Magical Allies: How Debbie Black Found the Perfect Small Press for Her Middle Grade Series SARA AND THE GHOST CLOTHES

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Magical Allies: How Debbie Black Found the Perfect Small Press for Her Middle Grade Series SARA AND THE GHOST CLOTHES

For my most recent author Q&A, I interviewed author Debbie Black. Debbie and I worked together on a full manuscript critique last year, and this past January, Coalesce Publishing released her middle grade novel DEETJEN’S CLOSET, the first in the SARA AND THE GHOST CLOTHES series. I’m delighted to be working with Debbie again this fall on McMENAMIN’S CLOSET, the next book in the series, which will also be published by Coalesce. Learn about the magic in Debbie’s novel—and that of her writing community—below.

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Middle Grade, Young Adult, and the Space in Between

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Middle Grade, Young Adult, and the Space in Between

While the MG category has its own gray areas, the YA category is especially tricky to define. It was only a decade ago, following the publication of series such as Twilight and Hunger Games, that YA became a publishing phenomenon and was given a stand-alone bestseller list by the New York Times. It was just two decades ago that the Harry Potter books, widely considered middle grade, began dominating the book market. What makes a book middle grade or young adult today? The answer depends on several factors, as agents and publishers explain.

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At the Heart of It All: How J.C. Cervantes Honored Her Writing Spirit and Became a Bestselling Author

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At the Heart of It All: How J.C. Cervantes Honored Her Writing Spirit and Became a Bestselling Author

J.C. Cervantes and I first crossed paths 10 years ago, when she had already published a middle grade novel but was looking to move her writing career forward. We worked together on a few different partial manuscripts that didn’t quite find a home—but then, in 2017, she landed a book deal with Rick Riordan Presents. Today, Jen is the New York Times bestselling author of several middle grade and YA books. Learn about her amazing journey here.

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23 Diversity-Centered Events to Attend in 2023

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23 Diversity-Centered Events to Attend in 2023

Several literary organizations offer events that are specifically designed for, or feature the work of, writers who have historically been placed on the margins. Here is a list of 23 such events, including conferences, book fairs, festivals, and retreats, all scheduled for 2023.

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This Month in Book News (December 2022 + past posts from previous three months)

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This Month in Book News (December 2022 + past posts from previous three months)

This is a continuation of my series “This Month in Book News,” a new iteration of the “This Week in Book News” segment I previously wrote for my Facebook business page. Post-publication, I combined previous posts into this one and retitled this page.

My December round-up of book news includes:

*Book publishing’s “best friend” and “starriest powerbroker”

*Why Penguin Random House is back in the news

*The latest on the “most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle ever written”

*Why this has been a stellar year for South Asian writers

*The books, authors, words & more of the year

Happy New Year!

[Featured image created from various images, clockwise from left: Sri Lanka’s Shehan Karunatilaka (taken from The Guardian); the cover image of Hernan Diaz’s TRUST; Reese Witherspoon (taken from The Guardian); the poster for “Catherine Called Birdie” (taken from IMDB), the Penguin Random House logo; the TikTok logo; Colleen Hoover (taken from the author’s website)]

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My November round-up of book news includes:

*The demise of the PRH-S&S merger and the latest on the HarperCollins Union strike

*The winners of this year’s National Book Awards

*The best books of the year according to the New York Times, Barnes & Noble, and me

*The significance of “gaslighting,” “permacrisis”—and ”goblin mode”?

*Why Joan Didion, Virginia Woolf, and Bob Dylan are back in the news

Featured photo taken from BBC news

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My October round-up of book news covers:

*The winners of the Nobel and Booker Prizes and National Book Award finalists

*The 100th anniversary of “the most important poem of the twentieth century”

*Literary legends who are soon to be immortalized on postage stamps

*The latest on Prince Harry’s memoir, SPARE

*The children’s classic that has been adapted into a feature film, an opera—and now a musical

Featured photo taken from PTC News

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In my September round-up of book news, I cover:

*How profits are up in the publishing industry, but it might be “broken”

*Banned Books Week, and the city that’s become a “book sanctuary city”

*The famous (and infamous) people who are writing novels

*Literary losses, including Booker Prize winning author Dame Hilary Mantel

*And the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who was “a true bibliophile”

Featured photo taken from the Penguin UK website

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