Bookshelves of Doom has a few words for Maureen Johnson. Namely:

ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME INTO A CRAZY PERSON? How could you leave me hanging like that? Seriously? The only thing that stopped my agonized “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!” from actually being verbalized was the fact that I was reading under the blankets with a flashlight, trying desperately not to wake my snoring husband. You, madame, are a monster. Also, I am way tired this morning. So thanks for that, too.

Also, is it gross that I’m kind of in love with Spencer?

For the record, no, not gross at all. Click through for the rest of the review.

Over on the Flux blog, they’ve got a great interview up with Josie Bloss about Albatross, and it’s similarities and differences with her previous Band Geek books. An excerpt:

FLUX: The tone in Albatross is more serious than your previous two books. Here, you’ve chosen a far darker story and style. What inspired this change?

JB: Though the story is darker, I think the themes of a girl finding her voice and her inner strength are quite similar to the Band Geek books. Honestly, this is a story that called to me and demanded to be written. I was going through a tough time in my personal life and when my world is upside down, it can be difficult to think or write about anything else. I borrowed significant parts of my own experiences for this book. In some ways, Albatross was my therapy and my method of productively processing these difficult experiences . . . and it’s a fist-bump to other people dealing with similar situations. Sometimes you just need to hear that you’re not alone.

Also included on the Flux blog is a excerpt — check it out!

But wait, there’s more! Author Elana Johnson on Ellen Booraem’s The Unnameables: “Holy blazes, the woman knows how to use the right words to tell the story.”

And the pun-derfully titled Prose and Kahn says Powerless by Matthew Cody, “is an awesome debut novel and will not be a shelf sitter.” Woot!

And finally, the winner of a book of their choice on Tuesday’s entry is… *drumroll*… Comment #8 (thanks to Random.org). Jean, I’ll email you for your address and book preference!

Full disclosure: By my nature as a literary agent, I get a commission on sales of books by my clients, through any eventual royalties. My links to the Amazon pages of their titles also earns me a small fee, if you click through and buy a copy.

The most tragically overlooked book of 2008: THE UNNAMEABLES, by Ellen Booraem. Reviewed 9/1/08.

Which led this blogger to pick it up, and post this review (in part):Don’t overlook this one. To do so is simply Unnameable.

But that’s not all! The Horn Book’s list of Newcomers “highlights exceptional work by the latest crop of novice authors and artists,” and features not just The Unnameables, but also Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French!

Reviews and press mentions like these are the best examples I can give of the power of writing quality work and trusting that it will find an audience — which isn’t to say that Ellen or Susannah have been resting on their laurels since their books’ publications! It’s about keeping a presence on the internet, working with your publisher to continue to promote your books, and basically doing everything you can to be sure your book is in front of the people that matter.

If you’re committed to being an author, you need to know it’s a long-term commitment, not a flash in the pan gig. Are you ready for that? Can you keep up what you’ve been doing to promote yourself and your work for the next five years? The next ten?

The genius librarians at YALSA have nominated Ellen Booraem’s The Unnameables to the 2010 Best Books for Young Adult list. Blog readers may recall that I sat in on the discussion of the 2009 list at ALA earlier this year, and I’m thrilled that The Unnameables is a nominee. The latest version of the list of nominated titles is here, and ALSO includes fellow kt literary client Matthew Cody’s debut novel Powerless!

Matt’s had a bunch of good news lately — the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) has also selected Powerless as one of the ABC New Voices Picks for spring, and will feature it at their New Voices luncheon at BEA later this month. In addition, Knopf, which is publishing Powerless in November, is also including Matt’s book as one of only 6 titles published by Random House Children’s Books included in their “Fresh Fiction from New Voices” promotion.

Meanwhile, you may have heard that Evermore by Alyson Noel is a nominee for YALSA’s Teens Top Ten list, which is voted on and decided by teen readers during Teen Read Week in October.

And I have more good news to share about Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French, but I have to hold off on it for another week.

That should be enough for now, right? Do any of you have good news to share?

A skilled artist faces expulsion from a puritanical culture so tied to rules and the past that change is viewed as evil in a tale in which beauty and pleasure have all but disappeared.

But that’s not all! The Unnameables has also been nominated to YALSA’s list of Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) for 2010. I had the pleasure of hearing some of the discussion at the recent ALA Midwinter meeting of the nominated titles for 2009, and I think we can look forward to Ellen’s book being read and discussed all year long. For a look back, you can find the list of 2009’s final BBYA titles on the ALA website here, with their top ten listed separately.

But wait! There’s more! Lili Wilkinson, whose forthcoming novel Pink will be published by Allen & Unwin this summer, and by HarperCollins US next year, has been interviewed on Hey, Teenager of The Year. We love her because she chooses Buffy as a favorite kick-butt heroine.

Finally, Wands & Words has a thought-provoking post up on her site debating the value in lists like BBYA or the NYPL’s “Stuff for the Teen Age” focusing on fewer titles — mainly those that are already well-known. What of those undiscovered gems that deserve recognition?

It truly is a fascinating article, and well worth a close read.

And since I’ve been whinging lately about everything I need to do, I thought I’d share some of that with you, to give you a sense of what happens at the fair.

First of all, over the last few weeks I’ve been putting together my rights list, which contains pages on each of the books I’ll be featuring at the fair and talking about with foreign publishers. This doesn’t include all of my titles, but does have a page or more on recent releases (like Evermore by Alyson Noel) and upcoming titles (like Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French and Powerless by Matthew Cody). Because many scouts read deal reports on Publishers Lunch, I’ve also got a page for my recent deal for Hunted by Sara Beitia, though that book has a Fall 2010 pub date. Each page contains an image of the cover (where available), an author photo, a brief description of the book, an author bio, contact information for translation or dramatic rights, and any other necessary pieces of information to help make a sale. For The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem, for instance, I included an excerpt from the starred Kirkus review and an icon indicating it had been picked by the Junior Library Guild. For Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson, there’s also reviews and information for Suite Scarlett and Let It Snow. Evermore’s page includes a burst celebrating it as a #1 New York Times bestseller, as well as a growing list of international sales.

So, that went out a couple of weeks ago to scouts and my subagents, but there’s still updates to be made. Eventually (as in, before I leave on Thursday, but probably not too much before), I will take the file to my nearby Kinko’s and have it printed out in full-color to put in a binder I can use for show and tell in my meetings in Italy.

Because I don’t want the editors I’m meeting with to spend too much time looking down or reading the material I’ve prepared, I’ve also put together a powerpoint presentation with three or four bullet points on each title, so they can see the cover of each book, get the most pertinent details, and we can have more of a conversation about them.

Then, I printed out all my submission logs so I can see where a title has sold or been submitted, hoping that I’ll have my computer with me most of the time, but knowing sometimes it’s easier to just have the information I need on a piece of paper right in front of me, rather than having to look it up each time. I’ve also got a status report on all of my titles, an extra thick stack of business cards to give away, and a brand new little notebook to make notes on all my meetings.

Again, though I’ll have them all with me on my computer, I’ve also got submission copies of the manuscripts that are ready to send out on a little 2GB flash drive. i know some of my colleagues bring CDs with teasers of manuscripts or even fulls to give out to people they’re meeting with — I’m hoping to do most of my followup when I get home, although the flash drive gives me the opportunity to get something to someone right away if need be.

There’s always the hope of a fast, frantic sale happening at a fair, though that’s less likely in today’s internet age. But still — a girl can dream!

Tomorrow, a little bit about what my days at the fair will look like. Unless you have specific questions about what goes on in Bologna?

An optimistic story about the importance of art (and its marketability), this also plays lightly with questions of language and naming; friendship and integrity, too, are notable themes. The novel’s humor and amiable tone make it a highly accessible but thought-provoking read.

And this one from Kidsreads, which ends, “Booraem presents some of the universal themes of children’s literature in a new way, and readers cannot help but cheer Medford on as he discovers the meaning of family and friendship, independence, and the importance of art and expression.”
But wait! There’s more! A starred review for Let It Snow in KLIATT’s year end issue, which concludes

The cadence of the stories is surprisingly consistent and the readers wouldn’t know there are three different authors. All gimmicks aside, this is a great story illuminating the magic of the holidays and the strengths and weaknesses of friendships. YAs will adore it.

Let’s make today a good news day, shall we? Who else has good news to share?