GUESTOPIA: SPECIAL GUESTS!

Hey lovely YAtopians! Welcome back to Guestopia. I have some super special guests for March, so you’ll notice that the format is a wee different than usual. I am a bit excited about today’s guests. I have interviewed them before and never get tired of their enthusiasm for life, not to mention books! So, let’s get started. Please welcome the crew of…

LOVE AT FIRST CHAPTER

This group of fabulously talented YA writers were all selected in Round 3 of Author Mentor Match and became fast friends during that time. Books make them happy and sharing that love makes them happier! 

They are:

Gracie Goldhart

Louisa Onomé

Julie Abe

Kate Havas

Dakota Shain Byrd

Erika L. Cruz

Heidi Christopher

Emily Beck

Lorna Riley

Michelle Fohlin

Katherine Pisana

Susan Lee

Find out more about each of them right here… www.loveatfirstchapter.com

Right, introductions done, let's get going with the interview! 

Thanks for joining me today, Love at First Chapter! I’m thrilled to host you. So, for the new readers who haven’t heard of your fabulousness, tell me first up what exactly is Love at First Chapter. 

Love At First Chapter is a biweekly young adult fiction newsletter that introduces the first chapter of an upcoming or new release to subscribers. With each newsletter, subscribers can “fall in love” with the book and either purchase or preorder it at the end of the email. It’s a fun reader resource that allows a wider audience to sample new, diverse releases -- and introduces authors to more engaged readers who are likely to be interested in their book. A win-win for everyone involved!

You guys are all YA writers and met during Author Mentor Match. But how did you go from not knowing each other to setting up this amazing new service for YA book lovers?

Amidst talk of revisions and drafts, Graci Goldhart, our founder, introduced the idea as a fun way to promote upcoming YA releases we’re excited for. The rest happened pretty quickly after that. We set up the website, assigned roles, came up with a list of our most anticipated releases, and prepared for our Valentine’s Day launch.

What’s different about the reader service you’re providing?

All the books selected for Love At First Chapter have been recommended by one of our curators. That means we’ve read and can vouch for the book, have enjoyed it, and want to share it with others. We like to think of it as an unconventional book club of sorts: recommending books and building a community based on readership.

Why should readers sign up?

We’re unlike any other YA newsletter or book service -- it’s 100% free to sign up (and will remain that way!) and you get a surprise first chapter of a new or upcoming YA release straight to your inbox. Like the chapter? Purchase or preorder through links in the newsletter. Don’t like the chapter? Feel free to delete the email. It’s pressure-free and only aims to spread our love of books.

Why YA books?

Young adult fiction centers around, and is catered to, young people, who arguably are going through one of the most dynamic times in their lives. They are forming opinions about their environment and themselves, and using those opinions to create their world. We believe a greater sense of diversity in YA fiction is necessary -- to allow young people to dream bigger, to create a greater sense of acceptance amongst YA readers, to create the kind of world that doesn’t just tolerate, but accepts every kind of person. YA is such a transformative readership because of its reach. As YA (and MG) writers ourselves, we want to see more diverse works and debuts, and wanted the chance to introduce reads we feel can make a difference. 

Will you offer other services on the site in the future?

Though our focus currently lies with curating YA releases, we’d love to eventually create a community where readers can connect with one another. Watch this space! 

Will you share only standalone novels, or do you intend to share books within a series too?

We are open to sharing both. If the first book in a series is highly anticipated and we’re also really excited for it, then we’d love to feature it!

Will it be only novels, or will you share anthologies or perhaps novellas as well?

As of now, we’re focused on sharing YA novels, but may open to anthologies in the future. There are so many good ones coming out lately!

Will you share only traditionally published books or indie and self published as well?

We focus on traditionally published books.

Will you only share already published books or forthcoming titles too?

Some books we share are new releases that may have just come out within the past six months to a year, but our goal is to share more forthcoming titles to help authors build hype -- and hopefully boost preorders!

Will you only share diverse books? What if you accidentally get a chapter for a book that turns out to be problematic, like THE CONTINENT?

We aim to boost diverse voices, so a majority of the books we share will be diverse or #ownvoices. We read ARCs for each book we recommend in hopes we never end up recommending a book like THE CONTINENT. As writers, our names are on this project and we want to maintain a level of integrity when curating.

Why diverse books?

Why not diverse books? We live in a diverse world. Media should always reflect that. Seeing yourself in a book for the very first time is a life-changing moment because you realize you can be the hero too.

Michelle: As a history and geography nerd, I have always been drawn to the diversity of cultures in our world. I have always sought out books with rich worlds and characters that don’t necessarily reflect my own identity. And there are millions of kids who deserve to see their experiences in their words they read. It’s life-changing when you realize that someone who looks, sounds, loves, acts like you is a hero too.

Do you have any diversity that you identify with?

Shain: Yes. To start with, I’m queer as all get out. Physically only into guys, but I’m Bi-romantic, and gender-fluid. Beyond that I’m epileptic, and live with clinical depression, severe anxiety, and ADHD.

Louisa: Nigerian-Canadian, first gen! Also being from Montreal and not speaking any French (this is a Canadian joke, sorry!) 

Graci: I’m a proud Kowi (Korean-Kiwi), 1.5 gen, and visually impaired. Oh, and I live in Middle Earth (only partially kidding - New Zealand is basically Hobbitland)

What are your day jobs? If you’re in school, what’re you studying? Anybody doing an internship or other program like that?

Shain: I’m an American Sign Language Interpretation student in Fort Worth. Regarding internships, I have one with Entangled Teen. When I’m not studying or doing things for my internship or AMM mentorship, I also work as a freelance editor. Be sure to check out my website if you’re interested in learning more about all this!

Lisa: I work for the school district in the High school Library. I manage the circulation desk for both books and computers. I love it. I get to talk about books with students and it’s so great to connect with them over stories we’ve both read. I’ve also run into some fellow writers as well.

Julie Abe: During the day, I work in digital marketing for a healthcare company. At night, I write middle grade and young adult stories.

Louisa: I’m a SEO consultant during the day.

Heidi: I’m an editor with a small publishing house and when I’m not working on client material, i’m writing YA. 

Graci: I’m a diplomat for the New Zealand foreign service by day. 

Michelle: I currently make my unpaid living caring for my two precocious, adorable littles. But I’ve put in years as a history teacher, which is where I draw my ideas for my books from.

OMG. Aren’t they the best? And, obviously, if you haven’t already signed up to their newsletter (the next one is coming out THIS WEEK!) then I have no doubt you’re rushing off to do that right now. J If you need me to make this even easier for you...  

CLICK HERE NOW

Thank you, gang, it’s been a pleasure!

Feeling festive

Today, I'd like to talk to you about festivities. Whatever your culture, religion, or faith, we all have our own festivities (and at various times of the year), and I think those are to be shared and enjoyed, understood and respected, throughout each community. Evidently, as it's December, most will notice that I, personally, celebrate Christmas. But, aside from that, I adore learning about all the other festivities that occur around the world throughout the year, whether it's Eid Al-Adha, Eid Al-FitrEid, Imbloc, We Tripantu, Hanukah, Christmas, The Chinese New Year, or one of the other many festive celebrations our great world has been gifted with.

So what does that mean for YA writing? Simply put, I'd love to see more of these wonderful, unique, individual expressions of faith in our young adult books. The understanding and knowledge that books can give us is important. Why do others believe differently than you? What gives us all a human commonality despite our own, individual faith?

In my own home, we have conflicting beliefs, but they unite us, rather than divide us. I'm compelled to find out more about this faith that isn't my own. To respect it, see its own truth, see the world through different eyes. Does it make me change my own belief? No and yes. No, my belief didn't change. However, what did change is that I could a) empathize and understand the other faith, and b) I am giving myself room to explore. After all, who says change is bad? Perhaps something will strike a chord with me one day, and I'll find my faith evolving. Who knows?

So here is my challenge to myself, and please feel free to play along - whenever there is a big religious festivity from a faith I don't know about, I'm going to put a book in my hands that tells me about it. Educates me. Enlightens me. Brings me further knowledge of our humanity. And if I'm lucky, it's going to come in the form of a YA novel.

The Perfect Match: Beach and Read

If you’ve read Becoming Jinn, it’s no secret that I love the beach. It’s one of the few traits I share with Azra (though I wish I had her height and hair).

It’s my happy place. And it’s where I like to do my most favorite thing: read.

This month, I’m doing something a bit different and asking some of my 2015 debut authors friends to share their favorite beach reads.

Virginia Boecker, author of THE WITCH HUNTER:

“My favorite beach read is Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. This book is satire at it’s best, and I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. It's perfection.” 

Stacey Lee, author of UNDER A PAINTED SKY:

“Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer, about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to join the navy, and later becomes a pirate.  This book smells like the ocean.  There are adventures and far off lands, and it's perfect for the beach.”

Kim Liggett, author of BLOOD AND SALT (September 22, Putnam)

“JAWS by Peter Benchley. It's just so perfect.”

Jenny Martin, author of TRACKED:

“My fave beach read is Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland. Nantucket Blue is a beach read to savor. You’ll root for Cricket, and you won'’ want her summer story to end.

Kim Savage, author of AFTER THE WOODS (February 23, 2016, FSG):

“Anything Dennis Lehane. Because I love beauty matched with grit, any time of year.”

Laura Tims, author of PLEASE DON'T TELL (Summer 2016, HarperCollins):

“Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. There's sand on the cover and murder inside it, what more could you ask for?”

So what’s my favorite beach read? 

Besides, of course, Becoming Jinn, which, being set on the north shore of Massachusetts just happens to make for a perfect beach read (ahem)…..

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I read this on my last beach vacation, and it made for a perfect couple of days. The humor in here is top-notch, as is the expert structure and storytelling.

What's your favorite beach read?

Lori Goldstein is the author of Becoming Jinn (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, now available!!, sequel, Spring 2016). With a degree in journalism and more than 10 years of experience, Lori is a freelance copyeditor and manuscript consultant for all genres. She focuses on the nitty-gritty, letting writers focus on the writing.

Twitter

Author Web site

Goodreads

Facebook
Tumblr
Instagram

How to Help Authors You Love!

Dear Authors,

This post isn't for you, not really. You probably already know all of this. It's really for your friends - the ones who would help you if they knew how but it's kinda awkward for you to outright tell them. So, instead, post this in a rather general sense on your Facebook/Twitter/Whatever and let me tell them :-)

Dear awesome readers,

We know that when you love a book, you'd buy a thousand copies and shout from the rooftops if you could. But you can't. So here are some small things you can do that help more than you could ever know.

1. Reviews

I cannot even begin to tell you how huge this is. If this was a list of 100 things you could do, reviews would be about 90 of my bullet points.

Find the book on Amazon and Goodreads (and B&N if you're motivated) and write a quick review. It doesn't have to be anything fanciful, but should be a little more detailed than "This is the best book ever!!" Tell potential readers why you loved it so that they'll want to read it too.

Also, like positive reviews written by other people.

2. Like

Here's the thing about Facebook: they want to make $. So they're now trying to charge authors to show their fans their posts. But the more likes and comments a post has, the more people (who, may I remind you, have already indicated they want to see this author's posts by liking their page) will see the post.

Go nuts. Like every post the author has. Comment, even if it's just to say ":)" or "yay!"

3. Share

Tell your followers/friends about a book you love! Post on twitter/facebook/instagram/tumblr/pinterest/Google+/wherever and provide a link to where they can get more info. RT/share/reblog/repin the author's posts.

Tweet your favorite lines from the book or share why you loved it. Post a picture of yourself reading the book - or your pet posing with it (everybody on the internet loves cats; it's a fact)

4. Like the author's Amazon page.

Nobody really knows how Amazon's complicated algorithms work, but there's some evidence to suggest the more likes an author has, the more Amazon will help the author promote their book.

Here's my alter ego's page, in case you'd like to practice. ;-) The like button is near the top right.

5. Goodreads Lists

Add the book you love to relevant Goodreads lists. This helps increase visibility of the book!

6. Library

If your local library has the book (print or ebook), check it out and encourage local friends to. This shows the library that people want to read this book.

If your local library does not have the book, request it! Most major library systems have a form you can fill out. Ask your librarian how to request the library purchase a copy.

7. Indie Bookstores

If your local indie bookstore doesn't have a copy of the book, ask them to order it!

8. Book Clubs

If you're in a book club, suggest the book you love! 

It's all about the reader

I'm excited to do this month's post, as the writing world has been a-buzz lately.  Between scores of writing contests - Pitch Wars, Pitch Madness, Sun vs Sun - and new imprints opening up (Bloomsbury Spark, Saga Books from S&S) everything has been looking mighty fine in the publishing world.

However, I wanted to get back to one fundamental point about writing.  Although writers spend a lot of time getting to know other writers (which is wonderful), it's important not to forget the number one goal of a novel - connecting with readers.

I've touched on this topic at times before, looking to see what we can do on a technical basis to improve our work for readers.  However, I was recently inspired by a conversation with a fellow writer (and agency sister).  We were talking about market and platform and increasing reach into the readers' world.  And we came up with the idea of creating a website called Debate It!  A place where readers could connect with other readers.  Somewhere people could debate the good and bad books they've read, talking about the parts of publishing that affect them as a reader.

And this got me to thinking - how much as writers do we truly reach out to the average reader?  There are scores of websites dedicated to improving craft.  Lots of writing motivation websites.  Plenty of helpful writing blogs.  But not so many website focused purely on the reader.

Perhaps it's a pertinent reminder to all writers not to get trapped in the bubble of being a writer.  To remember to delve into the readers' world as well.  So expand your horizons and go in search of not just other writers who'll read your work, but readers too.

We hope that you reach out to readers in all walks of life.  And we'd like to reach out to you too and invite you to come and join in the book debate happening over at Debate It!