3rd Gade Q & A
My son’s teacher asked me to come in to speak to the two 3rd grade classes at Buckley Country Day School this morning. After reading Andrew Smith’s column on going to a high school class for Q & A I have to say I wasnt as sure what to expect from a group of 8 and 9 year olds. Okay. That’s not true. I’ve been to his class before and his teacher is a wonderful reading and writing teacher who keeps the class mayhem to a minimum so I knew the class would be behaved but I was not quite prepared for how focused they were and for how long they lasted.
Now I wasn’t there by myself. Another father who also happens to be an author – Paul O’Donnell, author of Man Up (a terriffic book) was also invited to speak so we shared the space and did a compare and contrast on fiction and non-fiction which, because Paul is so good and natural a speaker – came off well. Then we got to Q & A and man did they come up with some good questions. Here’s a few of them:
- How do you come up with the titles of your books?
- How many times did you have to rewrite your book?
- What do you do if a bookstore won’t take your book?
- Do you write only fiction? Non-fiction?
- What gave you the idea to write the book?
- Will they make a movie out of it?
- What happens to the books that a store doesn’t sell?
- Do you like to write books?
Rounding Third at the BBC
Author speed dating at the Book Blogger convention (BBC). The big room is buzzing with author’s pitching and bloggers listening.
The author at my table was in the middle of her pitch. Then she hesitated as if she had a secret she was going to tell but had decided not to. “I’m not going to tell you anymore about the story,” she said, “because this is the kind of story you have to experience as the main character experiences it.”
There was one other author besides me at our table and six bloggers and I hadn’t pitched yet and this author, even with this statement, was sharp. I was feeling: 1) humbled (because her pitch to the bloggers was so good and practiced including a back story to herself that kicked butt with references to terrorists, Baghdad, and world hunger – okay not world hunger that’s just me being jealous and annoyed at the same time – that it put my pitch to come to shame) and 2) jealous and annoyed (the two do go hand in hand) because I was feeling all competitive and I was losing without even having said a word. Pitching against other authors is hard work. Especially when, after pitching, all the bloggers around the table pull out copies of this same author’s book and ask for autographs.
Really.
They did.
Every single one of them.
“Oh, you all have copies of my book!” she said, delighted and surprised.
She individualized each of the copies. It took a while. We only had twenty minutes at each table before we rotated to another one.
And as if that triple wasn’t enough the third base coach motioned for her to head for home so when she was finished she turned to me and said, “Oh, it’s your turn now, isn’t it?”
She smiled.
I smiled.
The bloggers around the table were all gazing down at their signed copies of her book.
I did some diaphragmatic breathing – three-part breaths, and let it go. There were other tables to get to and, I hoped, that author would not be at the same table as me again.
It’s good to have experiences like that because it keeps me from having a big head.
Okay. I can’t let this go anymore. …because this is the kind of story you have to experience as the main character experiences it. Isn’t that what reading is all about anyway?
Maybe I’m missing something.
But I had to say it.
I blame it on the testosterone.
Signature Page
Casey Blackwell - The Bookish Type
Yesterday I received my first in-person request to sign a book. Casey Blackwell, who YA book review blog is thebookishtype.blogspot.com, just as the speed dating session was over pulled out her copy of my book and asked me politely to sign her book. It was sweet and made me smile. She was kind enough to let me take her picture and gave me permission to post it. It was a nice ending to a flurry of pitches, card-giving out sessions, and trying to remember who I’d said what to and in what order. Casey’s got a great blog site and I look forward to seeing her review of Open Wounds there.
Postscript: I didn’t know this but the page in the book with the title but nothing else is for author signatures. Sometimes it’s called the signature page. Of course it is. Author’s can also personalize their signature by addressing some comment to the individual and putting their name there. Jim Higley told me this as he signed his book, Bobblehead Dad, for me. (thanks, Jim!).
I need to get out more often.
Why didn’t I know this?
Well, at least now I do…
How Fast Can You Pitch?
Publicity is hard work. I’m not kidding. First, you have to either be real media savvy to find people to pitch your book to or you have to hire someone to get them to you or you to them. The book bloggers convention this evening was the perfect place to meet bloggers who are reviewing books and in my case YA books. But if you’re like me, you might have to push yourself to get in there, meet people and … give them your pitch. Julie and Marissa (JKSCommunications) made it easy by ushering me over to folks they wanted to introduce me to when I was standing by myself eyeing the carpet. But they can’t do the pitch for you so take a breath and dive in. One thing that made it easier was there were so many YA book bloggers in the room to talk to. I had no idea the YA community of reviewers was so big. It seemed like everyone I bumped into was into YA. It was also great that bloggers were a little nervous about the whole meet and greet thing too. If we’re going to be uncomfortable we might as well be uncomfortable together. Common ground of discomfort is a wonderful thing.
I learned a lot about bloggers today and met a lot of really nice people who love books. What a great transcending factor. I haven’t talked so much about books … ever. And I really enjoyed it. Finding out why people blog (lost job, in school, bored, looking for community, love books and wanted to talk about them to somebody, English major and wanted to read and talk about books outside the curriculum, because they love books) was fascinating. And YA bloggers read an incredible number of books (from 100 on the low-end to over 300 per year – and I heard a rumor of almost mythic proportions that some read over 500). That’s an amazing amount of reading and writing of reviews. It was hard not to get caught up in people’s excitement in the work that they do – and for no pay other than their love of the written word.
How cool is that?
Looking forward to my son’s third grade play tomorrow then… author speed dating at the BBC.
Big Blend Champagne Sundays Interview
Check out the interview on Big Blend Champagne Sundays with co-hosts Lisa Smith, Nancy Reid, and Amy Friese. Go to 52.47 minutes to listen to my 20 minute segment.
Lunievicz 