Archive for June, 2010

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Write in this book!

There are two sorts of people in the world: Those who write in and mark up books; and those who view those of us who do write in books as sacrilegious pigs.
Okay, okay—maybe there are a few other sorts of people. (I’ve never been a fan of that whole “There are two kinds of people” [...]

29 Comments » - Posted in Inspiration, On Writing, Sweet Nonsense by Michael

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

The Rule of Twenty

I was fortunate enough last summer to speak with Bruce Coville at an SCBWI event in Orlando. (He’s an amazing speaker—truly amazing—and if you catch word that he is speaking somewhere, by all means go and see him.) Bruce mentioned something he called “The Rule of Twenty.” He doesn’t recall where he picked it up—a [...]

26 Comments » - Posted in Inspiration, On Writing, The Rules by Michael

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Crash Test Love

Although I typically blog about my authors’ books, today I am actually writing about my own.

On June 8th, my second novel for teens, Crash Test Love, was released. I truly believe that having the firsthand experience of publishing a novel—finishing that elusive first draft, going through rounds of revision with a skilled editor, worrying about [...]

5 Comments » - Posted in Announcements/Agency Biz, Books We Love by Ted

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Double Release Day!

Today I’m doubly excited to announce the release of not only two fantastic projects from Upstart Crow Literary, but also the first two books I personally sold long, long ago.
No longer do I have to tell editors, conference attendees, friends, and family that the books I’ve sold will come out “soon.” Now when someone asks [...]

10 Comments » - Posted in Announcements/Agency Biz, Books We Love by Chris

Friday, June 11th, 2010

#MyDeathday

To help count down to the release of Shaun Hutchinson’s The Deathday Letter, today we’re running a little contest on here, Facebook, and Twitter.
The Deathday Letter takes place in a world much like our own: the one difference? In this world, you receive a letter the day before you kick the bucket letting you know [...]

23 Comments » - Posted in Announcements/Agency Biz, Books We Love by Chris

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Agenting & The Market: the US v. the UK, an Intern’s Perspective

[Today's post comes via the dizzyingly sharp Jennifer Ung, who once upon a time interned for one of us here at Upstart Crow (albeit at a different company). Jennifer has just returned from a season in England, and we thought her observations on the two markets well worth sharing. Especially fascinating are explanations of how, [...]

14 Comments » - Posted in The Industry by Michael

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Starred Review for Jacqueline West’s THE SHADOWS

If you’ve seen me speak at a conference, read my online interviews, or follow me on Twitter, you’ve likely heard me mention Jacqueline West’s THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE VOL I: THE SHADOWS.
The truth is, I love this book. Jacqueline’s story was the first project I ever signed as an agent, and I’ve been anxiously [...]

6 Comments » - Posted in Announcements/Agency Biz, Books We Love by Chris

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Everlasting

When I first read Angie Frazier’s debut, Everlasting, I knew I had something special in my hands. Together, we worked diligently to revise and shape the manuscript prior to submission. To this day, I am still struck by what a phenomenal writer Angie is, and how she was able to transform an already fantastic manuscript [...]

2 Comments » - Posted in Announcements/Agency Biz, Books We Love by Ted