Posts for category ‘the industry’

I said I was cashing out on talking about difficult topics like politics and religion on Twitter, etc. Then I read the paper this morning (which I need to stop doing – news-reading should happen after writing, otherwise my brain is much too full of the wrong kind of stuff) and dashed to my computer to react to things I had read. Ah well. Relapse is part of every recovery.

So, one of the things that’s making 2010 pretttty busy is that I’m doing some teaching, mentoring, coaching in various venues. I’ve mentioned them here before, but as a reminder:

- Writing & Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop – June 14-18 – Sandy, UT

A week-long intensive. Very excited about this. I’m not sure what kind of space is left for the workshops, but if you live in the area (or want to come out for it), you can register for the half-day conference and go to plenary sessions, breakout sessions, signing, and keynote (by Mary Pearson!). Half-day registration is only $125. Seriously—bargain. There is now a preliminary schedule of sessions up on the site.

- The Glen Online

I’m teaching an ongoing correspondence-course style class in YA fiction. If you’re just starting out, there are various assignments related to each of six lessons. If you have a work-in-progress, we can look at that in place of the assignments. You can start any time, and work at your own pace. If you have any questions about this, let me know.

- Manuscript Critique for Auction

I’ve donated a YA manuscript critique to Fire Petal Books, a startup kid/YA bookstore to be opened in Centerville. Right now, Mike Martin is the high bidder but I know he would love you to drive up the price to raise more money for the store. There are also a bunch of other very cool items for writers and aspiring writers.

No matter if you can’t do any workshops or classes or bidding right now – if you’re a writer and haven’t yet gotten to the publishing stage of your career, give yourself a few hours this weekend to write and enjoy it and reconnect and put all the industry news, the query drafts, the rejections, the buzz out of your head for a couple of days. Writing is pretty much a learn-by-doing craft so turn off the noise and go do some doing. I’ll do the same.

You know what I love about shopping at my local independent book store? I go in there, and they know me. Okay, yes, part of that is because I’m an author and they are nice to authors, but when I go into Sam Weller’s or The King’s English and hang out awhile, it’s obvious that they know their other regulars, too. I know this doesn’t only happen at indies. I used to work at a little Crown Books in Daly City back when Crown Books used to be the biggest chain there was, and we knew our regulars, too, and could make recommendations and chit-chat and otherwise engage in human interaction not based on a five-star rating system or anonymous usernames.

Full disclosure: I have spent plenty of money on books at Amazon over the years, but have tapered off considerably after getting into the book business and understanding more about it. Lately I only resort to it when I need a hard to find book ASAP. But since the Macmillan debacle, and the letter from Amazon about it that felt…well, it felt hostile, frankly…I’m done with that, and keeping my Amazon purchases to blender replacement parts, the vacuum filters my hardware store doesn’t carry, and random medical supplies. Now, in saying that, I’m not berating anyone who chooses to buy books from the big A. I understand that sometimes convenience and pricing are the difference between you buying a book and not buying a book, and if you live in the boonies with no good library and you have to buy everything you want to read, it’s challenging to go indie. And, I bet that at some point in the future I will wind up clicking the buy button of a book (assuming it’s there), myself. But by shifting even 25% of your purchasing dollars to local stores, you’ll help keep the personal, human, passionate bookselling business—and the real people who make it happen—alive.

Anyway, speaking of Sam Weller’s, right now they are having a pretty fantastic sale for in-store customers—it goes through tomorrow the 6th. 50% off used (!), 25% off new, 30% off rare. Some restrictions. There is also chocolate. So if you’re in the SLC, go down there and show Catherine and Tony and the crew some love. Heck, you can even do that when there’s not a sale. All the better. To make it even more convenient, TRAX stops right at their front door, and there are two bars and a coffee shop and some restaurants on the same block, so you can eat, drink, and buy books all in one delightful outing. (All right, yes, sometimes you go downtown on Sunday or a weeknight and things are shuttered, but that seems to be changing. I am seriously hoping this “downtown rising” thing works out, because I live within walking distance of downtown and having it actually…rise…would make living here longterm so much more enticing.)

Here’s my haul from yesterday, a mix of new and used, and not counting the four books I have on order (you know you can order books through your local store if you don’t see them in stock, right?). The wrapped one (expertly, and for free by SW staff) is a top secret gift, obviously:

Coming on the blog next week: interview with Matt de la Peña, in which we talk about the wonderful We Were Here and other writery stuff. You’re gonna like it.

Have a great weekend! Go…Saints?

- Last week I suggested that people add author Andrew Smith’s blog to their reading list. Apparently, some people did, and didn’t like some of the stuff he said, or the way he said it, or the things some of his commenters said (though it’s not clear in the comments who is responding to Andrew and who is responding to other commenters…be specific, people, if you want to have a conversation). Drama ensued all weekend. Yet few truly seem to be listening to what Andrew said and continues to say about the pros and cons of having a book you write published in the YA category. I don’t think half the commenters on Andrew’s blog even realize he writes YA novels.

- All I have to say is this: Writers may have some very different ideas about what they do and why they do it than readers and gatekeepers do. Of course that has been the case throughout all time and in all categories of publishing, but there is this extra layer of expectation in the YA world that writers should think like parents, teachers, librarians, advocates, award committees, other writers. Some do, I guess, but many don’t. Personally, I know that I didn’t get into this to be a crusader. And if I were writing specifically for an adult audience, that would not be an expectation. But sometimes I feel like that is exactly what is expected of me. That I should be a Helpful Crusader, and that’s what writing YA is all about.

- Speaking of gatekeepers, John Green looks into the future of publishing and reading and librarianship over at SLJ. It took eight days to get a “shame on you” in the comments. You’re losing your touch, John.

- I love this interview with Mo’Nique in the Sunday Times. There’s a lot there for writers, or anyone in a creative profession, to think about in terms of working hard and letting the work speak for itself. And, this quote (about Precious) is great:

“I keep hearing, ‘It’s so dark, it’s so dark,’ ” she said, placing her hands flat on the table. “This movie is not dark. This movie is honest, and I think we get that confused. I believe dark is when you see the action movies, and they’re killing 25 people in a room for no reason. That’s dark. Some people,” she said, looking up at the reporter, “can’t deal with that type of honesty, and so they just call it dark.”

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but this response applies to some of the criticisms of realism in YA.

- Here is a nice review of Once Was Lost at Through a Glass, Darkly. Thanks, Kari.