This past week on FYFA (and in my life):
I decided last minute to do NaNo again this year, so that’s why I sort of disappeared right around the 1st. I also made the decision to set my editing aside for the foreseeable future so I can focus on my own writing. I just realized that there’s no way I can manage homeschooling (and teaching co-op classes), writing and editing.
Speaking of my writing, yesterday I attended a SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers of Illinois) publishing conference. It was both amazing and overwhelmingly daunting. I got more feedback on the first ten pages of my manuscript (which is what I’d be submitting to editors and agents) and figured out some things I need to address. Nailing the MG voice is the hardest part, and it’s something I need to focus on.
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog this past week:
- October Wrap-Up & Best of the Bunch
- November Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your discussions and enter to win the giveaway!
- Team BFF: Race to the Finish! by Stacia Deutsch & other Girls Who Code Books – Review
Next week on FYFA:
- The October Wrap-Up Round-Up Make Me Read It Giveaway
- The First Kiss Hypothesis by Christina Mandelski: Review
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone: Review & Giveaway
- Haven by Mary Lindsey: Review & Giveaway (or possibly just the blitz giveaway if I don’t manage to get this read in time!)
Latest FYFA Giveaway Winners!!:
- Lisa @ Lisa Loves Literature won a signed copy of Ringer by Lauren Oliver! Congrats, Lisa!
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Here are the birthdays and blogoversaries this week! I hope you’ll go wish these bloggers well on their special days! Make sure you check out the calendar to see what you might have just missed or what’s coming up. (If you want to be added to the calendar, you can always fill out the birthday/blogoversary form.)
- November 6th – Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit‘s Birthday
- November 9th – Brittany @ Please Feed The Bookworm‘s Birthday
For Review:
I received The November Girl from Entangled Teen!
Purchased:
I got my pre-order of The Empress. My oldest is especially excited to read this one!
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
- Teacher of YA wrote this creepy zombie Halloween story
- Chelle @ Bookish Ramblings asks about Supernatural Couples – What if they were real?
Pre-Order Deals:
Listed in order of release date. Any new deals that I just added to the list this week will be denoted with a *** so you can easily find them!
Please note: Almost all pre-order giveaways run “while supplies last,” so I can’t guarantee that they’ll be open until the date listed. Pre-0rder early for your best chance to get all the goodies!
- ***Pre-order HEATHER, THE TOTALITY by Matthew Weiner to receive a print of the book cover signed by Matthew Weiner. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order BONFIRE by Krysten Ritter to receive a signed bookplate and a Bonfire matchbook notepad. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order OBAMA: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT by Pete Souza to receive a 10×8 print of President Obama on Air Force One. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order HEATHER, THE TOTALITY by Matthew Weiner to receive a print of the book cover signed by the author. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order HAVEN by Mary Lindsey to receive a moon necklace, lavender sachet, bookmarks, and a signed postcard. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer to receive your choice of a Renegades or Anarchist button pack! (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order ROSEMARKED by Livia Blackburne to receive a signed bookmark, bookplate, postcard with ROSEMARKED map, a PDF of bonus content emailed to you with a self edit letter Blackburne wrote to herself after the first draft, and an early deleted scene that shows how the book could have gone in a VERY different direction. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order RETRIBUTION RAILS by Erin Bowman to receive Kate & Jesse — an exclusive novella set after the events of Vengeance Road and only available via this pre-order campaign! You’ll also receive a bookmark, a signed bookplate, stickers, a Vengeance Road laptop decal and two Vengeance Road quote cards. You’ll also be entered to win a grand prize. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order THE NOVEMBER GIRL by Lydia Kang to receive a swag bundle. Plus the first 150 pre-orders will receive a wish bracelet and buttons as well! (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order THE SPEAKER by Traci Chee (from a participating store) to receive a custom journal emblazoned with the Guard symbol and a quote, a signed bookplate, and three decals designed for each of the groups in THE SPEAKER. (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order THIS MORTAL COIL by Emily Suvata to receive a signed bookmark, a numbered, signed, limited-print bookplate, 2 colorful DNA Origami sheets so you can fold your own DNA models, a letter with exclusive insights and secrets about the world of THIS MORTAL COIL, and a chance to win the grand prize pack! (ends 11/6)
- Pre-order FLASHTIDE by Jenny Moyer and receive an adjustable climber’s knot wristband HANDMADE by the author, along with a sticker, bookmark, and signed bookplate. (ends 11/13)
- Pre-order THE REBELS OF GOLD by Elise Kova to get exclusive swag. The more pre-orders that are received, the more swag will be unlocked. (ends 12/4)
- Pre-order MEET CUTE by various authors, including Jennifer L. Armentrout, Dhonielle Clayton and Katie Cotugno, to receive a set of 6 pins based on the cover! (ends 1/1)
- Pre-order YOU’LL MISS ME WHEN I’M GONE by Rachel Lynn Solomon to receive a bookmark, a signed bookplate with evil eye pattern, and an exclusive short story that catches up with the protagonists five years later. You’ll also be entered to win a themed prize pack. (ends 1/1)
- Pre-order NICE TRY, JANE SINNER by Lianne Oelke to receive a signed bookmark, two stickers, and a chance to win much, more more. (ends 11/7)
- Pre-order UNEARTHED by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner to receive an exclusive e-short set before the events of These Broken Stars, an autographed bookplate especially designed to go in your book, and a chance to get your name the sequel to Unearthed! (ends 1/8)
- Pre-order IRON GOLD by Pierce Brown to receive an exclusive art print featuring the book’s characters! (ends 1/16)
- Pre-order LOLA DUTCH IS A LITTLE BIT MUCH and receive a digital package that includes: Coloring Pages, Paper Puppets, Mini Guided Learning Activities with Lola and much more! (ends 1/29)
- Preorder REIGN THE EARTH by A.C. Gaughen to receive an exclusive map poster. (ends 1/29)
- Pre-order THE CASE FOR JAMIE by Brittany Cavallaro to receive a signed book and exclusive Charlotte Holmes swag. (ends 3/5)
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed with this week’s posts)
- October Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Last chance to link up and enter!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
- Enter to win this month’s NOVLbox from @TheNovl!
- Penguin Random House is giving away a Star Wars Prize Pack!
- Read It Forward is giving you the chance to win Next Year in Havana
- It’s It Starts at Midnight’s four-year blogoversary!! Tell Shannon you love her and then enter her giveaway for (and I quote) “Whatever the Hell You Want (INT)“! (See why I love her so?)
- Penguin is giving you the chance to surprise your book club with free books for a year!
- The Bookkeeper’s Secrets is doing a year-long giveaway!
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
Yay! I’m so glad you decided to do NaNoWriMo again! I hope the group will be helpful again to you this year and I wish you full-speed-ahead writing days for November!
Thanks for introducing me to that group, Steph!
Good luck with NaNo!! Enjoy your new books and have a great week!
Thanks, Grace! I’m way behind on replying because of NaNo, but I’m getting there!
Good luck with Nano. I couldn’t imagine being able to do all the things you were doing. I hope your WIP is coming along nicely.
Well, I fell way behind on replying to comments, so I didn’t manage to keep up with everything!
That’s great that you’re doing NaNo and just generally working on your own writing. I hope that setting aside editing for the moment will really help you in the long run!! 🙂
Lauren
I’m planning on jumping back into editing after Christmas!
Aw yay I’m so excited for you to do NaNo! I’m sure you are going to do great. I’m glad you got the chance to talk with other authors too, I imagine that’s a great experience. The MG voice does seem like it’d be hard to do, but I know you can definitely nail it ? And thanks for linking to my giveaway nonsense, you’re too sweet!
The MG voice is gonna kill me. Editing is HARD but I keep reminding myself it’s worth it!
Good luck with NaNo! Glad the conference went well! That does sound great, although definitely nerve-wracking, to get some real feedback like that!
I was pretty happy with the feedback since it matched well with what I’d already gotten. This just made it clearer!
I’m glad you’re getting more and more feedback for your writing! I need to address my own writing. But again, where is the time? Good luck with your writing this month! I hope you accomplish a lot.
I know, sometimes it feels like there’s never time to focus on the things we really want to focus on. I’m going to try to make it a priority in 2018, though.
Best of luck with NaNo! You sure have a lot on your plate:) And look at those lovely new books. Enjoy:)
Thanks for the encouragement!
Good luck with NaNo! I’m not brave enough to attempt that.
This is my third NaNo (well, 4th if you count the camp over the summer that I kind of sort of started on but never really seriously attempted). I find the deadlines help me A LOT!
Good luck with NaNo this year. It’s good to focus on your writing, there is only so much you can do in any given day and you already do quite a lot so making this decision to focus on writing and set aside editing for a while is a smart choice. if writing is what you want to be doing you have to prioritise it.
Hope you have a good week and good luck writing.
Exactly. I just have to make room in my life for the things I REALLY want to do. And I think I’m finally figuring out what those are!
Sounds like the publishing conference was a success since you received some valuable feedback. I’ll look forward to seeing your review of Haven if you get around to it. I haven’t written my review yet (oops!) but I really enjoyed it.
I just started the book, so hopefully I’ll be able to get to the review with my blitz post on Friday. We shall see!
Wishing you lots of luck with NaNo! And I’m looking forward seeing what you think of The November Girl. I kept going back and forth on whether I should request,so I ended up passing on it. BUT I’m wondering if that was a bad decision lol. Can’t wait to see your thoughts!
Confession: When I got November Girl, I actually couldn’t remember if I’d requested it or not. I assume I did, but I don’t remember doing it. And they sent me Haven without me requesting it, so… Anyway, my mom’s reading it right now and I’m going to try to convince her to review it for me. 🙂
Oh no lol! I have been using Wunderlist to keep track of ARC requests, since I completely slacked on using the spreadsheet I created lol, and so far so good. But yeah, you never know. Here’s hoping your mom ends up loving it more than I did. I was right at a 3.5 because I couldn’t connect with the female or their romance which was a huge bummer.
My mom liked it. I’ll probably still read it at some point, but I have SO many books to read!