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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…

Posted by Joe Lunievicz | May 29, 2011 | Categories: Blog, Events, Open Wounds, Publicity & Marketing | Leave a comment

First Edition Pallet

Open Wounds Printed... Ready to be Bound

I went to Everbind, the parent company of WestSide Books on Wednesday morning to pick up fifty books for the Book Bloggers Convention. I have to say it was very cool. I know, I know. That’s the best I can come up with but trust me, seeing my book, printed but not bound sitting there on a pallet waiting to be bound after seven plus years of work (the picture is my first print run – my first edition) was like watching the book being born. Now I saw my son born and that was about the most incredible and wondrous thing I’ve ever seen and this doesn’t come close but… it was still pretty damned cool.

Evelyn Fazio, my publisher/editor, gave me a tour around the binding machines, cutting machines, gluing stations, cover making stations, it seemed like something out of a 1940’s novel. The machinery is all custom-made so I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of them. Everything seemed exactly the way a factory that put covers on and bound books should (in my world) look like – eccentric, Spielbergian, archaic, sepia-toned, and well, just a bit magical. It fit. It’s a fit place to coalesce the power of the written word and all the wondrous qualities contained within.

I don’t think many authors get the chance to see this kind of thing. I’m hoping to be able to bring my wife and son next week when that pallet becomes the final, ready-to-be-shipped and packaged into boxes and put on the warehouse shelves in another part of the airplane-hanger-like space that is Everbind – first edition pallet of books. I have an empty box with the logo for Everbind on it at home. It’s just the word Everbind. But I swear it’s right out of a fantasy novel – a good one – the kind you can’t put down because it makes your heart race and your fingers sweaty because you just can’t wait to see what happens next.

Posted by Joe Lunievicz | May 27, 2011 | Categories: Blog, Open Wounds | Leave a comment

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.

Posted by Joe Lunievicz | May 27, 2011 | Categories: Blog, Book Reviews, Events | Leave a comment

MAGPI Link

The folks at the University of Pennsylvania distance learning center were kind enough to send me this link to the writing workshop I did for three high schools in Ohio last month. I have to warn you it’s 60 minutes long so have a seat or skim through for the stuff you find most interesting. I’m waiting to get a digital copy of it so I can create a short teaser for schools but… that is for the future. The MAGPI folks have been kind enough to invite me back in the fall to do another one. I’ll have to see what I can come up with by then.

Here’s the link: They Fight – Writing Workshop

Posted by Joe Lunievicz | May 25, 2011 | Categories: Blog | Leave a comment

BEA

I spent all day yesterday at BEA. It was my first time there and I have to say it was a blast. Even if all I did was walk around the exhibition hall, take two Twitter workshops (How do you use that thing?), and meet my publicists face to face (that was one of the best parts). But mostly I walked around with a big smile on my face and my new bookmark/cards in my hand, talking to people and handing out a card or two. I collected a bunch of swag for my son and for me (a cool book-light for free and a signed book or two from some small press authors who I promise to review when I’m finished reading their work!). Why the smile? Because this year, this month, I have a reason to be at the conference. I have a book to talk about and some cards to hand out. Now maybe someone can explain to me what the speakers said about Twitter because it’s already gone out of my head. Something about tweets… I’m the guy with the light shining off his forehead.