wanted to achieve with the cover. When we started to discuss “triumph” as the main theme and the emotion we wanted to convey, it really helped us break through and refocus.

EMILY: We had two cover versions focusing on Dill that we were seriously considering. But there was one image from Alison’s early concepts that we couldn’t forget. It captured the sense of place, the power of friendship that was the saving grace for our three main characters, and the sense of hope that readers are left with by the book’s end. Originally I had passed this image by because I was looking for something either more iconic or more character-driven. But when Alison paired this image with a dynamic type treatment she created, it gave the cover concept a whole new power and interest.

ALISON: When we discussed triumph against all odds, I envisioned Dill breaking away and shedding his past. I wanted the title type treatment to represent this, as if the scales of Dill’s past are breaking away, scattering, about to give sun and air to that seed in him. So after a long process and many, many cover concepts, we did in fact land on an image that was in the very first batch of ideas. To some this may feel like the process was all for naught, but it wasn’t, and it rarely ever is. You always discover something new. The type treatment on the final cover is something that evolved through this process, and I am very happy it did.

EMILY: When we showed this concept to our team, it was met with a resounding “yes!” We all believe it has just the right appeal to draw in as wide an audience as this special book deserves. Or at least that’s our hope!

Thank you so much, Emily and Alison! I’m sure our readers will take away a lot from the insight behind this incredible cover.

HOW TO WIN AN ADVANCE READER’S COPY

If you want a chance to win an advance reader’s copy before the book’s March 8th, 2016 publication be sure to tweet about this cover reveal or share the cover on Instagram using the #TheSerpentKing hashtag. Jeff Zentner/Random House will select 5 lucky winners on Friday, July 3rd! You can enter multiple times on Twitter or Instagram (or both platforms!) but you must use the #TheSerpentKing hashtag each time.

*high five*

What do you think of this cover? Would you like to hear from more editors and cover designers in future posts? Let us know in the comments below!

Few things come as naturally to Harper as epic mistakes. In the past year, she was kicked off the swim team, earned a reputation as Carson High’s easiest hookup, and officially became the black sheep of her family. But the worst mistake was her first one: destroying her relationship with her best friend, Declan.

Now, after two semesters of silence between Harper and Declan, Declan is home from boarding school for summer break. Everything about him is different—he’s taller, stronger . . . handsomer. But Harper has changed too, especially in the wake of her mom’s cancer diagnosis.

While Declan wants nothing to do with Harper, he’s still Declan, her Declan, the only person she wants to talk to about what’s really going on with her. But after she betrayed his trust, he’s also the one person she’s lost all right to seek comfort from.

As shared friends and shared histories draw them together, Harper and Declan must decide which parts of their past are still possible to fix and which parts they’ll have to live with forever.

I could go on and on about this book, but I know you’re dying to see the cover, so here it is!

Isn’t it GORGEOUS? We are so lucky to have Karina Granda, Designer at Simon & Schuster, here to discuss the process that went into the design.

Where do you start when it’s time to design a cover? Do you get a chance to read the book? Do you consult with the editor? How do you pull together those first ideas?

Every book is its own world and has its own process, which keeps my job varied and fun! Sometimes we just have an outline, author or editor’s concepts, comp titles, icons, etc. to work with, but whenever possible, I do LOVE to start by reading the book! I was fortunate to be able to read THE YEAR WE FELL APART, and it really helped me to get a deep sense of the tone and to develop a package that feels as special as Harper and Declan’s story.

As I mentioned, our projects are hugely varied–sometimes I get to work with a really cool artist, other times I compose my own iconic or type-driven covers, occasionally I’m able to direct and style a shoot, and sometimes we just comes across an existing image that perfectly jives with the story—and there are many factors that go into deciding the final direction: what is the tone of the book; are there any compelling icons; is it important to show the characters; what other books do we want to be associated with; and of course, what is the budget?

The editor, Sara Sargent, and I both immediately knew that THE YEAR WE FELL APART needed an illustrated cover since it would give us huge range for creating a unique package that would capture many aspects of the story. Which brings us to that question: The editor is hugely involved through the whole process, and our editorial team does a tremendous job of providing ideas and feedback and ensuring that the images and tone are right for each individual project.

Tell us a little about the cover design for THE YEAR WE FELL APART. What choices did you make, and what did you want to convey?

In the case of THE YEAR WE FELL APART, we were able to work with the fabulous artist, Sarah Dennis, whom I’ve been wanting to work with for a long time! She not only illustrates, but she creates her illustrations through cut paper rather than drawing, which just brought that extra special touch that we wanted for this cover. We knew she could bring the right feel. As a team, thematically, we wanted to emphasize the course of the year and time and the seasons through the cover. So much of the book is about what can and cannot be changed over the course of time (and the emotions that come with that!), so we felt that depicting the course of the year with images that felt relevant to the story would make for a good cover.

Though all projects can (and do!) take many different directions and turns, ultimately the end products are always the result of a very collaborative team effort, and THE YEAR WE FELL APART was definitely no exception. The author pulled a bunch of images from the story that felt most relevant to her—the oak leaves were specific to the type of tree that was special to Harper and Declan, the friends spend a lot time in a quarry during the summers so it is a place of tension now that Declan and Harper are at odds, etc. Among many other ideas, the editor made the key suggestion that we should bring a hand-written feel to the type design. I found and art directed the illustrator, provided direction for the palette and composition, and created the hand-written elements on the jacket. Sarah Dennis brought her own ideas, compositions, wonderful details, and most importantly, her killer illustration skills!

How many concepts did you consider, and how many drafts did this one go through?

Honesty, I cannot even remember how many specific concepts we considered for this book! So often tons of ideas are tossed around in conversations with the editor or at team meetings—many get left right there, some make it into rough comps, and sometimes we are picking between options at very final stages. THE YEAR WE FELL APART has been through two “final” iterations—though in this case they came consecutively rather than simultaneously. We strongly pursued the idea of focusing on the tree or a tree stump, and though our art team tried several iterations of that concept that were beautiful, it was ultimately a bit too young and did not capture the depth and scope of the story. However, that process did lay the groundwork for developing the ideas that made it into our final cover. Even when concepts are rejected, they are always a crucial step in the process!

Thank you so much Karina!

Author Emily Martin is also here to answer a few questions!

© Kate L Photography | www.kateLphotography.com

Congrats on your beautiful cover! Karina mentioned that you had some input into the design, in that you offered some images from the story. How were you brought into the process? What was that like?

Thank you! My editor and the team at S&S were amazing about keeping me in the loop on the cover design. We discussed which places and moments in the book felt most important, and it became clear we all wanted a similar look for the cover. Being able to see the cover evolve from sketch to final product was an awesome experience.

The designer said that lots of ideas were considered, and that there were two “final” versions of the cover. Were you able to see different drafts? If so, how much did they vary?

I saw sketches of both covers that became contenders, and from sketch to final version, neither of them changed too drastically. However, the two concepts were very different from each other.

I really loved the first design, so it was painful to find out the team had decided to go in a different direction. But I was fortunate enough to be brought into the conversation again, and I was thrilled when we settled on Sarah Dennis as the illustrator. I wound up falling even harder for the second design!

Since you were somewhat involved in the process, did you develop an idea in your mind of what the cover would look like? Does the finished cover reflect your expectations, or did it surprise you? How did you feel when you saw the final version for the first time?

Despite knowing who the illustrator would be and having an idea of the concept, it was still really difficult to visualize the finished product. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the cover completely blew me away. It just felt so special to me, such a perfect representation of my characters and their story.

Has your love of this cover caused any interesting new behaviors? Do you carry a miniature version of it tucked in a locket, or sleep with it under your pillow? (You can tell the truth. We’re all friends here!)

Ha! I am fairly obsessed with it, and did immediately save it on my phone… but I only peek at it a dozen or so times a day! Pretty sure it’s only a matter of time before a framed copy finds its way onto my bedside table.

More about the author: Emily Martin lives and writes in the Greater Boston area, though she will always call Michigan home. When not writing books, you can find her hiking New England’s peaks, searching for the perfect cup of hot chocolate, or baking something pumpkin-flavored. She is a member of The Sweet Sixteens and the Class of 2k16. Visit Emily online at her website, and on Twitter @thatEmilyMartin.

Thanks to Karina Granda from Simon & Schuster for sharing her process with us, and to Emily Martin for not only letting us host her cover reveal, but also generously giving away an ARC of THE YEAR WE FELL APART! (Emily will happily send an ARC to the winner’s US or Canadian address, once they are printed later this summer.)

You can add TYWFA to your “To Read” shelf on Goodreads and pre-order it on Barnes & Noble and/or Amazon. Please join us in congratulating Emily in the comments below!

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Hi, everyone! I’m Melody Simpson, blogger at Hollywood the Write Way and co-creator of YA Runs A 5K which promotes diverse reading and healthy living. With the success of YA Runs A 5K last year, I have decided to host the event once more!

This year, YA Runs A 5K is raising money for We Need Diverse Books while also running/walking the super hero themed 5k, The Super Run in Philly.

There are writing critiques, (signed) books, and more up for grabs for anyone who donates $30 or more. I am so excited to have Publishing Crawl contributors participating again this year! You can win a writing critique from Julie Eshbaugh or a signed book from Adam Silvera! Thank you, Julie and Adam!

Also up for grabs, signed Suspicion Nation by Lisa Bloom, signed Relish by Daphne Oz (The Chew), signed books from TV writer and author Attica Locke (Fox’s Empire) as well as a writing critique from TV writer and author, Kira Snyder (The CW’s The 100) among others. Speaking of The 100, we’re giving away signed books from author, Kass Morgan!

Plus, I will be attending Book Expo America and I will be giving away the majority of the ARCs that I receive to those who donate as well. I will be sharing photos of the books on Twitter as I receive them during the expo, so feel free to follow.

See the entire list of books, critiques, etc… here. The physical items are U.S. only and the writing critiques are open to everyone. After donating, be sure to fill out this form to select the writing critique, book, or other item that you want!

Also, anyone who donates $1-$29 will be entered into the raffle where one person will receive a $100 Kindle gift card + an Epic Reads book bundle! After donating, be sure to fill out this form to enter the raffle!

To donate to We Need Diverse Books, visit the YA Runs A 5K GoFundMe page.

The Super Run 5k will take place in Philadelphia on 6/6/15. If you do run/walk with us in Philly and have YA books you’d like to donate to a local library, please bring your books to the run so that YA Runs A 5K can donate them after the run! Also, since the 5k is superhero themed, you are more than welcome to cosplay! The 5k is cosplay friendly and family friendly.

We’re also hosting a virtual 5K! Anyone who donates at least $15 and pledges to run/walk their own 5K will get YA Runs A 5K bookmarks! Let us know if you plan to join the Virtual YA Runs a 5K.

For more information, visit YA Runs A 5K and please help us spread the word using the #YARunsA5K hashtag!

Thank you to Publishing Crawl contributors, Susan Dennard and Kat Zhang for offering writing critiques (which have already been claimed!) and Erin Bowman for the logo.

Huge thank you to everyone donating critiques, books, and more as well as those who donate and run with us!

Melody Simpson was born and raised in New Jersey. She is a YA writer, literary intern, and blogger at Hollywood the Write Way where she blogs about TV, movies, music (mainly Broadway), and books. You can find her on Twitter and Goodreads.

It’s an extra-special Tuesday post today, because we’re celebrating the release of our very own Jodi Meadow’s awesome new book, ORPHAN QUEEN! If you’re a fantasy fan (and even if you’re not!), you need to put this book on your to-read list. It’s got an undercover princess (with a talent for forgery!), a daring vigilante, a secret order, and tons of heart-stopping action. What more could you ask for?

Plus, it’s the first in a duology, so you’ve got even more awesome to look forward to.

Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others

Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.

Seriously, how can you not want to read that? Especially since Jodi learned calligraphy in real life and wrote up these quote cards using lines from the book. Now, that’s real dedication to the craft :

In case you need even more motivation to read ORPHAN QUEEN, I’ll be giving away one free copy using the Rafflecopter below. Help us celebrate, and spread the word

Congrats, Jodi!! <3

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by Julie Eshbaugh

featuring Patrick Jennings!

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As readers of this blog already know, PubCrawl is excited to help spread the word about Egmont USA’s spring 2015 list, a group which has banded together under the name Egmont’s Last List. It’s my pleasure to welcome Patrick Jennings as our guest here at PubCrawl today! (And we are giving away of one of Patrick’s books! More on that below…) I’m so thrilled to interview such a prolific writer of children’s books! Patrick’s website lists 25(!) titles. If you’d like to see all their beautiful covers, you can click here. Patrick’s latest is HISSY FITZ, which came out last month from Egmont. Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:

Hissy Fitz lives with some two-legged creatures who are destined to serve him in every possible way and understand his every whim. Sadly, these creatures are sorely lacking in their skills. For one thing–they touch him when they want to touch him. Don’t they know that the two-legged are there for him to touch when he wants to–meaning when he wants food? Petting wakes him up! They speak to him–don’t they know the two-legged should be seen–so Hissy knows where to order food–and not heard?! It’s becoming intolerable. What is this irascible cat to do?

I understand that, although you generally write for middle graders, this book is for younger readers. What made you decide to move in that direction?
My publisher wondered if I’d be interested in writing a chapter book. The book fairs and clubs had been asking for them. I told my editor about my insomniac cat idea and she liked it.

I never had a story to tell. I’ve considered that this is due to cats not really doing much of anything. Mostly they just sit around the house. Dogs go out and play with their owners, protect their owners, rescue people, hang with their friends. Cats nap on average eighteen hours a day. It was when I struck upon the idea of an insomniac cat that I finally had a cat story. 

Their enthusiasm. They love to read, and they get very excited when they meet an author of a book they’ve read. They have tons of very good questions. They’re often also interested in writing stories. The whole day is filled with excitement. I’m thoroughly exhausted afterward. It’s the best.

Spend as much time as you can with kids. Volunteer to read at the library, or in classrooms. Read to nieces and nephews, grandchildren, whomever. Talk to kids about the books they love. Listen carefully. Feel their enthusiasm.

Thank you so much, Patrick! Also, I want to offer congratulations on the news that Lerner Publishing has acquired all of Egmont USA’s frontlist and backlist titles. We look forward to reading many more of your stories!

To celebrate the publication of HISSY FITZ, we’re giving away a copy of this wonderful book! Leave a comment below and use the Rafflecopter form to enter!

About the author:

Patrick Jennings’s books for young readers have received honors from Publishers Weekly, The Horn Book, Smithsonian Magazine, the PEN Center USA, the Woman’s National Book Association, and the Chicago and New York Public Libraries. The Seattle Public Library awarded his book, Guinea Dog, the Washington State Book Award of 2011. His book, Faith and the Electric Dogs, is currently being adapted for the screen. His new book, Hissy Fitz, will be published in January 2015. He currently writes full time in his home in Port Townsend, Washington.

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by Julie Eshbaugh

featuring R.C. Lewis!

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Today is an exciting day for me, because I have the great pleasure of introducing you to R.C. Lewis, the author of STITCHING SNOW and the upcoming SPINNING STARLIGHT!

I’m currently reading STITCHING SNOW, and I’m loving it! If you’re a fan of exciting sci-fi, filled with original characters and set in an amazing world, you need to check this out! Kirkus calls it a “clever, surprisingly gritty science-fiction version” of Snow White. (That grittiness is what I’m enjoying most about the book!) And now is the time to read STITCHING SNOW, so you’re ready to read its companion book, SPINNING STARLIGHT, when it’s released this fall.

Here’s a synopsis of STITCHING SNOW:

Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

Fantastic, right?! And just to add to the excitement, here’s what you can look forward to in SPINNING STARLIGHT:

Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it’s hard to escape it. So when a group of men show up at her house uninvited, she assumes it’s just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired.

Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi’s vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word and her brothers are dead.

Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home-a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers’ survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?

Haunting and mesmerizing, this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans strings the heart of the classic with a stunning, imaginative world as a star-crossed family fights for survival in this companion to Stitching Snow.

We’re so lucky to have R.C. Lewis here today to talk about fairytale retellings, the concept of a “companion book,” and so much more! (AND… there’s a giveaway! More on that at the end. :D)

Thank you for visiting us here at PubCrawl today! I’m excited to learn more about your books, since they interweave fairytale and science fiction so seamlessly. Have you always been drawn to fairytales? 

Actually … no. It was kind of a twist of fate that Stitching Snow came out at all. There’s a line in the Florence + The Machine song “Blinding” about Snow White stitching up a circuit board. I heard that once, and an image popped into my head. Before that, it never occurred to me to try a fairytale retelling.

Spinning Starlight is being described as a “companion book” to Stitching Snow. Does that mean it’s not a sequel?

Not a sequel at all. In fact, not even in the same imagined universe. However, they go together well because it’s another sci-fi take on a fairytale—this time Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans.”

How did you decide to write a re-telling of The Wild Swans? Until I learned of your book I was unfamiliar with the fairytale. Was it your intention to retell a story that wasn’t well known?

This is basically the opposite of how Stitching Snow came about. My editor and I decided to have another fairytale follow up Stitching Snow, so I had to go out and find one. We didn’t want something that’s been retold to death (which eliminates a LOT of the most recognizable tales), but also didn’t want something too obscure. I got some fairytale anthologies and started reading, making notes about how I might put a sci-fi twist on it (not always an easy task!), and picked the one that called to me the loudest.

I worried that The Wild Swans might fall into the too obscure camp, because I wasn’t terribly familiar with it before I began. But as soon as I mentioned it to several friends, they said, “I love that one—it’s my favorite! I’ve always wanted someone to do a retelling of it!” That was good enough for me.

Can you tell us a little bit about the original story? What drew you to it? 

I mentioned a little of it above, but a big part of why I picked this one is the way it focuses on a family relationship. It’s about a girl trying to save her brothers, no dashing prince rushing in to save the day. In fact, in the original, a king rather randomly marries the protagonist while she carries on trying to help her brothers, which ends up getting her in trouble.

Not to say there isn’t some romance in my version…

Maybe I also welcomed a challenge, because I quickly decided one part of the original I wanted to keep (somehow) was the protagonist being unable to speak until her brothers are saved. Not easy!

It seems like the young adult book world has been dominated by series for a while now, but lately it feels like that trend is changing somewhat. Do you feel that the concept of a companion book is something your readers are excited about?

It seems like it from the responses I’ve been getting! A few readers of Stitching Snow were hoping for a sequel (which I never intended it to have), but seem willing to accept this as the next best thing. And a lot of people felt Stitching Snow being a standalone was a strong selling point, yet were eager for something in the same vein, so hopefully this will satisfy them, too.

What can fans of Stitching Snow look forward to most in Spinning Starlight?

Unfortunately, Dimwit does not make a return appearance. (Like I said, separate universe.) My main character Liddi is very different from Essie (the main character of Stitching Snow), but I hope readers will enjoy her journey as she goes from paparazzi-hounded misfit of a famous family to someone who must fend for herself and take risks to save her brothers when no one else can. She also makes some interesting friends along the way … some of them coming from VERY unexpected places.

SPINNING STARLIGHT sounds fantastic! I’m so excited for it, and I’m still reading STITCHING SNOW! Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by to talk to us about your writing process!

And now the giveaway! We are giving away an ARC of SPINNING STARLIGHT! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. R.C. will send the winner an ARC as soon as they are available!

About the author:

R.C. Lewis has taught math to teenagers for over ten years, including several where she found calculus is just as fun in American Sign Language. After a lifetime of thinking she didn’t have an ounce of creativity, she realized she just needed to switch to metric. When she escapes the classroom, she writes geek-infused YA like Stitching Snow (2014, Hyperion) and Spinning Starlight (2015, Hyperion).
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by

Erin Bowman

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I am so excited to reveal the absolutely gorgeous cover for VENGEANCE ROAD, my historical fiction western YA novel coming out from HMH on September 1st.

Because I know you’re going to immediately scroll down to the cover, lets just right to the good stuff!

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I don’t have official jacket copy yet, but here’s the short-and-sweet synopsis on retail sites:

When her father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, eighteen year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers–and justice. In the spirit of True Grit, acclaimed young adult novelist Erin Bowman brings to life the unpredictable and cutthroat days of the Wild West.

Guys, I am so in love with this cover. The Design team at HMH did a fantastic job brainstorming how to capture the atmosphere of VENGEANCE ROAD, and then the illustrator behind the artwork–Teagan White–hit it out of the park. From the pistols to the cactus to the skulls to the bits of gold, I could not imagine a more perfect cover for this book. It feels true to the time and setting (1877 Arizona), but still feels fresh and relevant to today’s YA landscape.

I had an absolute blast writing this book and am so excited for you to read it! VENGEANCE ROAD is radically different than the TAKEN trilogy, but if you like spitfire characters, gritty worlds, and a good revenge tale, I think you’re going to love Kate’s story.

But don’t take my word for it! Here’s what other amazingly talented writers have had to say about VENGEANCE ROAD:

“A story of grit, love, and deadly revenge that climbs off the page and into your heart–saddle up for a thrilling, harrowing ride!” –Alexandra Bracken, New York Times bestselling author of The Darkest Minds trilogy

“Vengeance Road is a page-turning, unputdownable story of revenge. Bowman paints a thrilling, vivid picture of 1877 Arizona, and Kate is a heroine to be reckoned with.”–Jessica Spotswood, author of The Cahill Witch Chronicles

“Gritty and honest, Vengeance Road captures the heart of the Wild West.” –Mindy McGinnis, author of Not a Drop to Drink

“A take-no-prisoners heroine with a bloody debt to settle. I’m still breathing in the dust and hot Arizona sun.” –Megan Shepherd, author of The Madman’s Daughter

“Relentlessly readable, Vengeance Road is a perfect western. You won’t be able to turn in until you get to the very last page!” –Saundra Mitchell, author of The Springsweet

“Flinty and fierce, Kate is a formidable addition to the pantheon of tough young adult heroines. Her story and voice crackles to life.” –A.C. Gaughen, author of the Scarlet trilogy

“Gold madness, a good-for-nothing posse, and frontier justice: Vengeance Road is everything you could want in a Western.” –Jodi Meadows, author of the Incarnate trilogy

“This is the kind of book I’ll re-read again and again.” –Susan Dennard, author of the Something Strange and Deadly series

If you feel so inclined to pre-order a copy of VENGEANCE ROAD, you can do so on most major retail sites: IndieBound / B&N / Amazon / Book Depository. You can also add VENGEANCE ROAD to your goodreads shelf here.

And because I’m feeling super grateful for the opportunity to put this story into the world–not to mention the gorgeous cover and the kind words from fellow authors–I’d like to give away an ARC of VENGEANCE ROAD to one lucky reader. This is US only (sorry, folks!), and the ARC will ship once I receive them from my publisher. Use the handy widget below to enter.

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Erin Bowman is a YA writer, letterpress lover, and Harry Potter enthusiast living in New Hampshire. Her TAKEN trilogy is available from HarperTeen (book three out 4/14/15), and VENGEANCE ROAD publishes with HMH on September 1st. You can visit Erin’s blog (updated occasionally) or find her on twitter (updated obsessively).

featuring

Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

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I’m sure we have a lot of fans of These Broken Stars reading Pub Crawl, and you must all be as excited as I (Kat) am that This Shattered World releases today! Amie and Meagan have written a book that’s somehow even more exciting and romantic than the first. I can’t wait to see the fan work start pouring in for these characters, because Jubilee and Flynn are awesome.

Plus, just look at that cover!

The second installment in the epic Starbound trilogy introduces a new pair of star-crossed lovers on two sides of a bloody war.

Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet’s rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn’s blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.

HUGE congrats to Meagan and Amie for the release of the second Starbound book. I, for one, am already dying for Book #3 In the mean time, I’ll just go read This Shattered World again…

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To celebrate the release, we’ll be giving away one copy of This Shattered World (contest open internationally). It won’t reach you by Christmas, but hey, we’ll all need some reading material after the holidays

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featuring

E.C. Myers

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I, Sooz, am so incredibly excited for E.C. Myers’ latest release: The Silence of Six. Not only is Myers a fellow Pub Crawler, but he’s also an Andre Norton Award winner. In other words: he’s a damned good writer.

Plus, even if he didn’t wield magical powers over prose, just read this summary or check out the amazing trailer.

“What is the silence of six, and what are you going to do about it?”

These are the last words uttered by 17-year-old Max Stein’s best friend, Evan. Just moments after hacking into the live-streaming Presidential debate at their high school, he kills himself.

Haunted by the image of Evan’s death, Max’s entire world turns upside down as he suddenly finds himself the target of a corporate-government witch-hunt. Fearing for his life and fighting to prove his own innocence, Max goes on the run with no one to trust and too many unanswered questions.

Max must dust off his own hacking skills and maneuver the dangerous labyrinth of underground hacktivist networks, ever-shifting alliances, and virtual identities — all while hoping to find the truth behind the “Silence of Six” before it’s too late.

AAAH! Don’t you just HAVE to find out what the Silence of Six is??? I know I do!

To celebrate this latest release from E.C. Myers, we’re giving away copy of The Silence of Six. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form (sorry! US only!), and we’ll pick a winner next week.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

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E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York. His Andre Norton Award–winning young adult novel Fair Coin and its sequel, Quantum Coin, were published by Pyr in 2012. His short stories have appeared in anthologies and magazines such as Sybil’s Garage, Shimmer, and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. He currently lives with his wife, two doofy cats, and a mild-mannered dog in Philadelphia. You can find traces of E.C. all over the internet, but especially at his website, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

by Adam Silvera

Mondays are awesome when you get to reveal an awesome book cover for an awesome author/person. I’m a huge fan of Eric Smith and his book, THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO DATING, and it’s an honor to be revealing the cover for his debut novel, INKED, due out from Bloomsbury Spark on January 20th, 2015. Eric’s cover designer, Jenny Zemanek, is here today to tell us about the design process before a Q&A with the author himself:

JENNY: It’s such a pleasure to be here today to talk a little bit about the design of INKED’s cover, it was a truly collaborative process with the Bloomsbury Spark team and I’m excited to see it revealed to the world today!

The design for INKED started first and foremost with the type. Often times the concept for a cover takes a great deal of time and research, hunting for the right visual or visuals that perfectly communicate the details of the story in an arresting way, but with INKED we had a solid visual from the beginning in the tattoos. I knew I wanted the title to be a focal point, so once I found a typeface that had the feel I was going for, I built the rest of the floral scrollwork tattoo around it.

We wanted INKED to be immediately identified as a fantasy novel, so in addition to the tattoo elements, we hoped to incorporate a landscape that would read as fantastical in nature. What you see below is our first comp.

While it was agreed that the title treatment worked really well, there was a feeling of disconnect between the very graphic style of the tattoo and the photographic quality of the castle. In the second round of proofs, I tried to reconcile those two elements by eliminating the photograph altogether and moving forward with a fully illustrated cover. Meredith at Bloomsbury also asked if I could create a sense of movement within the image, incorporating bolts of lightning as they play a prominent role in the story.

The movement created by the lightning was a hit, but without the castle and the human element implied by its presence, the cover wasn’t quite communicating everything we wanted it to. We decided to return to the visual of a castle as seen in the initial comp, but wanted to make it more of a stylized silhouette to better complement the title treatment. The lightning was incorporated as well, and with a few additional revisions to the blue glow around the title (another important element of the story) and the overall color, we reached our final cover.

Eric: Thanks! And yes, I did. Early on in the process, Meredith Rich over at Bloomsbury Spark sent me a little survey asking me about my favorite YA book covers. What did I like about them, what did I hope to see in my cover, things like that. I had a lot of thoughts and opinions, and sent over a bunch of favorites.I probably had too many ideas, as I’m sure every excited author does. I ramble a lot. I wanted something that focused on a tattooed part of the body, like an arm or a hand, or maybe just two of the main characters in a fantasy-esque setting. CODE NAME VERITY, SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY, and UNDER THE NEVER SKY were some examples I emailed over. And then I got something very different, and I absolutely love it! So they definitely went the route of wow and surprise. Very surprise. Such wow. Etc.

Adam: This sounds so awesome and has me itching for another tattoo. Speaking of getting inked, have you gotten your book cover inked on your face yet? If not, what are you waiting for?

Eric: Hah! Not yet. Waiting until after my wedding. Perhaps I’ll get it someplace else though. We’ll see.

Thanks for revealing your cover on Pub Crawl, Eric! And thanks to Jenny at Bloomsbury for giving our readers some scope into her process. You can add INKED on your “To Read” shelf on Goodreads and pre-order it on Barnes & Noble and/or Amazon. Let us know what you think about the cover and its process in the comments below!

Adam was born and raised in New York and is tall for no reason. In the past he worked as a marketing assistant for a literary development company. He’s currently a children’s bookseller and reviews children’s and young adult novels for Shelf Awareness. His debut novel, More Happy Than Not, about a boy who wants to undergo a memory-alteration procedure to forget he’s gay, will be coming out on June 16th, 2015 from Soho Teen. Go say stuff to him on Twitter.

featuring

Alexandra Bracken

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I am so incredibly excited that the final installment in Alex Bracken’s Darkest Mind series releases today. These books are special and dark and moving in a way I (Sooz) can’t even begin to describe.

Commence the gushing.

And the freaking out because I’ve been waiting a YEAR for this last book! And finally–finally–it’s here!

That’s right: In the Afterlight hits stores TODAY. And oh my gosh, if you haven’t seen the trailer for it, then prepare for CHILLS.

Wow, right? If you haven’t read the series yet (and you SHOULD), then you can learn a bit more about it below.

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When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader.

But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

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Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children”s League call Ruby ‘Leader’, but she knows what she really is: a monster.

When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children”s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America”s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn”t recognize her. As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves.

But what if winning the war means losing herself?

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Ruby can’t look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government’s attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds.

They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IAAN, the disease that has killed most of America’s children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the “rehabilitation camps” housing thousands of other Psi kids.

Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire.

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To celebrate the release of In the Afterlight (and the completion of a whole series! GO ALEX!), we’re giving away a copy of the book. You can choose from any book in the series, actually, and we’ll pick a winner in a week! (This giveaway is open internationally!)

<a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Alex lives in New York City where she writes like a fiend and lives in a charming apartment overflowing with books. She is the New York Times bestselling author of The Darkest Minds and Never Fade. You can visit her online at her website, Tumblr, or Twitter.

by Susan,

featuring

Meagan Spooner

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Today, I’m delighted to have Meagan Spooner back on the blog. The final book in her Skylark trilogy, Lark Ascending, just released last week, and if you haven’t yet read these books, then now’s the time!

For one, the books are EXCELLENT (and if you’re a fan of my Something Strange & Deadly, then you’ll definitely love Skylark).

For two, the book is only $0.99 on Kindle right now!!

For three, just read this summary and tell me you’re not intrigued:

Now, let’s get down to the interview!

1. Alrighty, Meg. Biggest author inspirations/influences. Go!

Way too many to count! I’m one of those who firmly believe everything you read (or watch or listen to or see or eat…) goes into the imagination compost and shows up in your work when you least expect it. But some big ones include: Diana Wynne Jones, Garth Nix, Robin McKinley, Neil Gaiman, Peter Beagle, Philip Pullman, Tanith Lee, Tamora Pierce, Patricia C. Wrede, and pretty much every myth or fairy tale I’ve ever heard.

2. You have basically listed all of the authors on MY list as well.  Plotter or pantser or…plantser?

Definitely a pantser. When I first started writing Skylark, the first book in this trilogy, I had absolutely no idea where it was headed. There were a few twists and themes I knew I wanted to hit, but part of the joy of writing for me is the act of discovery. Often the ideas that come to me as I write, whether totally out of the blue or as a response or solution to some problem that pops up, are my best ones. Of the three, Lark Ascending is probably the most “planned” of the three, simply because most of the ideas in it came to me while writing Skylark and Shadowlark. I had all these awesome, epic scenes that I knew I wanted to hit in this third book. It was tons of fun.

3. I feel you on the “art of discovery” bit. So now that you’ve finished, how does it feel wrapping up an entire trilogy?

AMAZING. I think it’s no secret that writers often have a love-hate relationship with their books, particularly with their series books, and I’m definitely one of those. Like any long-term relationship, being with someone–or some story–for that many years means you know it inside and out. Its good, its bad, and everything in between. But despite every time I wanted to throw the story–and my computer along with it–out the window, seeing all three books lined up and knowing that I finished telling Lark’s story in a way that feels complete and satisfying—and TRUE—to me… that’s an amazing feeling.

4. Wow. I’m even more excited to read now. Okay, here’s a fan question: in the Skylark trilogy, which character do YOU identify most with?

Definitely Lark herself. Skylark was the first novel I ever wrote, and for me, at least, that meant that of all my characters, my main character was the one most drawn from my own thoughts and personality and experiences. Lark is an odd combination of things I wish I was, things I’m afraid I am, and things I one day hope to be. She’ll probably always be the character most like–and most unlike–me in all my books.

5. That’s TOTALLY how I feel about me with Eleanor! She’s both part of me and who I wish I could be. So cool. Now, final question: If Lark Ascending were a literary cocktail, what ingredients would it need?

Equal parts fantasy and dystopian with a shot of steampunk and a sprinkle of moral grey area. Garnish with a rebel uprising, and serve on the rocks.

 HA! Love the “garnish” bit. Nice touch.

Okay, dear readers. To celebrate having Meg stop by, we’re doing a giveaway (international!)! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below, help us spread the word about Meg’s amazing series, and we’ll choose a winner next week.

Also: if you weren’t aware, both Meagan and her coauthor, Pub Crawl’s own Amie Kaufman, have a short story releasing tomorrow. It’s called This Night So Dark, and it’s free!! You definitely don’t want to miss it.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Meagan Spooner grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in playwriting, and she currently lives and writes in Asheville, North Carolina. In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads. Learn more about her at her website.