Monthly Archives: October 2011

New York Comic Con

Barbara Vey -- October 31st, 2011

Anne Elizabeth

Welcome Cub Reporter Anne Elizabeth who is a romance author, comic creator, and a monthly columnist for RT BOOK Reviews. Her published romance credits include short stories and a new upcoming Navy SEAL Romance Novel Series debuting in Fall 2012. Her second graphic novel, THE PENDULUM (Book II of the PULSE series) releases this month. She lives on the west coat with her husband, a retired Navy SEAL.

Today Anne is giving away Five Free Copies of THE PENDULUM. Five lucky commenters will win a copy of THE PENDULUM.

The New York Comic was October 13-16. As the doors opened and the first fans entered the show floor, they moved into a dead run zipping past the popcorn and smoothie vendors on to the biggest draws. A third of them ran toward the gaming booths, another group funneled toward the fiction publishers, and the rest lined up at the comicbook booths.

Kim Harrison and husband, Tim

Luckily, I had arrived earlier, and being an exhibitor had scoped out all of the must-see spots. Here’s the best of the best – in my opinion – in terms of New York Comic Con’s 2011 offering.
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Paranormal Fiction Fans!!! The line for Hollow Maven Kim Harrison wound around several booths as fans were anxious for their own copy of the brand new guide to Rachel Morgan’s world called The Hollows Insider. I caught a sneak peak and this book is seriously cool! When I caught up briefly with Kim for a quick hug and she sent a shout-out to all her fans. Her graphic novel Blood Work is out now with Del Rey, too, and I’m told that the second one is in the works.

Marjorie Liu

Marjorie Liu – brilliant HarperCollins author and Marvel writer — was also on the fast track with a mighty list of signings and panels. We caught a breath of fresh air outside of the convention, which was packed with costumed crusaders. Marjorie looked wonderful like she’d just stepped out a magazine Ad – how does she do that! My brow was glistening and yet, we both enjoyed a much anticipated chat while we relaxed for five minutes in the fresh air (FYI, Marjorie will be featured in an in-depth interview in RT Book Reviews in February). She sent a smile and wave to everyone in Beyond-Her-Book Blog-land!

Back inside the Comic Con, I zipped by Jeaniene Frost who was promoting “A BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS” and “ONE GRAVE AT A TIME”. The HarperCollins Booth was hopping with great books!

Stacey Agdern and Patricia Briggs

Patty Briggs was signing at Penguin. Her fan line created major traffic jams as readers leaned in to hear news about their favorite stories. She has fresh reads coming our way and they will releasing in 2012 – Iron Kissed and River Marked (Mercy Thompson) and Fair Game from the Alpha & Omega series, too. In November, Patty will be the Guest of Honor at the TusCon 38 Science Fiction Convention in Tucson, AZ.

Anne Elizabeth and Stan Lee

In terms of comics…I met Stan Lee!!! Okay, I could faint right there, but this iconic man hugged me twice and let me take a picture with him. Attending the announcement of the ROMEO AND JULIET: THE WAR. This graphic novel highlights Shakespeare’s legendary story and is set in the future. This book promises to be as amazing as the man who is spear-heading the project!

Don’t forget…CASTLE’s DEADLY STORM by Marvel! So I finally took a few minutes to read the brand new Castle graphic novel written by Brian Bendis and Kelly Sue McCormick. It’s AMAZING!!! True to Castle style! Unfortunately, I did NOT see Nathan Fillion who is such a regular at the San Diego Event.

IDW released the second season of the hard cover TRUE BLOOD: TAINTED BLOOD graphic novel this week and has brought Ghostbusters – Heat up those blasters! — back to comics along with COBRA and GI JOE, too! Del Rey gave away free copies of the first issue of George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones. And, Bluewater has a new biography comic about Steve Jobs and his legacy releasing at the end of this month.

One of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE Comic/Graphic Novel Discoveries at the NYCC was produced by HERMES PRESS. They had a hard cover edition of My Favorite Martian, which was a TV show starring Ray Walton and Bill Bixby. The comics inside this book were originally produced by Gold Key and were written by Paul S. Newman and drawn by Russ Manning. This book is super-cool, and it is going to live on my treasure shelf as soon as I read it at least a dozen times.

Star sightings: Among the stars were Eliza Dushku (Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse) who is the new voice of Catwoman and she signed autographs along with Mark Hammill and Rick Fox. I saw Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, Zeb Wells, and Doug Goldstein (Robot Chicken) as well as Jason O’Mara and Stephen Lang (Terra Nova – I love the dinosaurs!) and Haven stars Lucas Bryant and Eric Balfour. The best line from a panel was from Haven when the writers shared how nervous they were about presenting a 15-page mythology document to Stephen King. Obviously, though, he liked it because the SyFy show of Haven has really taken off!

Bottom Line: I hope you enjoyed the wrap-up! Have a super-hero day, everyone!

Monday Giveaways

Anne Elizabeth: WIN an OPPORTUNITY to BE in an e-COMIC. Your face could be the HERO or HEROINE in a ZOMBIE COMIC! Comic Creator Anne Elizabeth is writing a short story about ZOMBIE ROMANCE entitled ZOMBIE LOVE and YOU could STAR in it. Enter your name at aeauthor@yahoo.com and list Zombie Love in the subject. Please note: this story is written at the author’s discretion (teen-rated) and the winners will be chosen at random. There is no compensation, only a free comic. Good luck!

From Romance University: Mon, 10/31 – Stop by to visit with Nancy Naigle, our favorite author from Virginia, as she chats about her debut novel, Sweet Tea and Secrets. Comment to be eligible to win a copy of Nancy’s book! ; Fri, 11/4 – Debut author Rochelle Staab stops by to talk about her path to publication and her debut release, Who Do Voodoo. One lucky commenter (US only, please) will win a copy of Rochelle’s book. Comment on the blog.

From Mia Marlowe: No tricks here. Only treats. Learn a bit about Halloween from Mia Marlowe’s blog guest Ashlyn Chase and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Mia’s newest e-novella MY LADY BELOW STAIRS

From GET LOST IN A STORY: author giveaways for October 31 – November 4: Monday: Christine Cody is giving away three copies of Bloodlands to three commenters. Tuesday: Katy Madision – A signed copy of ALL ABOUT SEDUCTION to one lucky commenter. Wednesday: Diane Kelly, three copes of DEATH, TAXES AND A FRENCH MANICURE.

From Samhaim Publishing: In November, Samhain Publishing has one paranormal romance and two contemporary romance giveaways, on Kindle at Amazon.com and Nook at BarnesandNoble.com.The first date is the day the book price flips to $0.00 and the second date is the final day when it will return to regular price.

Begin Date

End Date

Book Title Author

11/1/2011 11/30/2011 Touching Lace Anne Rainey

11/1/2011 11/14/2011 Carinian’s Seeker T.J. Michaels

11/15/2011 11/28/2011 Home for Christmas Kate Davies

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Saturday Matinée

Barbara Vey -- October 29th, 2011

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And now for another round of visual book treats!

Mad About the Boy by Suzan Battah

If You Give a Girl a Viscount by Kieran Kramer

Men in the Making by Bruce Machart

Ecstasy Wears Emeralds by Renee Bernard

If you have a book video you’d like considered, please send it to me at bvey@publishersweekly.com with Book Video in the subject line.

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The Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy

Barbara Vey -- October 25th, 2011

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Sheila Clover English

Today’s Cub Reporter is Sheila Clover English who is the CEO of Cirlce of Seven Productions and Readers Entertainment network. In 2002 she started the book trailer market and in 2003 she trademarked the term “book trailer.”

The Women’s Fiction Festival was kind enough to invite me to speak at their annual event in beautiful Matera, Italy this year. I have never been to Italy and was thrilled to be able to attend.

Matera

The day came to go to Matera and my husband and I made the 7 hour bus ride there from Rome in relative comfort. We arrived and walked up the 100 steps, okay it was probably only 50, but it felt like 100 steps, to our hotel which was situated in a cave. Yes, a real cave. I learned quickly that everything is up hill, both ways, in Italy. I better have lost at least 10 pounds after all that walking!

Interpreters

I had to give some thought to what I would say since 50% of the attendees were Italian speaking. You don’t give much thought to language until you have to relate ideas in a language that is not your own. Certain American sayings like, “under the gun” don’t mean the same in Italian culture. So, I carefully reviewed slang and things that might now translate well. There would be interpreters and the attendees would wear headphones like they do at the U.N. so we could all understand each other
My talk was about the future of marketing for publishing, but there were several speakers from all over the world. Elizabeth Jennings, author and founder of the WFF, spoke about pitching before there was an editor’s panel that included editors from the US, UK, Germany and Italy. Then Sophia King did a creative writing workshop.

Beth Barany

Day two’s panel spoke about digital publishing which was a very hot topic. The idea of self-publishing is still new in Italy. Saturday they continued talking about “Italian publishing: new horizons” with a panel of editors and then one of my favorite lectures was with US social media expert Beth Barany who did an amazing talk on branding. More panels with editors that were open forum and an interesting talk with cyber terrorism expert Raoul Chiesa rounded up the day.

That night there was an author talk and book signing and I saw Lara Adrian from afar. She was very popular in Italy although she is an American author. There was an Italian author, Ornella Albanese who was very popular. Harlequin threw a party that went late into the night and authors and industry professionals got a chance to mingle and meet. A special award was given to Italian author Margaret Mazzantini Mazzantini for her contributions to women’s fiction writing.

Brunch

The final day we talked about the changing role of agents with literary agents from Italy, the US and the UK. Everyone was interested in how much an author had to do for their own marketing and how agents could help bridge the gap between publishers and authors. The event ended with a lovely brunch and a lot of heart felt goodbyes.

In a nutshell the issues discussed weren’t really much different than those I’ve heard discussed in US conferences. Authors want to know how to write a good synopsis, wonder if they need an agent to approach a publisher, wonder about ebooks and the new digital age and are looking to write the book of their heart and have someone read, and love it.

Video of Elizabeth Jennings, author and founder of The Women’s Fiction Festival.

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Bottom Line: Story transcends language barriers. No matter what language you speak, a wonderful story appeals to us all.

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NINC at St. Pete’s Beach

Barbara Vey -- October 24th, 2011

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NINC Board. Seated Karen Tintori, Barbara Vey, Kasey Michaels. Standing: Marianna Jameson, Donna Fletcher, Jean Brashear, Denise A. Agnew, Melinda Rucker Haynes, Lou Aronica

The weekend for the Novelists Inc. conference went way too fast. It’s almost cruel that they have their event at the Tradewinds Resort on St. Petersburg Beach. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, tropical drinks, pools, paddleboats and the beach. Who wants to attend workshops? Well, apparently 200 die hard authors.

The Wednesday opening panel was a lively one. Penguin, HarperCollins, Tor, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and the fiction studio were all represented. Some things mentioned: Caroline Pettis, “1/3 of book discovery is still from the bookstore.” Lou A…, “Midlist is back with a vengeance.” Mark Coker, “Editing is more important than marketing.” Caroline Pettis, “Piracy is a major issue with textbooks, but not a big risk if you’re not internationally known.” Mark Coker, “Don’t worry about piracy. Make sure books are available in all markets and price the book fairly.”

Fan girl moment with Kay Hooper

The rest of the weekend offered many workshops that centered on Marketing, E-Book sales and the key word was discoverability. Discoverability is the way to have your book pop out from the sea of books that are glutting the e-book market. How does your book get noticed? While there’s no secret formula, the consensus was that no one really knows what will work every time.

Friday I did my workshop and it was mostly focused on the readers point of view. Building reader loyalty, what readers are looking for and connecting with your audience. I thought it went well and was pleased with the response.

Mark Coker from Smashwords (it’s site where authors can upload their backlist as well as new content. Here’s Drive By Video of me talking with Mark.

Dinner Companions. Seated Emily March, Julie Ortolon, Carly Phillips. Standing: Julianne MacLean, Niki Burnham, Janelle Denison, Lulie Leto

The final dinner was held on the beach with everyone wearing blinking leis. The sunset had everyone oohing and ahhing. It really was breathtaking. Mary Stella saw fireworks that no one else noticed. Not sure what she was drinking (just kidding).

It was announced that the next conference would be held in White Plains, NY. Not sure there are any beaches there.

Bottom Line: Of course the last day was beautiful with the sun and warm breezes, so I knew it was time for me to leave.

Monday Giveaways

From Medallion Press: Just wanted to let you know we will be offering Blood Ties FREE across all electronic formats starting 10/21/11 through 11/3/11.

From Jillian Stone: GET LOST IN A STORY giveaways for week of October 24 – 28 Tuesday: Danielle Younge-Ullman has a copy of FALLING UNDER to giveaway, Wednesday: Judy Duarte will giveaway 2 copies to 2 commenters of her sweet romance CHRISTMAS ON NUTCRACKER COURT Friday: YA Thriller author Jordan Dane will be giving away three copies to three commenters of her Harlequin Teen release, IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS.

From Romance University: Mon, 10/24 – Kelly L. Stone explains “Role Modeling as a Way to WritingSuccess” on Monday, and she’s giving away a 15-page critique, any genre, to one lucky commenter! Wed, 10/26 – Best selling, multi-published author Lucy Monroe discusses writing for visceral impact in “More Than Five Senses.” Lucy will give away a copy of her book, Deal With This, to one commenter. Comment on blog.

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Sunday Matinée

Barbara Vey -- October 23rd, 2011

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Have a look at the lastest batch of Book Videos!

Anne Elizabeth’s The Pendulum The Graphic Novel

Not This Time by Vicki Hinze

Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh

The Tigress of Forli by Elizabeth Lev

If you have a book video you’d like considered, please send it to me at bvey@publishersweekly.com with Book Video in the subject line.

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Let the NINC Conference Begin…

Barbara Vey -- October 20th, 2011

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As close as I got to the beach on this blustery day

I came to St. Petersburg for the Novelists Inc. conference expecting warm breezes and sunshine and instead got pelted with thunderstorms and nearly blown away with gale-like winds. Not to worry, the weather forecast looks gorgeous for the rest of the conference.

Luckily, there was a lull in the weather for the welcoming reception last night. The Tradewinds hotel courtyard has an outdoor area that’s pretty well blocked from high winds so everyone was able to partake of the delicious fare offered. It was a relaxed atmosphere with people catching up with each other, introductions being made and networking beginning.

Palm tree ice sculpture at reception that changed colors

The NINC group is different from other conferences in that it’s members are required to have at least 2 of their books published. There are no aspiring authors here and from registration on, it’s all business but with a twist of fun. Early morning offerings include yoga on the beach and folk dancing lessons.

At registration everyone is given a 3 ring binder filled with must have information. I read through about half of it already and I’m extremely impressed. It has terms, definitions and advice to help authors at any stage of their careers. I learned a lot about podcasting (something I’m interested in) and crowdsourcing (somehthing I’ve never heard of before). Looking forward to finishing it, but it’s a keeper for my shelf as a reference guide. It’s all written by NINC members and since it’s a loose leaf binder, there’s plenty of room to add pages.

Reception tablemates: Kay Stockham, Susan Gable, Wendy Lindstrom

Other side of table: Shari Anton, Pamela Dalton

Today starts the workshops, so I’ll be inside, but at least I’ll know that the sun is shining out there. I do plan to sneak away at lunchtime and admire the beach.

You can follow NINC updates at Twitter #NINC.

BTW, the beach read I finished was Lord & Lady Spy by Shana Galen…loved it! Next up is Seducing the Governess by Margo Maguire (since Shari Anton just finished it and gave it to me). Thanks for all your suggestions, I’ve put them on my TBR list.

Bottom Line: Already missed the yoga, but I may try my feet at folk dancing.

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What Beach Read Should I Take to St. Pete’s Beach?

Barbara Vey -- October 18th, 2011

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Today is another travel day for me as I head to St. Pete’s Beach to attend Novelists Inc. (NINC). I’ll be doing a workshop on Friday but since the hotel is right on the beach I’m hoping to get in a little R&R. I know we’re all heading into fall and I’ve already been receiving Christmas books, but I’m looking for a little beach reading so I thought I’d come to you for help.

I have a lot of books here I could read, but what would you suggest I read on the beach? What book do you consider your best beach read this past summer?

Bottom Line: I have to admit that traveling with a e-reader has taken all the anxiety from worrying about not packing enough books.

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My Feenix Contest Benefits Schools and Libraries

Barbara Vey -- October 17th, 2011

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The past couple of weeks I’ve talked about the different charities that authors support with their writing. Author Dianna Love found a whole different venue to include schools, libraries and the arts.

Digital entries

Dianna used her character, Feenix, a lovable young gargoyle to stimulate people’s imaginations. MyFeenix.com challenged high school students and adults to use their creative juices to showcase their interpretations of the character.

There were 3 categories in both divisions, flat art, digital art and 3-d art. There was no charge to enter the contest, so the field was wide open. Dianna made Blood Trinity (the first book in the Belador series which she co-wrote with Sherrilyn Kenyon) available to everyone by offering to send it to the school or public library if they needed a copy, to level the playing field.

Judging the entries

There were 2 rounds of judging before the art pieces made it to the final round held in the art gallery of Alexi Torres in Atlanta, which was judged by 6 different people. I was extremely impressed by the quality and detail in the work. While I read both books in the Belador series, I was again reminded that when we read, we all see the characters differently. None of them really were the vision I had of Feenix, but that didn’t make them wrong….just different.

When I asked Dianna if she felt any particular art entry matched her vision of Feenix, she was quick to admit that she had a totally different picture in her mind, but she was thrilled that so many entered and how they envisioned her creation. I’m sure a lot of authors would be surprised by the way their fans saw their characters.

Here’s a list of the winners (You can check them out at MyFeenix):

Adult Flat Art
1st – Cara Bevan
2nd – Christine Rossi
3rd – Donna Peters

Adult Digital Art
1st – Cara Stemo
2nd – Andrew Bernier
3rd – Mary (Mia Snow) Nason

Adult 3D
1st – Ann Pressly
2nd – Nikki Overkamp
3rd – Heather Machel

High School Flat
1st – Annelisa Leinbach
2nd – Zachary Meyer
3rd – Sarah Stock

High School Digital
1st – Maddison Authur
2nd – Evelyn Lumish

High School 3D
1st – Drew Shields

Along with prizes and money, each winner won a set of books for their school or local library.

Dianna Love (who is also an artist) explains why she ran this type of contest.

Bottom Line: When books are donated to any kind of library, everyone’s a winner.

Monday Giveaways

From Debby Giusti: At Seekerville, he big giveaway this week is a $25 gift card to buy books–Seeker books, of course–and a $25 gift card to Starbucks! Thanks, Glynna and Cara, for the great prize.
And remember…we’re giving away a Toshiba Netbook (loaded with Microsoft Office) at the end of the month from a random drawing of all our visitors. Your name is added in the randomizer EVERY time you comment.

BTW, Barbara Vey is guest blogging on Monday!

From Stephanie Barko: An excerpt & signed paperback of young memoirist Jamie Patterson’s Lost Edens about marriage and denial is yours for a comment at literary publicist Stephanie Barko’s blog from 10/17 through 10/22.

From Jill Stone: GET LOST IN A STORY giveaways for the week of October 17 – 21: Monday Angela Cerrito – a copy of THE END OF THE LINE, Thursday Jane Sevier – a digital download of FORTUNE’S FOOL, and Friday Jo Robertson has an electronic copy of either THE AVENGER or THE WATCHER to giveaway!

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Moonlight and Magnolias 2011

Barbara Vey -- October 14th, 2011

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Debbie Kaufman

Cub Reporter Debbie Kaufman’s debut novel, The Doctor’s Mission, a Love Inspired Historical will be released in November.

I recently had the pleasure of serving as the emcee for the twenty-ninth annual Moonlight & Magnolias conference put on by the Georgia Romance Writers. Heading to Friday morning’s breakfast, we were greeted by the sight of scads of fabulous raffle baskets and offers of critiques donated by authors and blog groups, with all proceeds going to literacy. Over $1700 was raised just through these items. There were other fun bonus opportunities like photography with professional makeup by One Six Studios and a scavenger hunt for first-time attendees.

Elosia James and Leigh Michaels

After breakfast there was a pitch workshop where forty authors donated their time to help shape attendees’ pitches before editor and agent appointments. Over a dozen diverse workshops came next, leaving it hard to choose which ones to attend. In one, author Susan Carlisle admonished us all to have a website and get professional headshots. Kim Castillo, the “Romance Author’s Best Friend” told us the number one goal of social networking is to drive traffic to your website.
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Next up was a cocktail hour mixer featuring GRW’s own NY Times bestseller, Karen White in a humorous talk. Dinner was a repeat of last year’s “Dining in Decatur” where groups met with a host in the hotel lobby and proceeded to local restaurants for great food and making new friends.

Saturday’s highlight was the great keynote luncheon with NY Times bestselling author Eloisa

Booksigning

James. Eloisa entertained us with her “French skirt” analogies, moved us with the story of how her mother never read Eloisa’s work (labeling her books as “that sex stuff”), and inspired us to
identify what was standing between us and “being Nora.”

The afternoon’s book signing was open to the public and long lines formed early for over thirty attending authors. The whole atmosphere was fun and upbeat with proceeds going to literacy.

Walt Mussell and his wife, Mo

The prestigious Maggie awards opened the evening. Maggie Awards are to encourage, recognize, and reward the mastery of romance writing by published and unpublished authors of romantic fiction. A special surprise was GRW member Walt Mussell winning the unpublished Inspirational Romance award because he was one of the few male GRW members competing for his first Maggie Award. After all the winners were announced, the night was capped off with dancing, a DJ, and a dessert bar.

For those who had any steam left, Sunday morning dawned to a three-hour workshop presented by author Leigh Michaels called “Writing Between the Sexes.” In a humorous, informative session, Leigh helped us understand how to better write gender-appropriate dialogue. Her workshop was the perfect end to a conference that left us all inspired to go home and write more.

Bottom line: A good time was had by all!

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SEAL of my Dreams

Barbara Vey -- October 13th, 2011

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Recently I wrote about authors writing for charities and Gennita Low contacted me about a their offering. “18 authors are doing an anthology, SEAL of my Dreams, with all the proceeds going to Veterans Research Corporation. We have a site: www.sealofmydreams.com that has all the authors involved, including me, Cindy Gerard, Kylie Brant, Alison Kent, Tara Janzen, Marliss Melton, Roxanne St. Claire, and more and our ebook is coming out 11/11/11 (which is Veteran’s Day).”

I checked out the website and their story goes like this:
Thursday, 05/05/2011, on Twitter, Christie Ridgway linked to an inspiring Navy SEAL photo from a NYT article, saying: Has everyone seen this SEAL photo? Makes me feel very, uh, patriotic.

On Friday, 05/06/2011, she said: We could all get together & write antho inspired by ystdy’s SEAL. Donate proceeds to military charity, something like that.

And so in six months and with the help of many, including publisher Bell Bridge Books and cover designer Frauke Spanuth of Croco Designs, Christie Ridgway and her sidekick Alison Kent pulled off the wrangling of nineteen authors to make it happen.

Bottom Line: Another amazing story of a small idea growing into something great.

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