The big story in publishing last week was Harlequin announcing it was launching a self-publishing side. Many authors and organizations (including RWA) are not too happy about it.

I have no problem with self-publishing provided that (1) the author has a platform—a sure way to sell the books, and (2) the author really, really, truly understands what he/she is getting into. The majority of the time, an author doesn’t meet both those criteria and things end up going a way they didn’t expect.

Times have been changing, especially with the economy and the Internet, so I think we need to know that these publishing companies are going to be changing as well. We can fight against it all we want (and we should to an extent), but it will still change. As for the companies, I feel they would be better off doing separate names, websites, etc… This would probably help the authors, editors, and the rest of the publishing community not get so upset. I think I did hear that Harlequin was considering changing the name of the new self-publishing imprint.

Book Reviews

“Story of a Girl” by Sara Zarr
2008
Little, Brown

I’m sorry to say that I have just now read my first Sara Zarr book. I have wanted to for awhile. “Story of a Girl” is a poignant tale of a girl who gets caught (by her dad!) having sex with an older guy when she was thirteen. Now, a few years later, she struggles through the pain and those who won’t forgive her (and the fact that she can’t forgive herself). A very fast read with a complex character. I look forward to reading more of Zarr’s books.

“When You Reach Me” by Rebecca Stead
2009
Random House

I hardly ever read Middle Grade. Actually, come to think of it, I never read MG. But I had heard good things about this one, so I thought I’d check it out. The story takes place in the 70s, and shows a girl dealing with her game show obsessed mom and the loss of her best friend. Along the way strange things are happening, and she starts getting notes from someone. I really enjoyed the mystery in this. It kept the pages turning for me. Compelling book with some good character development and interactions. I can’t tell much about it without giving the plot away. It’s gotten great reviews, and I suspect it will do well.

Is Taylor Swift dating Taylor Lautner? I don’t know, but that would be pretty sweet (we’ll all feel some sort of satisfaction that Edward wasn’t the only one to snag a good girl). Taylor Swift just put out a killer video called “Fifteen.” Go for your dreams girls and forget those boys (unless they’re buying you Starbucks, of course, then give them a few minutes of your time).

Miley Raps—Or at Least Tries

I love Miley Cyrus. I’m not even a teen (no, I won’t tell you how old I am, but I recently exited my 20s), and yet I love her movies and music. When she quit Twitter with more than 1 million followers, I was disappointed. There were rumors she quit because her boyfriend told her to. Then she clarified in, um, a rap video (yes, a rap video) that she quit because she wants her privacy. If she wants her privacy she shouldn’t be putting out rap videos! Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSOTQPUQoU]

Thank you to Jenny B. Jones who told me about the Jimmy Falon spoof, which I was sorry I missed but glad I could find it online.

 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rmtB0fx6mQ]

News for Writers

So the buzz/arguments/blogs this week in the CBA publishing world surrounded the fact that the biggest CBA publisher there is, Thomas Nelson, has added a self-publishing imprint. It’s controversial because, well, somewhere along the lines we got this idea that self-published books were garbage. It’s also controversial because the imprint name they are using was used at one time for some well-known authors. A few years ago they switched those authors under the Thomas Nelson imprint, but still, not some happy authors out there.

Personally—other than the imprint name problem—I think it’s a great idea. It’s a way to make money, and the face of publishing is changing dramatically. It should be an option for those who want it, and Thomas Nelson will offer a nice product for those authors (mostly non-fiction writers, although I am still waiting for the day when some fiction author self-publishes a teen novel and makes a ton of money because (1) teens live online, and (2) teens don’t care what a book’s imprint is).

Anyway, you can read a balanced response to the move on agent Rachelle Gardner’s blog.

In Other News

• A few weeks ago I posted a blog about teens in the news, failing to post any positive stories. Then I read this great article about a new book coming out (“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”) telling the story of a teen in Africa who changed his community. Very touching and heart-warming story that you can read here.
• If you are a teen author, you should join two awesome groups that I’ve recently joined. One is the YA RWA (YARWA) chapter. They have a fun loop, and since they are new they have a lot of other things planned for the future. The second is TeenLitAuthors, a Yahoo group that discusses everything YA. They often have guest agents and authors on the loop to answer questions.

Have a great weekend!
Sandi

Muslim girl converts to Christianity; runs away from home. You may have heard of the teenage girl who converted from the Muslim faith to Christianity and was scared of her parents “killing” her, so she ran away from home. A custody battle is in the courts trying to determine if she is indeed in any danger.

Teen sets self on fire after watching YouTube video. I wouldn’t blame YouTube for this one. And maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but teens (and adults) often doing dumb things. It’s part of growing up. Lesson learned.

12-year-old Yemeni girl married to 24-year-old; dies after childbirth. It’s really sad this type of stuff is still going on in our world. Quit calling it in the name of culture and call it for what it really is: rape and pathetic.

High school football player wrestles gun from girl on bus. A senior football player is a hero after taking away a gun from a girl on a bus who was angry. Not that I condone her behavior, of course, but she apparently was mad because of other people who had been making fun of her. Just another example of the problem of bullying in our high schools. In this article, they say she never went to a teacher about the bullying and when someone threw a piece of paper at her she just smiled. Please. Not all these kids ask for help when they need it, so we can’t expect they will.

Muslim teen sues A&F for discrimination. I suppose I would be mad if I were told I couldn’t wear a cross necklace to a job, but I would think businesses have the right to make you dress in uniform, so I can understand their side of it too.

Will online college kill traditional college? Since I teach online college, I found this article to be compelling.

VFW Essay Contest. My friend Mechelle sent me this great link. In light of Patriot’s Day (September 11), The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) offers an essay contest for students in 6, 7, or 8^th grade called Patriot’s Pen. Contestants are to write a 300-400 word essay. The topic this year is: “When is the Right Time to Honor Our Military Heroes?” Essays are submitted to local VFW posts. The winners are given a savings bond. If you are a student in one of these grades (or know of one), this is a great way write, voice your thoughts, and possibly win some money.

My friend Kimberly reminded me of the up-to-date news information you can find at Publisher’s Weekly. You can subscribe to their newsletter for free and one of their options is children’s books (and there is a newsletter for religious books for all my CBA friends): http://www.publishersweekly.com/enewsletter/CA6672758/2788.html

This week PW had a cool article on the expansion of the teen section at Borders: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6672662.html?nid=2788&source=title&rid=1920529184

One thing that drives me crazy about searching through the YA section on Barnes and Noble online is that the majority of the books they promote are vampire novels. I’m so sick of these that I won’t even look at them! (But don’t worry Bella and Edward…I’ll never leave you!). So I was thankful for this funny comic strip my friend Michelle sent to me today:

She got it off of a hilarious website that I’m just now learning about called Inkygirl.com and WillWriteForChocolate.com.

Happy writing!