Book Deals: Alison Stine's DUST to Wednesday Books!

Working with Alison Stine has been such a career highlight for me. Her novels, from Road Out of Winter to Trashlands, have shocked and awed me, as well as readers! Road Out of Winter scooped up the Philip K. Dick Award, Trashlands has been nominated for a bundle of things (including the Mark Twain prize!). And with good cause. Her books are stunning.

And well, now she’s entering the world of YA, and I’m beyond thrilled.

Her novel, DUST, was scooped up by St. Martin’s Press / Wednesday Books, and will be in bookstores everywhere next year. Here’s a bit about it from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Philip K. Dick Award-winning author Alison Stine's DUST, about a partially deaf girl in a strict, reclusive family who meets someone else in the Deaf community for the first time, finding connection amidst a land ravaged by climate change, and when a second Dust Bowl of apocalyptic proportions approaches, she and the boy who has begun to secretly teach her sign language must convince their skeptical rural community to flee to safety.

I can’t wait for kids to experience Alison’s powerful voice, with a story that’s so wildly close to her.

Congrats Alison!

Book Deals: Aidan Moher's Fight, Magic, Items to Running Press!

I’ve been a fan of Aidan Moher for a while.

It’s been a real joy, following his essays. Whether he’s writing about fantasy or sci-fi novelists, classic video games, or how those things intersect, his work is something really special and spectacularly geeky.

And now, you’ll get to read his first published non-fiction book.

FIGHT MAGIC ITEMS is Aidan’s deep dive into the history of JRPGs, and how they’ve influenced so much of pop culture. If you’ve never read any of Aidan’s work in that space, I highly recommend checking out his piece that digs into Chrono Trigger. It’s a long, brilliant read, and full of the love and attention to detail you can expect from a full book.

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

Non-fiction / Pop Culture: Hugo-award winner and contributor to Wired, Kotaku, and Electronic Gaming Monthly, Aidan Moher’s FIGHT, MAGIC, ITEMS, an exploration of the history of Japanese role-playing games through deep dive essays and personal interviews, and how their stories have transformed pop culture and won the hearts of gamers worldwide, to Britny Brooks at Running Press, for publication in October 2022.

Goodness I am so excited about this one. And to have another project with THE Britny Brooks, an editor who continuously understands all my spectacularly nerdy projects.

Congrats Aidan!

February's Brain Pick: Chat with Video Game Writers & Authors Mary Kenney and Brittney M. Morris

It’s that time!

Last month’s virtual brain pick felt like a real success, and I’m happy to keep doing them like this. If you attended, thank you! If you didn’t, maybe come to this one? It’s fun, I promise.

This month’s brain pick will feature two special guests near and dear to me, Brittney M. Morris and Mary Kenney!

YA readers will recognize Brittney as the author of Slay and The Cost of Knowing. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know her over the years, as the two of us both write very nerdy books and have done some events together. Recently, she was brought on to work on Spider-Man 2 at Insomniac Games!

And speaking of Insomniac Games, Mary Kenney is a YA author, comics writer, and games writer at Insomniac! I’m lucky enough to represent her in my agent life, and her debut, Gamer Girls, publishes later this year with Running Press.

So, how DO these brain pick chats work?

Well, for the first half hour, we have a conversation. This one will be about writing and games, clearly. Me, Brittney, and Mary will chat about what they do, how it all works, a bit about their wonderful books, all that good stuff.

And then afterwards, we’ll have a solid 90 minutes of Q&A brain pick time. Sometimes it’s a little more, sometimes it’s a little less, depending on how many questions we get. And that’s on whatever you’re curious about. Are you logging on to ask questions about querying or publishing? Working with editors or agents? Or maybe you want to know strictly about gaming! Ask about how to get into writing for them, how the process is different from books, how they got their start? How YOU can get your start.

Well, now’s the time to get those questions answered.

As always, this is a completely free event. We’ll have a tip jar available. Last month we donated to Blue Stoop, and this month we’ll be donating towards Melody L. Simpson’s Melanin in YA.

Register below!

February Brain Pick

Feb 28, 2022 08:00 PM (EST)

Zoom Registration Link

Book Deals: Helen Corcoran's Daughter of Winter and Twilight to O'Brien Press!

Get ready, Corcofans (fans of Helen Corcoran), there’s a new book on the horizon.

Helen Corcoran’s Queen of Coin and Whispers was such a delightful surprise in my agent life. I’ve talked a bit about how this gorgeous YA fantasy novel found its way to me before (read Helen’s original query letter for the story), and it’s been such a joy watching this book absolutely take off.

From starred reviews to an Irish Book Award nomination to having an audiobook narrated by THE QUEEN OF NARNIA, Helen’s debut made such a splash, and I’m so proud.

And it’s time to return to her world.

A sequel to Queen of Coin and Whispers has been greenlit! Get ready for DAUGHTER OF WINTER AND TWILIGHT, coming your way in 2023.

More here from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Helen Corcoran's DAUGHTER OF WINTER AND TWILIGHT, sequel to QUEEN OF COIN AND WHISPERS, which picks up fourteen years after the original, with a princess navigating her place in a politically incendiary realm, where the bonds of history and family grow increasingly frayed, especially when old magic returns to the land, to Kunak McGann at O'Brien Press, for publication in summer 2023, by Eric Smith at P.S. Literary Agency (world).

Watch out. There’s magic.

Book Deals: Kate Fussner's O&E to Katherine Tegen Books!

It’s the first deal of the New Year, and my goodness, it’s a beautiful one.

I’m so thrilled to say that Kate Fussner’s lyrical, beautiful, in-verse debut, O&E, has been picked up by Katherine Tegen Books in a two-book deal. I completely fell apart reading this stunning Middle Grade novel, and I can’t wait for you to, as well.

Here’s a bit more from Publisher’s Weekly:

Sara Schonfeld at HarperCollins/Tegen has bought world English rights to O&E, Kate Fussner's middle grade debut. A queer in-verse retelling of "Orpheus and Eurydice," Fussner's debut follows the story of two middle school girls learning to love each other and themselves as they fight not to lose one another, pitched as What My Mother Doesn't Know meets Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World. Publication is planned for summer 2023; Eric Smith at P.S. Literary Agency brokered the two-book deal.

Get ready. Kate’s a powerful new voice in the kid-lit world. I can’t wait for you to meet her.

January's Brain Pick: Chat with Indie Bookseller, Christina Rosso-Schneider

Hey friends!

In the Before Times, I used to get a bundle of folks together at Indy Hall (thank you Alex and Adam!), for free, in-person brain pick sessions with industry professionals. It was my way of trying to make publishing a bit more accessible, here in Philadelphia. I even did a few of these for my book tour for Don’t Read the Comments, meeting writing groups at cafes before events.

I really miss them. So, it’s time to bring them back.

If you weren’t around for when they were going on, here’s the basic concept. I have a quick, informal conversation with an industry professional on a specific topic, while introducing who they are and what they do, and then… we do a pick-my-brain session for an hour and half.

This is your chance to get those wildly specific questions about your projects answered. Query letter concerns? Industry questions? It’s all on the table, at least, as much as it can be.

This month’s first brain pick session, on January 28th at 8PM EST, is with my good pal (and former classmate) Christina Rosso-Schneider. You can register for the Zoom here.

You might know Christina from her amazing indie bookstore, A Novel Idea, located here in Philadelphia. She’s also a wildly brilliant poet and storyteller, with some astonishing books out in there. Please look up Creole Conjure and She is a Beast, both of which are out now.

Our opening topic?

Talking to Indie Booksellers.

I see it on Twitter all the time. Authors who are a little anxious about chatting with their local bookseller about their book. About hosting an event. About running a preorder campaign. It happens to ME all the time. You walk in, start sweating, whisper something over a copy of your book, and run right out.

In our opening, Christina and I will talk about how to go about working with your local indie bookseller… and why you shouldn’t be afraid.

Afterwards, we’ll open it up to questions. They can be about working with your local bookseller, of course. But it’s also a space to ask those querying, publishing, agenting, writing, etc. concerns. Christina is an amazing resource for not just working with bookstores, but for learning about publishing short fiction and creative essays!

This will be completely free, but I’ll have my tip jar available, with this month’s funds going towards Blue Stoop, a non-profit literary organization here in Philadelphia me and Christina both love.

See you at the end of the month!

—

January Brain Pick with Christina Ross-Schneider

Friday, January 28th, 8PM (EST)

Zoom Link Here!

Manuscript Wishlist: What I'm Looking for in 2022!

Well, it’s that time. The search begins. Again.

I’m back open to queries at P.S. Literary, and here’s what I’m hoping to find in 2022. My big specific wishlist items are the same as they were last year:

• Stories that celebrate neurodiversity, from authors who are themselves neurodivergent, both in fiction and non-fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, and Adult.

• Joyful novels and powerful memoirs about the adoptee experience, written by adoptees. I can’t stress that enough.

• Unique, genre-blending romance novels. For example, I wish I had worked on The Plus One by Sarah Archer or any of Roselle Lim’s breathtaking romantic contemporary fantasy novels. Give me an adult rom-com in space, or with magic. Let’s get weird.

• In-verse kid-lit projects! I have one MG verse novel coming out in 2023, and I really want to work on more in the Middle Grade and Young Adult space. Especially if it’s something genre-blendy. My kingdom for a sci-fi in-verse novel, my goodness.

These were my favorite novels that I read in 2021, which will totally give you an idea of what my taste is like. And of course, the books I’ve worked on in my agent life, which you can check out here.

-#-

Genre Blending Literary & Adult Commercial Fiction

I'm looking for genre-blending fiction... books that pull a bit of genre into the literary. Some of my favorites in that space include Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and The Last One by Alexandra Olivia.

Great examples in my agent life include Mike Chen and Alison Stine’s stunning genre-blending literary novels, which dig into time travel, secret societies, cults, superheroes, climate disasters, and more, while tackling heavy themes around family and relationships. Make me cry, while surprising me chapter after chapter.

• Here and Now and Then

• A Beginning at the End

• We Could Be Heroes

• Light Years From Home

• Road Out of Winter

• Trashlands

I also really love literary fiction that takes you into small worlds and communities where I'm an outsider. A glimpse inside a complex family, or a workplace. Like my client Erica Boyce’s novels (The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green and Lost at Sea).

I’m also really hungry to find some great rom-coms. A few of my clients are working on them, and I’d just love to find some unique, genre-blending romances, like I said above.

So… give me literary fiction that genre blends, commercial fiction that takes me somewhere unknown, and rom-coms that make me laugh and swoon.

Select Science Fiction & Fantasy

I'm a bit picky when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy novels. I love them. I read a ton of them. But they have to be accessible. What does that mean? It means that readers who don't traditionally pick up much sci-fi or fantasy, can pick up one of these novels, and enjoy it.

Some of my favorite sci-fi and fantasy reads include The Book of M by Peng Shepherd and Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton. I also love anything Chuck Wendig, Kat Howard, Fran Wilde, and Delilah S. Dawson writes.

Select Non-Fiction

I’m a little all over the place in non-fiction, but specifically I’m trying to find more memoirs, essay collections, pop history, and wellness books. Please note, I’m not really looking for cookbooks anymore.

With memoir, I’m best suited for projects that read like a collection of essays. James Tate Hill’s Blind Man’s Bluff is a great example of a project I worked on in that space.

When it comes to wellness, I’m looking for platformed writers who are experts in their respective topics, writing books in that space. For example, the projects I’ve done with Sophie Saint Thomas, circulating around sexuality, witchcraft, and cannabis.

Young Adult Fiction + Non-Fiction

I'm always hungry to find bright new voices in YA.

As for what I'm specifically looking for, that's a hard thing to pin down. I read widely in YA, and enjoy just about every genre in it. I love moving contemporary reads, thrilling sci-fi, and lush fantasy. I love diverse and inclusive Young Adult novels that reflect the world, and what the world could be.

To get a sense of my taste in YA, my favorite Young Adult novels released in 2021 were It’s Kind of a Cheesy Love Story by Lauren Morrill, Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp, In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner, The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman, You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao, It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi, and One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite.

My favorite YA novel of all time is a toss up between Hero by Perry Moore and The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness.

When it comes to my favorite YA authors, I've read every book by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera, Nova Ren Suma, Mindy McGinnis, Jeff Zentner, Zoraida Cordova, Meg Medina, Bryan Bliss, Nic Stone, Ashley Poston, and Nina LaCour.

I'd also love to see more YA non-fiction hit my inbox. Memoir, essay collections, you name it. My client Mary Kenney’s Game Changers, a collection of essays on overlooked women in the video game industry, is a good example of what I like.

Middle Grade Fiction + Nonfiction

Last year I opened up to MG and there are a few really lovely projects incoming. To give you an idea of what I’m looking for, some of my favorite recent MG titles were Claribel Ortega’s Ghost Squad, The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert, Clean Getaway by Nic Stone, Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga, and New Kid by Jerry Craft.

I’ve loved all the Middle Grade novels by Preeti Chhibber, Victoria Schwab, Roshani Choskhi, Erin Entrada Kelly, and Ashley Herring-Blake.

What I'm Not Looking For

And now, a quick rundown of what I'm not looking for, to save everyone's time. This isn’t meant to be harsh, just a list of what I don’t really enjoy, and would be a bad fit for.

• Picture Books (pitch my colleague Maria!)

• Angel & demon love stories, Heaven / Hell stories.

• Adult epic fantasy or sci-fi. I’m not right for doorstoppers.

• Cookbooks (not anymore, sorry!)

• Military sci-fi.

• Douglas-Adams-esque sci-fi.

• Non-fiction about sports or politics.

• Novels about suicide.

• Your thriller about some white guy fighting terrorists. It’s bad. I’m gonna hate it.

• Portals.

• Main character is Death.

• Novellas.

• Main character is a bigot and learns a lesson at the expense of marginalized people.

• Redemptive story arcs for abusers. Nope.

• New Adult books.

• Anything comped as "Lovecraftian" (he was racist, not interested)

• Anything comped to Orson Scott Card (if I have to explain this, we can't work together)

• Commercial fiction about sports (exceptions made for sports YA, I love sports YA!)

And that’s about it!

I hope this breakdown was helpful, and I wish you best of luck in your querying. Hopefully I’m a good fit!

My Favorite Reads in 2021

Hey, remember once upon a time when I wrote for a bunch of bookish places? Sadly most of them are gone, and one thing I miss terribly is talking about my favorite books of the year somewhere. Anywhere! On a spot that isn’t just Twitter.

So, here I am, rambling on my website. In a blog post that I’ll share. On Twitter.

This year, I mostly read books to be comforted and to inform my writing, and sometimes, I’m lucky enough to pick up a book that does both.

So! Here are those comforting and powerful reads that taught me something this year. And might teach you something too.

Young Adult Novels:

• You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

• Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zae Kemp

• It’s Kind of a Cheesy Love Story by Lauren Morrill:

• Fresh by Margot Wood

• Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler

• The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

• Vampires, Hearts, & Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston

• Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

• The Jasmine Project by Meredith Ireland

• Into the Bloodred Woods by Martha Brockenbrough

• In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner

• It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi

• Everything Within and In Between by Nikki Barthelmess

• Journey to the Heart of the Abyss by London Shah

• Blackout by Angie Thomas, Nicola Yoon, Ashley Woodfolk, Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, and Nic Stone

Adult Novels:

• The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

• Shipped by Angie Hockman

• The Love Hypothesis By Ali Hazelwood

• The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

• Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

• Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

• Float Plan by Trish Doller

• Hot Copy by Ruby Barrett

• Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor (Short Stories)

• Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper

• Sword Stone Table by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington (Anthology)

• For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

When it comes to other categories, I really didn’t read as much Middle Grade as I would have liked to, but. absolutely inhaled Alex London’s first installment in the Battle Dragons series the day it came out. And every Preeti Chhibber project is an auto-buy for me, so I loved The Sinister Substitute, the latest in her Marvel Avengers series.

And in the graphic novel space, I devoured Wendy Xu’s latest, Tidesong and Whitney Gardner’s Long Distance. Both of those authors are insta-buys for me, and these books were wonderful.

Treat yourself to these titles. They were all wonderful.