Saturday Grab Bag

Mashup

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• How YA Came of Age
  A great article on the impact of YA in today’s market.
• Amazing Harry Potter-Inspired Weddings
  Someday, if my husband will go along with it, I want to imitate these.
• Missouri School District Bans ‘Biblically Contrary’ Novels By Kurt Vonnegut And Sarah Ockler
  Our favorite book banner is back with a vengeance.
• Editing Friends
  A great article on the ups and downs of using your friends as editors.
• Disney Princesses in Historically Accurate Costumes
  Ever wondered what Cinderella’s dress would actually look like if it were historically accurate? Well, now you know!

Curious minds want to know: what are you guys reading this week?

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Saturday Grab Bag

Mashup

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• Don’t Knock Yourself Out of the Game
  A great post from author Marcus Sakey on how to not cripple your chance of getting published.
• The Cruelest Hoax
  A valuable lesson in why you should always be on your guard when it comes to selling your book.
• Handle Pop Culture Terms With Care
  A great article on how every day terminology may not mean what you think it means, and how it can affect your writing.
• Peeta and Gale on the Cover of Entertainment Weekly
  Self-explanatory! (And here are some behind the scenes photos as well!)
• The Games We (Don’t) Play: How Authors Stay Offline
  Some really great tips for keeping yourself on track, despite the temptation to ditch writing for dicking around online!

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What We’re Reading

Sammy: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee

Sarah: VANISH by Sophie Jordan

Savannah: A DANCE OF DRAGONS by G. R. R. Martin

Susan: THE BODY FINDER by Kimberly Derting

Mandy: THOU SHALT NOT ROADTRIP by Antony John

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Early August Debuts

CLEOPATRA’S MOON by Vicky Alvear Shecter (8/1)

THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab (8/2)

DARK PARTIES by Sara Grant (8/3)

HOOKED by Catherine Greenman (8/9)

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What are you guys reading? Excited for any upcoming novels? Let us know in the comments!

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• The Best Writings on Writing
  Looking for a critique group? Trying to start one? Don’t know what they are? Want the pros and cons? Here’s a great collection of links that’ll help you do it all.
• Don’t Kill the Oxford Comma!
  RIP, Oxford Comma. You’ll be sorely missed.
• SF Signal: Don’t Be a Literary Snob, Try Sci Fi
  Dispelling rumors that science fiction isn’t just for prepubescent teenage boys.
• First Person vs. Third Person
  Yet another great post from former agent Nathan Bransford, who offers his advice on which one might work for your book.
• Contrariwise
  A collection of really awesome literary tattoos. I’ve definitely lived vicariously through this site for a while.

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July Debut Novels

THE BOOK OF THE CONCEALED by Sang Kromah (July 4th)
LOST VOICES by Sarah Porter (July 4th)
CHARLIE JOE JACKSON’S GUIDE TO NOT READING by Tommy Greenwald (July 5th)
BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. by Medeia Sharif (July 8th)
BAD TASTE IN BOYS by Carrie Harris (July 12th)
WILDFIRE by Karsten Knight (July 26th)

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What We’re Reading

Sammy: ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins

Sarah: OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon

Vee: SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY by Gary Shtynegart & LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW by David Levithan

Savannah: SLATHBOG’S GOLD by M. L. Forman & SAINT CITY SINNERS by Lilith Saintcrow

Julie: DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth

Susan: MISTWOOD by Leah Cypress

Jenn: A STORM OF SWORDS by George R. R. Martin

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Happy Saturday, everyone! We hope you’re all enjoying your summer! And curious minds want to know what books are on your summer reading list.

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup:

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• Why the best kids books are written in blood

-An AMAZING response by author Sherman Alexie (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Little, Brown 2009) to the #YASaves debate raging this past week.  Don’t know what the debate is about?  Head here, and read the article that sparked it all.

• How honest should we be with each other?

-From the Jody Hedlund’s amazing blog–how honest should we be when don’t like a book?  She has some great advice on how to handle the situation.

• Hard Core Writer Fear

-Another wonderful and inspiring post from Jody Hedlund about the fear of failing and how to deal with it.  Even the multi-published writers are scared their novels suck!

• Crits for Water

-Want to get your novel critiqued AND help a good cause? Writer Kat Brauer offers a critique of 250 words for every $1 you donate to her charity: water fundraiser! Plus, she has a HUGE line-up of agents and authors offering critiques! Be sure to stop buy–it’s running until June 30th!

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Quotes:

“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys – to woo women – and, in that endeavour, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”

– John Keating, Dead Poet’s Society

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Happy Saturday! Share with us any cool links you might have, or let us know what you’ve been up to! 😀

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup:

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• Chuck’s Essays – 6

– PURE. BRILLIANCE. This is showing, not telling, at its best. Author Chuck Palahniuk (who is awesome, btw) challenges all writers to stop using “thought” verbs; instead, writers should find other ways of getting across what a character thinks by showing them what that character is seeing. Seriously, read this; it just makes you itch to get back to writing!

• The Naipaul Test: Can You Tell an Author’s Sex?

– This is a test you’ll actually WANT to take! Let us know in the comments whether you guessed right or not (male writer? female?) – some of us LTWF girls were pretty bang-on, and some of us not so much.

• Out of Print Clothing

– Let’s face it – we all wear clothes (or at least, I hope you all do!) – so what better shirt to wear for writers and book lovers than a bookish t-shirt? This is the place to get the shirts that let you wear your love of literature! (Some of us LTWF girls have bought shirts from here!)

• Going Public

– Literary agent Kristin talks about the e-book sales being under-reported by publishers, and self-publishing.

• How to Tell if You’re a Writer

– This will make you laugh (or at least smile!) – so read this! Besides, who DOESN’T like these types of posts?

• Productivity & the Internet: Update on my Revamped Work Day Progess

– I love inkygirl (aka Debbie Ridpath Ohi) – and I love her cartoon strips (this one in particular made me laugh). Here she talks about her resolution to not go online for a set period of time everyday – and why the mornings just don’t work for her.

• Crits for Water

-Want to get your novel critiqued AND help a good cause? Writer Kat Brauer offers a critique of 250 words for every $1 you donate to her charity: water fundraiser! Plus, she has a HUGE line-up of agents and authors offering critiques! Be sure to stop buy–it’s running until June 30th!

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Quotes:

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“I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which ‘Escape’ is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

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Happy Saturday everyone! Let us know what you thought of the articles this week (or if you have any you want to share). Or just let us know what’s up!

😀

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup:

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• Alan Rickman’s Goodbye Letter to Harry Potter

– If you love HP, this might just make you tear up.

• How I Started Writing

– The ever-so-awesome actress and screen writer Felicia Day (whom I <3) wrote an awesome article on why and how she started writing.

• How To Avoid the Trap of Creating Unlikeable Characters

– Author Jody Hedlund talks about how to create characters that your readers can actually like.

• Announcing Barcode Scanner in the Goodreads Android App!

– If you have an android phone, get ready to go scanner-happy! You can now scan in your library of books and their barcodes and add them to your Goodreads shelves!

• Rachel’s Reading Timbits

– Looking for book reviews from a publishing insider? Rachel is a selector for Children’s and YA books, a national book wholesaler in Canada. If you like book reviews, I suggest checking her blog out!

• Most Beautiful College Libraries

– Love seeing pictures of books in sexy places? Well, SO DO WE! 😀

• Crits for Water

-Want to get your novel critiqued AND help a good cause? Writer Kat Brauer offers a critique of 250 words for every $1 you donate to her charity: water fundraiser! Plus, she has a HUGE line-up of agents and authors offering critiques! Be sure to stop buy–it’s running until June 30th!

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Quotes:

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“So I would encourage you all to read, read, read. Just keep reading. And writing is another skill. It’s practice. It’s practice. The more you write, the better you get. Drafts–our kids are learning the first draft means nothing. You’re going to do seven, 10 drafts. That’s writing, it’s not failure, it’s not the teacher not liking you because it’s all marked up in red. When you get to be a good writer, you mark your own stuff in red, and you rewrite, and you rewrite, and you rewrite. That’s what writing is.”

— Michelle Obama

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Hey all – Happy Saturday! Let us know what’s up in the comments! 😀

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup:

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• Why Women Love Fantasy Literature

– You might’ve heard about the uproar following New York Times’ Gina Bellefante’s review of GAME OF THRONES, the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series, A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. She claims Fantasy belongs to men – but this article looks at why fantasy appeals to so many women.

• Born Like An Artist

– BEST. COMIC STRIP. EVER. If you’re feeling the tiniest bit of doubt, this comic will definitely put you back on track!

• Mermaids Surface as the Next Big Thing

– Curious about what the next big trend will be in YA? Well, looks like mermaids are going to be the next big trend to make a splash.

• Stereotyping People by Their Favourite Author

– The title pretty much says it all.

• If Classic Fables Actually Told The Truth

– Some pretty amusing comics! Definitely check them out.

• Date a Girl who Reads (thanks to Alex for the link!)

– Boys, here are some reasons you should date a girl who reads. (Girls, this is bound to make you smile!)

• Howl’s Moving Castle Papercraft

– Howl’s Moving Castle = awesomeness. Howl’s Moving Castle PAPERCRAFT?! TOO awesome!

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(Many thanks to Alex once again for this link as well! :D)

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Quotes:

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Wooo! It’s the weekend! Share with us any thoughts, links, or book recommendations! Happy Saturday!

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup:

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• New Study Finds Gender Bias in Children’s Books

– An interesting article on the gender bias in Children’s books

• Literature Map

– Want to find authors who are similar to some of your fave writers? Well, Literature Map has you covered! This awesome site lets you search an author, and will show you similar authors – and differentiates very similar authors to somewhat similar ones. Note: This may cause you to spend more money on books. You have been warned 🙂

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Quotes:

“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.”

– Orson Scott Card

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Happy Saturday everyone! Let us know what’s up in the comments!

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup:

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• Success Is Like A Snowflake, Too

-An incredibly inspirational post about what REAL writing success means.  A must read!

• Two Extremes Writers Take & How to Avoid Them

-A thought provoking post about writing attitudes.  Do you fall into these extreme categories?

• On Pacing

-Kiersten White (author of Paranormalcy) offers great suggestions for amping up your story’s pacing.

• The Ever-Popular I Suck Playlist

-An amazing post by Libba Bray (author of A Great and Terrible Beauty) about self-confidence while writing–essentially, we all have our low moments…and they always kinda suck.

• May Query Day

-Sooz’s Query Day for the month of May will go live on Monday at 5 PM EST.  If you’re within the first 10 submissions, you’ll get a free query critique!

• Battling the Pre-Release Angst

-You don’t have to have a book coming out to appreciate the message behind this post: don’t be afraid!

• So You Wanna Write a Book?

-Read this post first!  She does a great job of laying out those first critical steps.

• Crits for Water

-Want to get your novel critiqued AND help a good cause? Writer Kat Brauer offers a critique of 250 words for every $1 you donate to her charity: water fundraiser! Plus, she has a HUGE line-up of agents and authors offering critiques! Be sure to stop buy–it’s running for the next 2 months!

• Kat Zhang Interview on Noveltee(n)

-Our very own Kat Zhang interviewed on the teen-writers website Noveltee(n)–thanks to Taryn for the link!

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Quotes:

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“”To those who will see, the world waits.”

—

Libba Bray

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Happy Saturday everyone! Let us know what’s up in the comments!

Saturday Grab Bag: Mashup

Mashup:

Here are some great links on writing, the industry, and all things book related. Some are serious, and some are just downright hilarious. We highly recommend you read them!

• Young Adult Books and Who Reads Them

– After the enthusiasm over CROWN DUEL in the comments section on Wednesday’s post, perhaps some of you will be interested to read Sherwood Smith’s take on YA novels.

• YA Deals by the Numbers

-Author Kate Hart offers more pretty graphs that break apart YA deals by genre, by debut and quantity, and (in this post) by single vs. multi-book deals. Fascinating information–especially if you write YA!

• I Like My Fantasy, Thank You

-Our very own Sarah J. Maas shares her reaction to the offensive New York Times review of HBO’s Game of Thrones.  It’s definitely worth a read–though watch out, tempers are flaring everywhere (ours too!).

• Cover Lust

-Our very own Vanessa Di Gregorio has added more stunning covers to her Cover Lust blog.  These covers just make you wanna drool…

• Book Trailer Talks: Amateur vs. Big Budget Trailers

-How do you feel about book trailers? Prefer the amateur ones or the professional ones?

• Crits for Water

-Want to get your novel critiqued AND help a good cause? Writer Kat Brauer offers a critique of 250 words for every $1 you donate to her charity: water fundraiser! Plus, she has a HUGE line-up of agents and authors offering critiques–including our very own LTWF’s Sarah J. Maas, Kat Zhang, Vahini Naidoo, and Susan Dennard! Be sure to stop buy–it’s running for the next 3 months!

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Billy's Writing Space. She likes to have as few distractions as possible because, ya know, theyre distracting.

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Quotes:

“Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.“

– Mark Twain

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“I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.”

-Pearl S. Buck

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Happy Saturday everyone! Let us know what’s up in the comments!