2009 Debutantes

Reviewer X surveyed a bunch o' publicists and asked when they most like to see blog book reviews appear.  Their answers are listed here:
http://reviewerx.blogspot.com/2008/11/annnnd-publicists-speak-up.html

I know the Debs talk a lot amongst ourselves about stuff like this.  And how to avoid falling into feeling some of it.  Writing should be fun, and all about a sense of joy and accomplishment and how flipping lucky we are to be published at all.  Waxman Lit sums it all up nicely here:

http://waxmanagency.wordpress.com/

hi everyone! thank you so much for the warm welcome
already! i don't usually use livejournal so i apologize in advance
for any mistakes i will make. ha! i can't wait to poke around
more and get to know everyone and his/her books!
and thank you to aprilynne for inviting me! =DD

this is my cover which some of you have seen.
i'm stil floored by it. seeing the cover for the first time
must be one of the best moments for us debut authors!
the model is just as i imagined my heroine.

some basics : i'm a stay at home mom with a sweet pea
(girl, 5) and a munchkin (boy, 3.5). my hub is english and
we'll be headed out there for the holidays--we try to go once
a year at least. thank goodness the dollar is stronger as i paid
$2.09 for an english pound last year! OUCH!

as for SILVER PHOENIX, i got my first copyedits in
last week and we're working on galleys now.
i'm currently writing my sequel (oh, rough
drafting is like pulling teeth for me!!) and will
be working on my dummy (for picture book) soon!
i love my editor and greenwillow books!
time for me to surf happily among the feast of awesomeness
now! =)

Name: cindy pon

'09 Book Title: Silver Phoenix : Beyond the Kingdom of Xia

Publisher: Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins

Favorite Books: Anna Karenina, Island of the Blue Dolphins, A Little Princess, Dancing Shoes, Ballet Shoes

Favorite Bit of Writing Advice: i am allowed to write utter poo! (my own mantra.)

Random Info About Me: i don't carry a cell phone. and i have naturally wavy hair. yes, really.

SILVER PHOENIX Flap Copy:

No one wanted Ai Ling. And deep down she is relieved—despite the
dishonor she has brought upon her family—to be unbetrothed, free, and
not some stranger’s subservient bride banished to the inner quarters.

But now, something is after her. Something terrifying—a force she
cannot comprehend. And as the pieces of the puzzle start to fit
together, Ai Ling begins to understand that her journey to the Palace
of Fragrant Dreams in search of her beloved father—missing these many
months—is so much more than that. Bravery, intelligence, the will to
fight and fight hard . . . she will need all of these things. Just as
she will need the new and mysterious power growing within her. She
will also need help.

It is Chen Yong who finds her partly submerged and barely breathing at
the edge of a deep lake. There is something of unspeakable evil trying
to drag her under. On a quest of his own Chen Yong offers that
help…and perhaps more.

Open post here, Debs.

Your first rejection ever?

Re: your writing :)

Poll #1294909 Which Is More Important?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which Is More Important?

Apologies for spamming the community, but Amazon just showed me this!

Now, with higher resolution!



*squeeee*

The artwork, btw, is by Jason Chan, upon whom I heap a thousand blessings.

Something to chat about:

What's your favorite part of the writing (not publishing) process?

A. Getting a new story idea.
B. Pounding out a first draft.
C. Doing background research.
D. Major revisions: deleting and adding huge chunks, moving things around, rewriting.
E. Finding the perfect word.
F. Staring at the wall.
G. Living with the characters.
H. Those "aha!" moments when a major knot untangles.
I. Polishing the ms. until it's bright and shiny.
J. Finishing.
K. Other (please specify).

I would choose G.  Then B.  Sometimes E, H, and I.

You know how it works, my friends- put on a costume and say trick or treat, and you'll be rewarded with something scary, or sweet, or both! (In other words, put on a costume in your icon and leave a comment saying Trick or Treat, and I'll drop something in your virtual goodie bag. :))

And happy hallowe'en, from debut2009!

Congratulations to:

shina_laris!

Please email the following to jennifer[at]jenniferhubbard[dot]com:

1. Your choice of items from the DebShop, along with any necessary descriptions such as size, color, etc.
2. Whether you would, indeed, like the Election chocolates! which you won for including "trick or treat" in your message (if you can't eat chocolate, please let me know and we'll substitute the Debs mug)
3. Your mailing address

Thanks, everyone, for joining our discussion of scary books! And watch for future Debs giveaways!

I'll be posting questions for the Debs periodically -- asking them about their publishing journeys.

If there's anything you'd like to know about that or another subject, post a question in the comments and I'll add it to the list.

Hi Debs --

Open post here.

Was the book you sold the first one you'd written? If not, how many did you write (completely complete) before you got a contract?

We’re celebrating Halloween here at Debut2009 by discussing scary books, and giving stuff away!
  

First, our topic: Scary books.

Do you like to read them? (Or write them?) If so, do you like your frights:

Completely realistic;

Mostly realistic, but with a supernatural twist;

Occurring completely in an alternate reality or in another world?

What is scarier: an external monster, or the monsters within us?

What book would be your Halloween pick this year?
  

Once again, we’re giving away one item of the winner’s choice from the DebShop. The DebShop is our corner of CafePress, set up by Deb R.J. Anderson for our amusement (items are sold at cost). Items to choose from include shirts, mugs, tote bags ... to see the full selection, follow the DebShop link. And we also have an added bonus prize, which the winner can receive just by having the phrase “Trick or treat” in his/her comment!
  

 

The Rules
 

 To enter, leave a comment on this blog post by Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008, at 9 PM EDT (which, in LJ’s method of timestamping comments, translates to Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 1 AM UTC). You can comment on today’s topic of scary books if you want, but you don’t have to—you can just say “hi” if you want. If you comment more than once, only the first entry will count, with this exception:
  

If you post a link to this giveaway on your own blog, leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog, by the deadline listed above. (Please put the link in your message so we can verify it!) That will entitle you to another entry and double your chances.
  

And entrants who are, or by the deadline become, “watchers” of this community, get an additional entry!
  

BONUS PRIZE!! In an added festive seasonal twist, if the winner’s comment includes the message “Trick or treat,” s/he will also receive these Election-Day themed treats, donated by Deb L.K. Madigan, to supplement his/her Halloween haul. They are bipartisan and equally delicious! But if the winner can’t each chocolate, a DebShop mug may be substituted.
  

Eligible: People who live anywhere CafePress ships (includes most international locations). The members of Debut2009 are not eligible, but the watchers are! The winner of our previous giveaway will also have to sit this one out, but will be eligible for future giveaways!
  

One eligible winner will be chosen at random. The results will be announced here on Debut2009!

So, since I finally got to go public with my cover , I thought it would be interesting to have a discussion about covers in general. Well all know that we judge books by the cover, at least in some capacity. And there are a lot of different covers out there, and just as many styles.

For instance, there is the slightly ambiguous "object" cover, in which most of the cover is plain, but a single object beckons your attention:
  
 

( For More Examples.... )

 

There's been a lot of talk about marketing lately, so I'm posting something totally different. I DO think marketing is important. But maybe even more important is how our books resonate with our audience.

I ran across ( this ) recently, and it seems like a good opportunity to get feedback from a teen reader. I'm going to try it soon.

I was the first to read the DebARC PoS (squee!), the first to write on its virgin pages, and I did just that at the first paragraph & then was so engrossed, forgot about the pen and making notes in the margins, and just read and read -- when I should have been working! Bad, Michelle, for writing such a riveting story! Mystery, and evil, and carriages, and a young man, and darkness, and a rushing river, and friends and sisters and I can't say more because I don't want to give anything away.

Seriously, I read this book in about a minute because I could *not* put it down. You're going to LOVE it.

I think Mandy is next?

Also, I got The Season yesterday (squee! again) and am excited to start this book by my pub-sister Sarah.

And then I think I should be dropped down on the ARC lists because that'll be three I've read.

ggpreviews.blogspot.com/
:D

I have just finished reading the ARC of our own skutir's Mudville and I just have to say I loved every word.

This is even more amazing because the plot revolves around baseball, and what I know about the game you could write down on one side of a single sheet of paper using large print and have plenty of room left over -- and frankly, I don't care about baseball as a rule either. So if I'd seen this book in the store, I would have skimmed right past it without giving it a second thought, dismissing it as One of Those Books for Boys Who Love Sports.

I would have been wrong. And I would have missed out on a wonderful book with engaging characters, a compelling story, intriguing hints of mystery, believable human relationships, dynamic prose, and yes, interesting descriptions of baseball.

So far for ARCSwap I have read Saundra Mitchell's Shadowed Summer, Jenny Moss's Winnie's War and now this book -- and all three have been brilliant, yet incredibly different from one another. All I can conclude is that we are one amazingly talented pack of Debs!

Thanks for a great story, Kurtis. I'm honored to be sharing a release month with you (go April 2009! w00t!).

Since we share writing with people in many different parts of the U.S. (well, world too)I was interested in finding out if any of you receive comments from readers about regional differences?

I was surprised that my east coast readers didn't know the word, "head," when used for restroom. One said that in her area they didn't have White Elephant Sales, but that Garage Sales were well-known. When I used the very common California word, "smogged," (The car was so old it didn't need to be smogged anymore.) I got a question mark asking if this was California thang. Yes. I guess so.

How do you manage to write your stories without leaving your readers from other parts of the world in the dark? Or do you write them using the vocabulary that suits the story and somehow give the reader the idea from the context? Just curious.

All non-author specific tags.

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