Desperately Seeking the Active in Interactive

Happy Easter! Have a tree!

England was totally utterly beautiful this past Easter weekend, if skin-peelingly cold. But my inner calm was shattered when I left this tranquil scene to discover that I had three days before I flew to Italy for SCBWI's conference on the eve of the big Bologna Children's Book Fair.

And this year, I am a speaker. Yes, yes, I'm talking about the internet again (can't talk about writing until a publisher takes pity on me and gives me a contract). And at this late stage I have only one thing to tell you about my talk.

AAAAAAARGH!

I haven't designed my own name tag (delegates are supposed to impress each other with their self-designed name tags). I haven't researched the speakers yet, and have nothing intelligent to ask them. I haven't read the manuscripts sent to me for the critique session. And I haven't prepared my talk ...

Luckily, just the other day my brain quietly filed something away about uber YA author Melvin Burgess and the internet. That should be something interesting and fresh and talk-worthy. So I google 'Melvin Burgess' and 'internet'.

Looks like Mel has been posting vlogs (video blogs, keep up guys!) to promote his new book Sara's Face about a girl obsessed by fame.

The Times Online article had one episode of the vlog.

Naturally, I want to embed it right here for your viewing pleasure. So I go to YouTube and search for 'Burgess' 'Sara's Face' 'vlog'. Nothing. I go to Mel's website. But there are no links to the video. Oh, didn't Melvin say it was going to be on Spinebreakers , Penguin's proprietary portal for its YA books? But when I go to the page with the Sara's Face vlogs, there is no embed code (that's like, the thing you cut and paste so the video shows on your blog? Basically, this is what's supposedly VIRAL about the web).

Sigh.

I really really wanted to post that video.

But no worries. I've found Rule Number One for my talk at Bologna about authors and the internet.

It's not about the author. It's about the reader.

Listen up, authors. When your readers look you up online, they want to talk to you, comment about your work, download you, share you - they want to INTERACT. Interactive. Heard that word before?

So make it easy, please.

Having said all that, Spinebreakers is running a cool competition inviting readers aged over 13 to 'vlog' a rant about fame. Go on, Buy the book, Rant the rant!

Beware the Fat Lady

You've got your publisher.

You've got the trilogy deal.

Your first book is out to brilliant reviews.

And yet the fat lady still begins to sing.

Ann Giles, blogging in the Guardian today, tells the story of Nick Green, who found himself dumped by Faber after poor sales of his book The Cat Kin.

The dumping happened after Nick had already written the second book of the trilogy, Cat's Paw. So Nick has now published the book via print-on-demand company Lulu.

Giles, also known for her popular blog BookWitch, writes:

Poor sales? With a book as good as The Cat Kin, you've got to ask what kind of marketing support the publisher had given it.

Indeed, Cat Kin is short-listed for Bolton children's Book Award and the Sefton Super-Reads Book Award – ironically trumpeted on Faber's Awards and Prizes page.

Nick first published Cat Kin as a print-on-demand novel, before Faber decided to take it on. It was one of those rare POD titles that garnered warm praise from reviewers. Amanda Craig of the Times called it "an excellent debut".

Okay. How about we all go out and buy Nick Green's book and see what happens next in this saga?

Get The Cat Kin on Amazon. Get Cat's Paw on Lulu.

This Panda has Nothing To Do With Writing For Children

But it's hilarious!