How to support an author beyond buying books
Author and Illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi (also known as Inky Girl, or @InkyElbows) has a fabulous website chock full of kidlit resources and advice, as well as info about her own fantastic books and artwork. As much as authors love it when readers buy their books, there are still plenty of ways to show your interest and support for a title without spending a dime. Check out Debbie's helpful post here. YA Author Erin Bowman also posted a great article on Pub(lishing) Crawl ab
The importance of pre-orders
A lot of people have been asking me recently why it's helpful to pre-order a book. Author Kim Hooper has some great insight in her article here, and summarized below: "• If a publisher sees that a book has a lot of pre-orders, they’re likely to increase the print run to meet the anticipated demand. If they increase the print run, they may increase their marketing efforts to sell all the copies. More marketing means more sales. • If a bookstore (online or brick-and-mortar) get
Peg Davol Award Winner
I'm thrilled and honored to announce that my picture book If You Catch a Story has received the 2017 Peg Davol Manuscript Award. Many thanks to the New England chapter of the Society of Children's Book Authors and Illustrators, and judges Jo Knowles, Brian Lies, and Jeannine Atkins, who called it "a poetic manuscript about the many types of stories and the different ways they can be captured." As part of the award, I will be working with a wonderful mentor, the one and only K
Cover Artist
I'm still pinching myself! The cover art for The Magic of Melwick Orchard will be done by the immensely talented Laura Diehl. When my publisher showed me Laura's portfolio it took my breath away. Her luminous and whimsical work perfectly embodies the mood and magic of Isa's story, and I cannot wait to see what imagery Laura dreams up for this book cover. Check out her website here
Title Change
UPDATE: My debut middle grade novel has a new title! It will now be called... drumroll... THE MAGIC OF MELWICK ORCHARD You can add it on Goodreads here
Book Deal Announcement
Huzzah! I can finally announce that my debut novel will be published by Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of the Lerner Publishing Group in 2018. I am so excited to work with Alix Reid, editor extraordinaire. Alix edited Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted, Sonya Sones' Stop Pretending, Elana K. Arnold's What Girls Are Made Of, Julianna Baggott’s The Anybodies, Cynthia Rylant’s God Went to Beauty School, and many other fabulous titles, so I know my book and I are in great hands. C