Coming Your Way: December and January

This is a segment of my blog that shamelessly promotes the Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins Children’s Books that I have worked on (or that my team has worked on that I’m particularly excited about). You’ll see more “Coming Your Way” posts in the upcoming months—the books below are titles that I worked on in the very first few weeks of starting my job at HarperCollins.

Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

My wish is to fall cranium over Converse in dizzy daydream-worthy love.

(If only it were that easy.)

Marcie has been dragged away from home for the summer—from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She’s left behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this “summer vacation” has become permanent. She has to start at a new school, and there she leaves behind her Leftover status when a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you’ve watched your parents’ affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you’ve lost it?

Love & Leftovers is a beautifully written story of one girl’s journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole.

My thoughts: This is such a realistic portrayal of a teen’s heartbreak and trials of growing up—Marcie is so relatable. The prose format makes this a quick read and was actually my introduction to prose novels—I highly recommend checking them out!

My role in its publication: I offered editorial feedback on a draft of the manuscript, and Sarah, the debut author, was so sweet to recognize that by including my name in the acknowledgement sections—my first mention!

Available: Now

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.

My thoughts: This based-on-a-true story narrative told from Ivan the gorilla’s point of view is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It’s received quite a bit of author praise and starred reviews so far and they are so deserved. If Ivan’s story doesn’t make you both cry and renew your faith in the world, I don’t know what will! (Also, check out the trailer—it’s fantastic!)

My role in its publication: I provided editorial feedback on a draft of the manuscript.

Available: January 17

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

NEWSOUL 

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.  

NOSOUL 

Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?  

HEART 

Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?  

Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.

My thoughts: My favorite part about this novel is how it doesn’t fit into any one genre—it’s fantasy, science fiction, and dystopian. It’s unique and special in an oversaturated teen marketplace. Ana is a great heroine and her romance with Sam is so achingly romantic. Not to mention themes in this novel are really thought provoking!

My role in its publication: I offered editorial feedback and drafted the flaps. Incarnate was actually the very first manuscript I read and worked on once I started at Harper, so it’s extra special to me. Jodi is a great author and it’s been fun working on the sequel right now.

Available: January 31

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year! Did you rest and relax and eat all sorts of goodies this holiday? I hope so (I sure know I did!). Since it’s the beginning of January everyone is thinking about resolutions and I have plenty of my own. One of mine is book-related and I think it deserves sharing.

Resolution: To Put My Money Where My Mouth Is

How often in the past year have industry folk and the general public alike heard how independent (and big box) bookstores are struggling? How ‘evil’ Amazon is? How Amazon doesn’t care about local booksellers? Lots and lots. And, on the flip side, how often is it discussed that local bookstores know books and their customers better than anyone else? And who hosts author events? Local bookstores—we hear about this all the time! Although these discussions are complicated they make one thing clear in my mind: If we want the wonderful institution of local, independent bookstores to remain, we need to support them over online retailers.

I have not been doing this. Buying books on Amazon is (often) cheaper and easier than from a physical store. 99% of my books come from the online retailer—I even have an Amazon.com credit card which gives me reward points that I turn around and use at Amazon. I’ve embraced Amazon as much as anyone else—even knowing its pitfalls better than the general public. And I’m beginning to feel horrible about it.

And so, my New Years Resolution is to buy more books—at least 50%—at a local store. This means the books I buy are going to cost more, and being on a budget such as I am, I’ll probably have to buy fewer books. But with my reading levels staying the same I’ll have to visit the library to get that additional reading material—and that’s another fine institution to be more actively supporting!

Do you have any book-related resolutions for 2012?

Holiday Hiatus and a New Schedule

Happy holidays again! Can you tell I like Christmas? I wish everyone a “Merry Christmas” from December 1^st until the day itself. And so I can enjoy the holidays with my family, which I start today with a long weekend, I’m going to be taking a bit of a break with the blog. I’ll be back in January!

…but on a slightly new schedule. Lately I’ve been a little overwhelmingly busy and the amount of time I’ve been able to spend on this blog has decreased. I loved writing Monday, Wednesday, and Friday…but I can’t keep it up! I’m tired and I’m not the only one suffering from blog fatigue. With those high expectations I was pressuring myself to always blog. I ended up writing about writing on the blog instead of writing my novel itself! That’s no good! And although I love this blog, there are better things to be doing than typing in front of a computer screen—I want to bake more. Cook more. Learn how to play the piano. My boyfriend and I want to take ballroom dancing classes. Get out. Enjoy the city. Learn things.

So I’ll still be here, and you can always reach me in the comments section or by email (theunemployedbooklover@gmail.com), just a little less often!

Enjoy—and relax—this holiday season.

Giving the Gift of Reading

It’s that most wonderful time of the year. I’m fresh off a weekend of hosting a holiday party and attending a choir concert, so it’s definitely Christmas here!

Having trouble thinking of gifts to give? Of course, I recommend something literary! I love picking out titles to give to my two little cousins and it was fun acquainting myself with Harper’s adult titles as I picked out books for other family members. My younger sister, soon to be graduating with a degree in the early childhood education, is getting a slew of picture books to get her career started the right way. Don’t want to give a book? How about one of these wonderful literary-themed items?

Happy gifting and happy reading!

Reading Roundup

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins

The basic premise to this realistic/paranormal/fantasy/mixed genre is that Mara Dyer wakes up from an accident that killed at her friends with no recollection as to what happened. The family decides that moving will help Mara get a new start—but strange accidents seem to follow Mara wherever she goes. As I read more and more of this novel I couldn’t stop thinking about it as I was at work, in the shower, reading other manuscripts. The question of whether what Mara is experiencing is real or her imagination is so compelling—is she a psychopath or are impossible things occurring? The truth is reveled about two thirds of the way through the novel and I lost interest a little bit…but then the cliffhanger at the very end caught me again. I can’t wait to read the sequel. A highly recommended read.

Wings of the Wicked (ARC 2/14) by Courtney Allison Moulton

The second in the Angelfire trilogy, the stakes are even higher for Reaper killer Ellie and her guardian, Will. All Hell has broken lose and Ellie has to step up—while trying to balance family, prom, and her eternal love for Will. I’m just about to start working on the third and final book in the series and I can promise this—and the next book—have plenty of action and sultry romance!

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

This middle-grade fantasy/fairytale retelling has made a lot of “Best of 2011” lists and as soon as I picked it up I could understand why. Hazel is such a compelling character, full of insecurities and flaws as she tries to understand and overcome the impossible when her best friend, Jack, is kidnapped by the White Witch (just like Narnia…). The fairytale rich world is beautifully incorporated and I loved the references to modern fantasy classics like His Dark Materials and Harry Potter. On top of all that, the writing is so lyrical and compelling. A highly recommended read.

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

This classic early reader was my Harper-award-winning-backlist for the month. I really love Lois Lenski; not only was her novel Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison a favorite growing up, but she also wrote from my tiny hometown! I had never read Strawberry Girl before but I can’t believe it because it definitely appeals to readers of Little House on the Prairie except set in Florida. From the foreword it’s clear that educating young readers about homesteading and different cultural practices throughout the United States was the goal of the series. I definitely learned a lot about early Florida settlers!

Full Manuscripts: 5 

Words of Wisdom

Today’s interesting tidbit comes from wise writers on a variety of subjects:

On inspiration by Sarah Zarr

Why you should never sell ARCs by CJ Redwine

How we should deal with multicultural book covers by Mitali Perkins

Were you inspired? Did you learn something? Enjoying musing on these ideas and more over the weekend!

Harper-versary

Today I’m celebrating my one-year anniversary working at HarperCollins. And I still love it! Nine months ago I tracked what I did for a week to give all of you an idea of what an ‘average’ week for an editorial assistant. So this is what I’m doing now-a-days:

Monday, 11/14

9-9:30	Settle in, emails, social media
9:30-10:45	Write Reader’s Report for second draft of BOOK A, which I read over the weekend. Review Boss #1’s editorial letter for first draft of BOOK A.
10:45-11	Emails, prepare for meeting with Boss #1
11-12	Meet with Boss #1, discuss BOOK A, how to help author with some publicity for BOOK B, rework text in BOOK C, new acquisition of BOOK D
12-12:15	Review final BOOK E
12:15-1	Eat lunch while sending emails, organizing emails, reading industry-related emails, update group documents
1-1:15	Leave office to run personal errand
1:15-2	Update Facebook page with our Winter 2012 titles
2-2:45	Meet with Boss #1 and Digital Person to discuss digital strategy for author of BOOK F
2:45-3	Misc including emails and circ’ing materials
3-3:45	Read SUBMISSION A
3:45-4	Mail copies of BOOK E to author and illustrator; copying
4-4:45	Read SUBMISSION A
4:45-5	Discuss ideas for SUBMISSION B with Coworker #1
5-5:15	Read SUBMISSION A
5:15-5:30	Circulate materials, organize and prepare for tomorrow

Tuesday, 11/15

9:15-9:30	Settle in, emails, social media (late due to subway problems!)
9:30-9:45	Circulate materials
9:45-10:15	Misc, including emails and researching a conference I might attend in March
10:15-10:30	Finish updating Facebook page with our Winter 2012 titles
10:30-12	Read SUBMISSION A
12-1	Group “Lunch” meeting with Kate Jackson (Sr VP/Associate Pub/Editor-In-Chief)
1-1:30	Run out to get lunch and do some personal errands
1:30-1:45	Eat lunch, emails
2-2:30	Finishing reading SUBMISSION A, write Reader’s Report
2:30-3	Misc, including emails, mailing book to author
3-3:15	Help author order additional copies of BOOK G
3:15-3:45	Research information online to help author with publicity for BOOK B
4-5:30	Research information online about publicity for BOOK H
5:30-5:45	Organize email
5:45-6	Read industry magazine, prepare for tomorrow
6:30-9	CBC Trivia Night

Wednesday, 11/16

9:00-10	Settle in, emails, social media, finish reading industry magazine
10-11	Draft catalog copy for BOOKS I, J, and K
11-11:45	Misc, including helping author with publicity for BOOK B, updating addresses
11:45-12	Read industry blogs
12-12:30	Maintain KT Facebook page
12:30-4:45	Read BOOK L (eat lunch around 1:30)
4:45-5	Review and circulate materials
5-5:30	Review meeting notes, prepare for tomorrow

Thursday, 11/17

9-9:45	Settle in, emails, social media
9:45-10	Read industry emails
10-10:45	KT Books team meeting
10:45-11:15	Discuss covers for BOOKS L & M, and others, with designers
11:15-11:30	Format and submit flap copy for BOOK N
11:30-12:30	Draft catalog copy for BOOKS O, P, Q, R, S
12:30-1:15	Attend HarperCollings Emerging Professionals (HCEP) meeting
1:15-1:30	Misc including go to mailroom to get UPS labels, circulate materials for signatures
1:30-2	Type up meeting notes from HCEP meeting
2-2:15	Marketing meeting
2:15-2:30	Finish typing up HCEP meeting notes
2:30-3:15	Prepare bookseller mailing for BOOK Q
3:15-4	Misc including emails, social media, circulating materials, helping author with two publicity opportunities for BOOK B
4-4:30	Read SUBMISSION C (planned on reading for an hour)
4:30-5:15	Create P&L for SUBMISSION A

Friday, 11/18

9-9:45	Settle in, emails, make one personal phone call, revise P&L for SUB A
9:45-10	Find reviews to support quotes for BOOK N’s flap copy
10-10:30	Finish drafts of catalog copy for BOOKS I, J, and K
10:30-10:45	Misc including finish putting together contract request materials for SUB D and circulate, email out HCEP Meeting notes
10:45-11:15	Draft catalog copy for BOOK T
11:15-12	Circulate materials, read industry emails, revise P&L for SUB A
12-1	Draft copy for BOOK L
1-1:15	Read industry emails/websites while eating lunch
1:15-1:30	Run out for personal errand
1:30-2	Misc including emails, read industry blogs, print label for mailing artwork of BOOK O, review circulating materials
2-3	“Digital Tutorial”
3-3:15	Review and organize reviews received
3:15-3:45	Prepare, package, and send artwork for BOOK O
3:45-4	Misc including circulate P&L for SUB D, review circulating materials
4-5:30	Read SUB C

Saturday, 11/19

8:45-10:30	Read SUB C (eat breakfast around 9:15)
11:30-12:30	Read SUB C
1:45-4:30	Read SUB C

Sunday, 11/20

9-10	Read SUB C
6:45-8	Read SUB C
10:45-11:15	Read SUB C

With twenty books and four submissions in one week—there are plenty of great projects I’m working on! An editorial assistant’s life is busy, but it’s so worth it! Year in and year out!