Book News: Jagged Little Pill, the Novel, Publishing with Amulet!

Well. The news is finally out.

I've spent a good bit of this year, working on an adaptation of the Broadway musical Jagged Little Pill, with Alanis Morissette, Diablo Cody, and Glen Ballard. The cover reveal for Jagged Little Pill: The Novel is over on Rolling Stone, where you can learn more about the book.

It'll be in bookstores everywhere in April with Abrams / Amulet. You can preorder it here!

From the time I was actually in a Broadway musical as a child (hi there, A Christmas Carol alum!) to my days as a theater major in college, theater and musicals have always had a massive piece of my heart. And getting to work on the adaptation of a major Broadway musical is such a wild dream come true.

You can read more about the book here, over on Rolling Stone.

Book Deals: Mike Chen Writing Star Wars Brotherhood!

Now that’s a wild blog banner.

By now, you’ve likely heard the news. Mike Chen is writing a Star Wars novel. BROTHERHOOD will explore the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Here are the details from the Star Wars website:

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker must stem the tide of the raging Clone Wars and forge a new bond as Jedi Knights.

The Clone Wars have begun. Battle lines are being drawn throughout the galaxy. With every world that joins the Separatists, the peace guarded by the Jedi Order is slipping through their fingers. 

After an explosion devastates Cato Neimoidia, the jewel of the Trade Federation, the Republic is blamed and the fragile neutrality of the planet is threatened. The Jedi dispatch Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the Order’s most gifted diplomatic minds, to investigate the crime and maintain the balance that has begun to dangerously shift. As Obi-Wan investigates with the help of a heroic Neimoidian guard, he finds himself working against the Separatists who hope to draw the planet into their conspiracy–and senses the sinister hand of Asajj Ventress in the mists that cloak the planet.

Amid the brewing chaos, Anakin Skywalker rises to the rank of Jedi Knight. Despite the mandate that Obi-Wan travel alone–and his former master’s insistence that he listen this time–Anakin’s headstrong determination means nothing can stop him from crashing the party, and bringing along a promising but conflicted youngling.

Once a Padawan to Obi-Wan, Anakin now finds himself on equal–but uncertain–footing with the man who raised him. The lingering friction between them increases the danger for everyone around them.  The two knights must learn a new way to work together—and they must learn quickly, to save Cato Neimoidia and its people from the fires of war. To overcome the threat they face they must grow beyond master and apprentice. They must stand together as brothers.

The news has already popped up on websites like Polygon and many other outlets. And I’m just so wildly thrilled. When Mike and I first started working together, he said he wanted to write a Star War one day, and well… here we are.

Star Wars Brotherhood will be in bookstores everywhere in May 2023, with Del Rey.

Battle of the Bands: Preorder to Get "Tickets" and Backstage Passes!

So Battle of the Bands is almost here! We’re a few month away from this wholesome collection. It’s been a real thrill putting this together and watching it work its way into the world, especially with one of my writerly BFFs.

Kirkus even gave it a star, calling it “an impressive feat impeccably pulled off.”

Usually when you see a preorder campaign, there are signed bookplates and other such things, which is kinda hard with an anthology. It’s a bit impossible to get bookplates sent to all sixteen people. Whew!

So, we came up with really cute pieces of swag that I think everyone will get a kick out of. In the spirit of music festivals and Warped Tours, the kind of events so many of the contributors grew up on, we’ve put together these fun backstage passes and VIP tickets.

And by tickets, we do mean bookmarks. That look like tickets.

As for those festival passes, designed by my friend Andres Jimenez (hire him for things!), they have the names of everyone in the book on them, and will look so good as keychains or bulletin boards where you collect your own music festival passes.

How do you get these? Easy! There are two ways:

Preorder from Your Favorite Retailer: Order a copy from the retailer of your choice, and send us proof of your purchase! Just email a screenshot or something on over to ericsmithrocks@gmail.com, and we’ll send you a pass and bookmark the week after the book comes out. International orders are okay! These are light, flat items. We can do that.

• Amazon

• Barnes & Noble

• Books A Million

• Bookshop.org

• Chapters / Indigo

• IndieBound

Request a Copy at Your Local Library: We love libraries. Obviously. A certain co-editor is a librarian. Hi Lauren. So if you request a copy from your local library, let us know! You can send us a photo or a screenshot or whatever of the request, and that’ll count for the bookmark and exclusive backstage pass! Just send it on over to ericsmithrocks@gmail.com

And that’s it!

If you’re a school, librarian, school librarian, book club, etc… let us know. We’re happy to send a few extra bookmarks if you’d like them to give away to your teen readers. Are you a bookseller who wants a bundle to giveaway? Yes, ask! Happy to share!

Thanks for supporting this book. It’s been a total blast putting it together, and we hope you all love it.

Perfect Pitch: James Tate Hill's Query for Blind Man's Bluff, A Memoir

In the years I’ve been writing these “Perfect Pitch” posts (see the entire roundup here), the one I’ve had the most requests for, is an example of a memoir.

Well, it’s that time. And you can thank James Tate Hill for that by picking up a copy of Blind Man’s Bluff, due out with Norton in August. Preorder! Or if you’re reading this post in August and I haven’t touched it up yet, buy it! It’s a powerful, moving story that’s equally hilarious and heartbreaking.

I’m so proud of it. James, I’m proud of you!

Let’s jump in, and talk about the specific things that make this such an outstanding query letter for a memoir.

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Dear Eric,

At age thirty, facing a crumbling marriage, a stalled writing career, and a growing fear of going outside, I wondered if lying about who I was for the last fifteen years might be the cause of my problems. A routine trip to the eye doctor when I was sixteen led to a diagnosis of incurable blindness. I could no longer read, but I never had been much of a reader. I couldn’t drive, but lots of people didn’t drive.

Such was the logic that allowed me, along with some fuzzy peripheral vision, to continue passing for sighted. From a trip to Tokyo for experimental treatment to the terror of literal blind dating to the publication of a novel with a blind narrator, Blind Man’s Bluff charts a winding, often humorous path from denial to acceptance. Portions of the manuscript have appeared in essays for Literary Hub, Prairie Schooner, Hobart, Waxwing, and other literary journals. One of them, “Do Audiobooks Count As Reading,” was just named a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2019.

I’m a contributing editor for Literary Hub, where I write a monthly audiobooks column. My debut novel, Academy Gothic, won the Nilsen Prize for a First Novel and was published in 2015 by Southeast Missouri State University Press, receiving strong reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, among others. My fiction and nonfiction have been published in Literary Hub, Prairie Schooner, Story Quarterly, Sonora Review, Writer’s Digest, and elsewhere. I’m the fiction editor for the literary journal Monkeybicycle, and I teach regularly for Writing Workshops of Dallas and the Writers League of Texas. Currently I’m in the editing stage with a novel about child stars spanning the 80s and 90s.

My comp titles are Heavy by Kiese Laymon and How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee, and further back Autobiography of a Face. It's complete at 62,000 words.

Thanks so much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

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There’s a ton to love here, and goodness, a lot to learn from. Thank you J.T.

Let’s dig into what makes this such a great pitch.

Platform: There’s this misconception that you need a massive social media following to sell a non-fiction book. That Twitter and Instagram and TikTok = platform. Which isn’t true. It’s a PART of your platform, sure. But that’s not the sole thing that defines platform.

Platform isn’t only about your following. It’s about where you publish. Your academic career. Your proven expertise surrounding a topic. For J.T., his platform is in where he writes and regularly publishes. He’s got essays and articles in a number of places, and a quick visit to his website showcases where he’s published short fiction and more.

For someone like me, showcasing that kind of platform, where you’re writing and how you’re a part of the non-fiction community, means way more than a big Twitter following. J.T. has a little under 7,000 followers on Twitter, for those of you worried about the “needs hundreds of thousands of followers” misconception.

If you’re worried about building that platform in publication, it’s one of the platform-building types of writing that it’s never to late to focus on. You can start pitching essays and articles right now, and build that portfolio up.

Comp Titles: One thing that I notice a LOT of memoir queries (and essay collections, for that matter) missing in query letters, are comparative titles. “Well my story isn’t like any other story out there.” Of course it isn’t. It’s your life. Your story should be unique. That’s not what a comparative title does.

A comp title gives the agent an idea of what to expect. Themes you might explore. Your voice. Is this going to be a hard hitting, soul crushing story, or am I going to laugh? Maybe both?

Stakes and a Clear Story Arc: When it comes to the reason I pass the most on memoir, is the lack of knowing what the story is. In the case of J.T.’s, he gets it across immediately. He tells us the memoir is going to take him from his teen years and diagnosis through his professional and personal ups and downs, and that he tries to hide his disability for that entire time.

What’s at stake here? Plenty. His love life! His creative life! Being able to just venture outside! And he sums this up in just two paragraphs. It’s so important to give the reader a sense of the stakes, even in a memoir. There’s a story, a narrative arc, to your life story.

After all, a lot of memoir highlights a specific period of time in your life. In the case of J.T., it’s his teen years to his early 30’s, going from denial to acceptance. There it is. In two paragraphs.

It’s Finished?!: So, in my opinion a memoir doesn’t have to be finished for me to sign it. I just need to see a proposal. Past projects I’ve represented have sold on proposal. In J.T.’s case, he’d actually finished the whole book.

This is okay. Even though a lot of memoir does sell on proposal, it’s not going to hurt if your book is finished. Not at all. More editors who I talk to these day appreciate a memoir that’s completed, though still take a proposal. So if you’re finished, don’t be afraid to pitch it as a completed book.

And there you have it.

Perfect pitch, for memoir.

Thank you for sharing this query with everyone J.T.! And if you’re reading, be sure to order a copy of his memoir as a thank you. It’s really something special.

Book Deals: Robin Stevenson's Kid Changemakers Acquired by Quirk Books!

It’s been a wonderful journey with the team at Quirk and Robin Stevenson. From Kid Activists to Kid Innovators, it’s been book after book of delightful non-fiction for kids, introducing them to icons as kids.

And she’s doing another one!

Get ready for KID CHANGEMAKERS, the latest in the Kid Legends series with Quirk Books! It’ll be in bookstores everywhere in the Fall of 2022.

Here’s a bit more about it, from Publishers Marketplace:

Stonewall honoree and author of KID ACTIVISTS and KID INNOVATORS Robin Stevenson's KID CHANGEMAKERS, the next book in the illustrated Kid Legends series, focusing on the childhood stories of a diverse group of figures who have made an undeniable impact on contemporary society by leading social movements, government reform, and cultural change.

Keep an eye out! And if you haven’t picked up Robin’s latest novel, When You Get the Chance, it’s out now!

Congrats Robin!

Seeking BIPOC Parents of Neurodivergent Kids for Interviews in Potential Book Project

Hey there friends.

Last year I was seeking authors to work on a neurodivergent parenting book, and thankfully, after a bit of searching and talking to folks, I found those authors. I’m so excited to see this project coming together, and I’m counting down the days until I start shopping it around.

Working on parenting books that will help out specific people is something I really love. I was so proud of Eat to Feed by Eliza Larson and Kristy Kohler (a cookbook for breastfeeding mothers) and Melody Schreiber’s What We Didn’t Expect (an anthology of essays on premature birth). And I’m excited to do this again.

The authors, Jaya Ramesh and Priya Raghav, are looking to chat with BIPOC parents of neurodivergent kids, who might be willing to share stories and insights for the project. After-all, no one experience in monolithic here, not mine, not the authors. We’re hoping to collect a wide range of experiences so we can make this potential book as inclusive and helpful as possible.

If you might be interested in chatting with the authors, email me. I’m collecting the emails so the authors don’t get overwhelmed, and will be forwarding them the messages. I’m at eric@psliterary.com.

Thanks so much, and here’s hoping this project comes together and helps a lot of people. <3

Book Deals: Sophie Saint Thomas' Glamour Witch to Weiser Books!

Sophie Saint Thomas’ first delightful witchy book, SEX WITCH, published just this past February… and well, she’s back with more spells, just for you.

Her next book, GLAMOUR WITCH, has been scooped up by Weiser Books. Here’s a little blip about it from Publishers Marketplace:

Regular contributor to GQ, Playboy, and Allure Sophie Saint Thomas’s GLAMOUR WITCH, an investigation into the art of glamour, from beauty to body modification, complete with a bounty of glamour magick rituals, to Peter Turner at Weiser Books, for publication in fall 2021, by Eric Smith at P.S. Literary Agency (World English).

This marks our fourth project together (wow!) and I cannot wait for the next one.

If you don’t follow Sophie on social media, please do! She writes for so many places, and is also absolutely hilarious.

Now, off I go to work on Book #5. Go Sophie, go!

Book Deals: M.K. England's Player vs. Player to Random House Children's Books!

M.K. England is a busy writer.

Just back in November, we announced their YA rom-com debut, One True Me and You, set to publish with Wednesday Books / St. Martin’s Press next year under their romance pen name, Meri K. England. Oh, and then The Disasters got picked up to be a TV pilot. And there’s also some news about an upcoming [redacted] novel set in [redacted].

And now? I’m thrilled to announce their Middle Grade debut, a three-book-series called Player vs. Player, hitting with Random House Children’s Books starting next year.

Here’s a bit more from the Publisher’s Marketplace announcement:

M.K. England's middle grade debut PLAYER VS. PLAYER, pitched as READY PLAYER ONE meets ESCAPE FROM MR. LEMONCELLO'S LIBRARY, in which four kids are invited to compete for a mysterious grand prize in a virtual tournament within the biggest battle royale game in the world, to Tricia Lin at Random House Children's, in a three-book deal, for publication in summer 2022.

Shifting POV and packed with full of surprises, it’s a wildly fun adventure that of course I was utterly smitten with (have you heard I enjoy books that feature video games?). I can’t wait to have this one on my bookshelf, and hey, this is my first Middle Grade fiction deal! Send me that MG fiction, friends!

Congrats, M.K.! I look forward to the next bundle of projects. It’s been an adventure.