The Friday Five

1. Are any of you still reading our awesome blog, Author2Author? Lately I feel like I'm talking to an empty room. I know, so many blogs, so little time.

2. A friend over at Livejournal, Brian_Ohio, asked the question, "In this economy, would you rather have a book on submission or a book hitting the shelves?" Then he went on to say, "And I think I'd rather have one on submission. Honestly. The thought of hoping/asking readers to part with money to purchase my book right now is daunting. Really. Maybe some of you authors 'just on the shelf' can shed some light on this. How nervous/anxious are you?"

The good news about the kidlit world is there is not this sink or swim thing thing going on the first 30 days like there is in the adult market. I think I've said this before, but sometimes a book for kids or teens takes time to gain momentum. Because kids read in school, books are often passed between teachers and students, students and students, librarians and students, etc. SO, our books can do well over time even if the first few months aren't what we hope in the retail setting. Those authors who had the foresight to see the need for books like Twilight and got on that a couple of years ago and are hitting this sweet spot right now, their books are no doubt doing incredibly well. The rest of us, we just have to hope our books get noticed in other ways.

And even getting on one state reading list can do wonders for a title. But that takes time - a book may hit a list a year or even two years after coming out, if I'm understanding it correctly.

Don't get me wrong, my friends will tell you I get plenty nervous about sales. And yet, I know I'm so fortunate to have books published and more on the way. Being on submission is fun and exciting at first. It's filled with possiblity. But after awhile, it's not so fun anymore. The waiting is really hard. Well, you all know that!! So, sorry Brian, I wouldn't trade places with you.

And is this a good place to say - if you haven't bought a book in awhile, I think you should go and buy one this weekend! I bought two last weekend!

3. Next week is Spring Break for my kids. My 6th grader has a big science project to work on. I guess they should change the name to "Spring Break - Pysche! Not Really A Break."

4. I'm currently reading Saundra Mitchell's SHADOWED SUMMER. It is REALLY good. I should have finished it by now but I had to stop reading at night because I'm a big wuss and get scared easily. Yes, it's a ghost story if you haven't heard. Which if you haven't heard, where have you been? It seems like everyone has talked about this book and I'm one of the last to do so. ANYWAY, since I do 90% of my reading at night, I'm not finishing it as fast as I'd like. But the writing is excellent, and I'm a sucker for books where there's a little of that Southern drawl going on.

5. Tomorrow morning, I must wake up and go deeper into the revison forest. I received more detailed notes from my editor yesterday. Four pages to be exact. The marked up manuscript is coming today. It's quite ironic that I have to add more scary parts, even though I don't really like scary. So get ready Saundra - ha!