Non-stop buzz for some phenomenal January/February releases

The past two weeks have seen quite a few of our books released, and this coming week will see even more! While book releases are always exciting, there's been nearly non-stop buzz for each of the below over the past few weeks. We decided to highlight some of our favorite promotions, publicity, reviews, and more.

Archetype by M.D. Waters (Dutton, February 6, 2014)

Archetype was named an Indie Next Pick for February by the American Booksellers Association (ABA)!  In the Indie Next write-up, Melissa Oates from Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC, wrote, "This is a great futuristic novel that will lead readers to questions of ethics and provide lots of material for group discussions."

Dutton has also created amazing swag for the book, which was featured at ComicCon, the ABA Winter Institute, and the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. Below is an image of the t-shirts that made an appearance. There were also tattoos and tote bags!

http://ow.ly/i/3dXjV

The back of the t-shirt says...

ARCHETYPE

 The original pattern from which all things of the same type are copies.

What's yours?

Coming 2/6/2014

www.mdwatersauthor.com

The Swan Gondola by Timothy Schaffert (Riverhead, February 6, 2014)

Tattered Cover Bookstore named The Swan Gondola a V.I.B.--Very Impressive Book!

They say about their V.I.B.'s, "Every now and then we encounter a new book that we're so excited about we want to shout it from the rooftops, so we've created a special tag to distinguish it from the rest: TC VIB (very impressive book)! That means it’s a true stand-out in a season of many excellent and compelling new books."

The Swan Gondola was also named a "Most Anticipated Book of 2014" by The Millions, among great company like Lorrie Moore and Haruki Murakami. Check out The Millions's blurb below:

Worthy Brown's Daughter by Phillip Margolin (Harper, January 21, 2014)

Publishers Weekly featured New York Times-bestselling author Phillip Margolin's latest in a huge, two-page spread! They also interviewed him about the writing process. Check out the first page below:

Worthy Brown's Daughter was also named to USA Today's Hottest Books List! The article said, "This departure for best-selling thriller writer Margolin might appeal to fans of the acclaimed movie 12 Years a Slave."

Dominion by C.J. Sansom (Mulholland Books, January 28, 2014)

The boon of all boons came the day before Dominion's release, when the great Stephen King himself tweeted about how much he loved the book!

 
Someone must have thought his first tweet was a gimmick, because he followed it up with another tweet:

As Stephen King explained above, Dominion is an alternate history of what might have happened had the Nazis won World War II and occupied Great Britain. To play up this idea, Mulholland Books created fantastic mock-ups of the British newspapers The Evening Standard, The Daily Express, and The Times of London as they might have looked had this alternate history really occurred. The papers were giveaways at Bourchercon and went into publicity mailings as well. Check out The Evening Standard below:

The Vanishing by Wendy Webb (Hyperion, January 21, 2014)

The Vanishing was named a Midwest Connections Pick by the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association! In its write-up, the booksellers association called the book "another escapist bit of commercial fiction with a mysterious edge that remains popular with readers."

Webb has also been in the midst of a whirlwind book tour throughout Georgia, North Carolina, and New Orleans, themed "the Southern gothic meets the Northern gothic"--since Webb's books are contemporary gothic novels set in the Midwest and the South is so famous for their own gothic novels.  Unfortunately, given the recent weather that's shut down places like Atlanta, some of Webb's book signings were put in jeopardy.  She tweeted about it below:

A Life in Men by Gina Frangello (Algonquin Books, February 4, 2014)

  
Like The Swan Gondola, A Life in Men was also named to The Millions's list of "Most Anticipated Books of 2014"!  The Los Angeles Times picked up The Millions's list too and gave a great shout-out to Frangello. Check out The Millions's blurb below:

Book Riot also named A Life in Men to its list of "The Best Books We Read in January"!  Contributor Marisa Atkinson wrote, "Frangello has given us one of the most authentic depictions of female friendship that I've ever read...A Life in Men is an important and powerful novel, and one I won't soon forget."

futuristic novel that will lead readers to questions of ethics and provide lots of material for group discussions - See more at: http://www.bookweb.org/node/28301#sthash.t0eKoUtp.dpuf

futuristic novel that will lead readers to questions of ethics and provide lots of material for group discussions - See more at: http://www.bookweb.org/node/28301#sthash.t0eKoUtp.dpuf

futuristic novel that will lead readers to questions of ethics and provide lots of material for group discussions - See more at: http://www.bookweb.org/node/28301#sthash.t0eKoUtp.dpuf

JVNLA rides the subway 2013!

Last year for the holidays, JVNLA took to the subway to express our love for our books published in 2012.  We snapped candid shots (and some not so candid shots) of ourselves reading as subway passengers looked on with puzzled expressions. For 2013, we simply had to do it again!

We began by posting pictures of us "reading in the wild" on Twitter--including pictures of us reading on subway platforms, at our desks, in bed, etc.--with the hashtag #readersinthewild. Then we followed it up with our adventure reading in the wilds of the subway!

Below, we present this year's candid and not-so-candid shots for your viewing pleasure.

We started at Times Square.  Here, Tara, Jennifer, and Laura read Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche (Hyperion, May 2013). This and all other photos were taken by our excellent behind-the-scenes photographer, Ariana.

Below is a sampling of the 2013 books we brought along.  When we began piling more books onto the subway seats, a mini-avalanche started!

Alice joined Laura and Jennifer to read The Book of Someday by Dianne Dixon (Sourcebooks Landmark, September 2013).

The day we chose for subway riding was particularly snowy, and so Jean decided to stay home and read in the warm rather than in the wild!  Here she is reading Our Picnics in the Sun by Morag Joss (Delacorte Press, November 2013).

Certain books inspire certain poses, and so Laura, Tara, and Jennifer couldn't help themselves from looking particularly nefarious while reading the noir mystery Sugar Pop Moon by John Florio (Seventh Street Books, July 2013).

We also couldn't help but crack ourselves up while reading the very funny The Heartbreak Messenger by Alexander Vance (Feiwel and Friends, July 2013).

When the below subway rider saw Royal Mistress by Anne Easter Smith (Touchstone, May 2013), she got so excited she had to read it herself! 

Then, she instructed Laura, Tara, and Jennifer how to properly pose for a scandalous historical novel like this one.

Noticing that some of our books had a certain theme to them, we decided to create our own story: First, there's Love with a Chance of Drowning.  Next comes The Heartbreak Messenger.  Which leads to This Is How You Say Goodbye.

While those of us in New York were in the midst of our subway adventures, Elizabeth was in Wisconsin having her own reading in the wild/transportation adventures! Here she is on bike with Sugar Pop Moon, 101 Quizzes for Couples by Natasha Burton (Adams Media, November 2013), Dead Run by Dan Schultz (St. Martin's Press, March 2013), Beyond the Bear by Dan Bigley and Debra McKinney (Lyons Press, March 2013), and more!

Laura, Jennifer, and Alice displayed their favorite parts of Otis Dooda: Strange but True, written by Ellen Potter and illustrated by David Heatley (Feiwel and Friends, June 2013).

Two businessman on their way to lunch were super excited about Otis Dooda too!

As you can see below, Laura, Tara, and Jennifer were each intrigued by Women, Sex, Power, and Pleasure by Evelyn Resh (Hay House, March 2013).

The delicious pie recipes in Sweetie-Licious Pies by Linda Hundt (Skirt! Books, October 2013) got Laura's and Tara's attention.

When the train emptied out, Jennifer had fun reading The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb (Hyperion, February 2013).

When it was time for our subway adventure to end, Laura, Tara, and Jennifer got a little choked up reading the last book, This Is How You Say Goodbye from Victoria Loustalot (St. Martin's Press, September 2013).

Thanks for joining us on our subway adventure!

For more about our recent books, take a look through the Recent and Upcoming Titles section of our website--all of the books make for great holiday gifts!

44 NaNoWriMo tips and tricks from 24 expert authors

National Novel Writing Month is that crazy time of year when writers drive themselves mad gunning for 50,000 words, a completed novel, and the glorious pride of writerly achievement, all by the end of November. Of course, it's also that time of year when agents become increasingly wary, concerned they'll receive NaNoWriMo manuscripts immediately on December 1...

After doling out revision tips last year, this year we wanted our JVNLA authors to weigh in with their own NaNoWriMo writing advice—whether it be related to revision, persistence, encouragement, or the craft of writing.

We didn't ask our authors to send advice in just any old, boring way, though. Instead, we took to Twitter!

Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, our authors flooded a portion of the Twitter-verse with #JVNLAauthors and #NaNoWriMo hashtags. They were responding to this tweet:

We've compiled the 44 tips and tricks they sent in below, with each tweet on its own line under the author's name.

Our expert authors write a variety of genres for a variety of ages, but their advice is perfect for anyone. Take a look!

From Victoria Strauss, author of Passion Blue (Skyscape, November 2012) @victoriastrauss

You're challenging yourself, not competing against others

Take breaks. Go for a walk. Savor a cup of tea. Take a hot shower. Creativity blooms when you let your mind wander.

From Morag Joss, author of Our Picnics in the Sun (Delacorte Press, November 2013) @moragjoss

Keep going to the end of #NaNoWriMo and be proud. Then re-write. And re-write.

From Selena Coppock, author of The New Rules for Blondes (It Books, April 2013) @SelenaCoppock

My advice 4 writers doing #NaNoWriMo? Straight-up disconnect the internet from your computer. And write to Arcade Fire :)


Courtesy of joylajaxx.tumblr.com via giphy.com

From Anne Mazer, author of Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook (Square Fish Books, March 2010) @Annemazer

Listen deeply to your characters.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes - you can always fix them later.

From Adrienne Kress, author of Outcast (Diversion Books, May 2013) and The Friday Society (Dial, December 2012) @AdrienneKress

Hmm, I'd advise authors doing #NaNoWriMo to not be too self critical. This is the vomit on the page stage, just get it written!

From Jillian Cantor, author of Margot (Riverhead, September 2013) @JillianCantor

Set small page/word goal per day and stick to it no matter what. I do 5 pgs/day

From Victoria Loustalot, author of This Is How You Say Goodbye (St. Martin's Press, September 2013) @VLoustalot

No outlines! Too much planning suffocates the chance for magic.

From Kristi Helvig, author of Burn Out (Egmont, April 2014) @KristiHelvig

Just get the first draft down no matter what...it's supposed to be a hot mess!

Just remember not to submit that hot mess on Dec. 1. Take your time with edits!

Regarding this, Jeffry Halverson, author of Searching for a King: Muslim Nonviolence and the Future of Islam (Potomac Books, September 2012) (@JeffryHalverson), asked...

Other authors chimed in with answers:

From Susan Schoenberger, author of A Watershed Year (Lake Union, November 2013) @schoenwriter

I second @KristiHelvig Get it all down, and then make December #NaDeEdMo

Except it should probably be NaNoEdMo, now that I think about it.

From Mark Ferguson, author of The Lost Boys Symphony (Little, Brown, forthcoming Summer 2015) @thefergusonian

I say write forward. Don't edit what's already written. Doubt will slow you down.

Obviously you'll edit later, to be clear. That's why we call Dec-Oct #NaNoEdMo

To this, Selena Coppock (see her advice above) responded...

From M.D. Waters, author of Archetype (Dutton, February 2014) @_MDWaters

Fun Fact: #ARCHETYPE was my 2011 #NaNoWriMo novel. Finished in 5 weeks. Queried: May 2012 Agented: Oct 2012 SOLD: Dec 2012 #TakeYourTime

Use December to EDIT rather than QUERY.

Every scene needs a goal, motivation, and conflict... How else are you going to keep them entertained?

Your goal has motivation, but does it have CONFLICT?

Scene isn't working? Move characters to a new setting.

It takes more words to show a scene, fewer to tell it.

Pinterest is NOT your WIP. Neither is this, so stop reading
(But, really, keep reading this post and THEN get back to work :) )

Lose your muse? Steal someone else's. It's fair game.

Your antag has a story. I bet they even have good intentions.

That emotion you want to share? Amplify by 10 and write THAT.

Dishes? What dishes? That's what minions are for. WRITE

THIS. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/153966880984883798/

From Robert Repino, author of Mort(e) (Soho Press, forthcoming Fall 2014) @Repino1

This year trade football and Friday morning shopping for writing.

From Ellen Potter, author of Otis Dooda: Strange but True (Feiwel and Friends, June 2013) and Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook (Square Fish Books, March 2010) @Ellenpotter

When you get stuck, take your dog for a walk. Seriously, it works wonders.

Pledge that if u don't finish the novel you'll give $ to least fave organization

From Ellis Avery, author of The Last Nude (Riverhead, December 2012) and Broken Rooms: Haiku and Sculpture (The Crumpled Press, February 2014) @EllisAveryNYC

Let your characters want something. What do I mean? http://online.wsj.com/news/articles...

Here's an excerpt from that Wall Street Journal article, written by Avery:

Many of us have read subtle, well-wrought stories in which a character's most secret soul is illuminated—and yet (yawn) nothing really happens. The writer tried too hard to Make the Reader Care. There are also pyrotechnically masterful stories in which cars explode and the world ends—and yet (ho-hum) nobody cares. The writer tried too hard to Make Something Happen. To avoid both problems, I've found it helpful to ask three questions: What does my character want? What keeps my character from getting what he or she wants? Does my character get what he or she wants in the end or not?

From Wendy Webb, author of The Vanishing (Hyperion, January 2014) and The Fate of Mercy Alban (Hyperion, February 2013) @wendykwebb

Write each day, very early or late, as your household sleeps. No distractions.

Also: Set a goal for number of words, and stick to it.

Also: No social media or email until you reach your word count goal.

From Timothy Schaffert, author of The Swan Gondola (Riverhead, February 2014) and The Coffins of Little Hope (Unbridled Books, April 2011) @timschaffert

If a scene's not working, move characters onto a different set; one that's unexpected: rooftop, bottom of an empty pool.

Or the bottom of a...full pool.


Courtesy of cheezburger.com via giphy.com

From Susan Kelly, author of By Accident (Pegasus Books, May 2010) @susankellynovel

Go ahead and get up in the middle of the night to change "turn" to "pivot" and remove the exclamation marks.

From Alex C. Renwick (aka Camille Alexa), author of Push of the Sky (Untreed Reads, October 2012) @AlexCRenwick

Don't overthink it...At least, not until AFTER you have a draft.

From Dorothy Hearst, author of Secrets of the Wolves (Simon and Schuster, July 2012) @DorothyHearst

Make character influence action, and action change your characters

From J-Wunder, author of Wait...What?!: Life Advice from a Ghetto Genius (Diversion Books, July 2013) @MrJWunderful

drink until you feel the creative juices flow!

From Nancy Springer, author of Drawn into Darkness (NAL, November 2013) @NancySpringer

Talking about your novel-to-be depletes the energy you need to write it. Don't blow it away w your mouth. Write it.

"Show, don't tell" = the reader visualizes everything you say. So be careful. Eyes fall (onto the floor?), roll...

Most likely yr critique group will focus on the surface of yr novel. Dig deeper. Think structure, story logic.

Find out the goofy way I got started writing in my new Goodreads post: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_po…

From Patry Francis, author of The Orphans of Race Point (Harper Perennial, May 2014) and The Liar's Diary (Dutton, 2007) @patryf

"Don't confine truth to facts." 5 Writing Tips: Paul Harding publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/in… via @PublishersWkly

From Helen Maryles Shankman, author of The Color of Light (Stony Creek Press, October 2013) @hmshankman

What you write when you're inspired--and what you write when you're not inspired--by the time you're done editing...

...you won't know which was which. Just keep writing!


Courtesy of leahkonen.com via giphy.com

Discoverability, Part II: How to use Goodreads to solve the discoverability problem

As we discussed in our last post, one of the most pressing problems currently facing publishers, booksellers, and authors is that of book discovery. Given the advancement of eBooks and the increasing numbers of self-published authors, the market has become inundated with content, leaving readers in a daze of titles and authors from which to choose. This trend has forced the publishing industry to question how consumers can find books at all, let alone their next favorite read.

Cue Goodreads, a social media site for finding and sharing books:

Goodreads' mission is to “help people find and share books they love” and, at the same time, “improve the process of reading and learning throughout the world.” With a growing community of over 14 million users, Goodreads enables avid readers and writers to share what they are reading, show how they are rating books, and recommend books to others. The site is quickly becoming one of the most popular platforms for readers to discover new authors and for authors to connect with new readers. By bringing together three important but simple components--authors, readers, and books--Goodreads believes it has found the answer to “discoverabilty.”

With publishers relying more and more on authors to market their books online, knowing how to navigate sites like Goodreads is crucial for anyone hoping to make his or her book successful. At JVNLA, we've met with Goodreads representatives to learn the best ways our authors can take advantage of the opportunities available. Below, we've compiled information about which aspects of the site can be the most useful for authors, along with examples of how our authors have used Goodreads in the past.

Build Your Author Platform

One of the first things to do when joining Goodreads is to claim your author profile and join the Author Program. Joining the Author Program allows you to personalize your profile, list the books you've written, share your favorite books with fans, publicize upcoming events, and write a blog on the site.

It is important to personalize your author profile as much as possible. Don't forget to add an author photo and bio. According to Goodreads, an author profile with a photo attracts more viewers and reviewers than an author profile without an image! On their profiles, authors can also post videos, eBook excerpts, polls, etc., all of which end up on the feeds of friends and fans.

Some great examples of how to best utilize your author profile include the profiles of our authors Lesley Livingston (here) and Christopher Gortner (here).

Promote Your Books

Giveaways: These are one of the easiest ways to make your books discoverable on Goodreads. Not only does a giveaway lend exposure to your book being given away, it also increases interest for any other books you may have written. Plus, readers who receive giveaway books are highly likely to write reviews for them. And the more people who review and rate your books, the more visibility your books will have. According to Goodreads, over 40,000 people enter a giveaway every day, and, on average, each giveaway has 850 entries.

Goodreads recommends running a giveaway for at least two weeks but no longer than a month. The site also recommend running two giveaways for a book over time: one a few months before publication to build buzz and reviews, and a second after publication to increase awareness that your book is purchasable.

One of the advantages of doing a giveaway before publication or during the galley stage is that many people entering the contest will add your book to their “To-Read” shelves. And once your book publishes, those who have added your book to their “To-Read” shelves will receive an email from Goodreads. That email might be just the nudge they need to go out and buy your book!

JVNLA hosted a giveaway for DARK LIE by Nancy Springer in the beginning of January, which you can view here. The giveaway lasted for a little over two weeks and garnered 2,384 entries. As a direct result of the giveaway, the number of people with DARK LIE on their “To-Read” shelves skyrocketed to over 1,180 people. The green in the image below shows that "To-Read" increase over time.

Wendy Webb, another JVNLA author, held a giveaway for her new novel THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN in January, too, viewable here. Over 1,460 people entered the giveaway. Currently, over 1,090 people have THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN on their “To-Read” shelves. The increase in "To-Read" adds, from mid-December through the giveaway period and then after the book's publication (in February), is shown in green below.

Join and Host Groups: Goodreads has numerous groups that members can join, from groups for author Q and As, to groups for book swaps, to groups for genre discussions, to book club groups. To lend you and your books more visibility, join a group that discusses a topic or subject related to you or your work. Don't forget that when you first join a group, you should slowly make your way into the conversation before mentioning your own work.

One example of a book club group is “Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy." Included among the book club reading list is Lesley Livingston's STARLING. An example of a group for genre discussions, on the other hand, is “A History of Royals.” C.W. Gortner, author of THE QUEEN'S VOW and many other novels revolving around historical queens, is a member.

Nancy Springer took part in another group, a featured author group, on January 24th, in which she discussed her new book DARK LIE and her past books, including the well-known ENOLA HOLMES series. Over the course of a day, over 70 people joined the group to talk with Nancy about what made her want to become a writer and what inspired her books. You can view the group discussion here.

Be an Active Goodreads Member

With any social media platform, your effectiveness is related to how much you interact with others. Authors should be active when using Goodreads by frequently adding and rating books on their shelves, updating their author profile, and interacting with other members on the site.

Remember, Goodreads is a place for readers, not solely a place for marketing purposes. You should not constantly promote your work on the site. However, if you join Goodreads and begin engaging with readers and different groups, you may be surprised to find out how much work you've done, without realizing it, that has made your book discoverable.

Prepare for a spine-tingling read in bestselling THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN

“The thing that inspires me to think up a story is the place,” Wendy Webb says in an interview with Publishers Weekly for her newest book, THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN, released from Hyperion this February. “When I go into or see an old house, I wonder, what could happen there? What secrets are lurking around every corner?”

As Webb writes in her guest post on She Reads, Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota, sparked her first imaginings of Alban House, the family home around which THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN revolves. Like Glensheen Mansion, Alban House was built on the edge of Lake Superior in the 1800s by a powerful family. Local legend has it that Glensheen is haunted, and Webb's novel is nothing if not a modern-day haunted house story.

In THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN, Grace Alban has successfully avoided her family home for more than twenty years when her mother dies and she returns to attend the funeral and settle her mother's estate. Chilling discoveries soon follow concerning long-buried family secrets, a lost manuscript, and the decades-old mystery of a party at Alban House during which a famous author committed suicide and Grace's aunt disappeared.

Since its release, THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN has climbed to the #3 spot on the Heartland Indie Bestseller List. It was an Indie Bound Next Pick and a Midwest Connections Pick. iTunes declared it among the Best Fiction and Literature of February. Some of the excellent reviews received so far follow:

“Webb plots a tale rife with dark family secrets, hidden passageways, love, intrigue and witchcraft.” --Kirkus

“If you're craving a good old-fashioned ghost story to scare you on these cold nights, this is it.” --St. Paul Pioneer Press

“This second novel by Minnesota Book Award-winning writer Wendy Webb has all the elements of a downright haunting story—and it is. But there’s also romance along the way to provide relief...Be prepared to be scared—and entertained.” --Star Tribune

“After reading this book, I plan to keep Wendy on my radar...THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN is a chilling, good read!” --Cheryl's Book Nook Blog

“Webb has crafted a modern take on a classic genre--the Gothic ghost story… What did I love the most? The house--I want to explore all those hidden passages and back staircases to unused rooms.” --A Bookworm's World Blog

“Webb's novel had me hooked from the get go and I would not put it down until I had finished the last page...I got goosebumps a number of times whilst reading this book...I would definitely recommend THE FATE OF MERCY ALBAN to anyone and everyone who loves to read spooky novels” --A Bookish Way of Life Blog

“If Sarah Waters and Stephen King had a love child, it would be Wendy Webb!” --M.J. Rose, international bestselling author of THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES

“In the gothic tradition of REBECCA, Wendy Webb's intoxicating mystery follows one family's effort to confront the secrets of its own sordid past as they haunt the last remaining members of the storied Alban clan. Hidden passages, portraits with moving eyes, and the conflicting mandates of wealth, power, and love weave together to create a story that will send chills down your spine. Read in a well-lit room!” --Katherine Howe, New York Times bestselling author of THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE

“A perfect read for a dark and stormy night.” --Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of PROOF POSITIVE.

Hyperion, February 2013

Interviews with Wendy Webb and Carl Safina

Debut author Wendy Webb's THE TALE OF HALCYON CRANE just keeps getting great press! Most recently, Webb was interviewed by KAXE Radio. Click here for the interview and to hear more about the book!


Carl Safina, a MacArthur fellow and a 2010 recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, interviewed with WHYY Radio for Earth Day about the future of the ocean. Safina has written a variety of books about ocean life, including SONG FOR THE BLUE OCEAN, EYE OF THE ALBATROSS, and VOYAGE OF THE TURTLE. Click here for his insights into our ocean's fate!