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| Photo by me. I’m on Instagram here. |
There were some good publishing and books links in the past few weeks, and here are the ones that caught my eye.
But first, as I mentioned last week my friend and colleague Christine Pride, who has edited 7 NY Times bestsellers, is offering some private consultations this month. Check it out.
And in April I will be venturing to the lovely state of Wisconsin for the UW-Madison Writers’ Institute! I’ll be giving some talks and workshops and would love to see you there if you can make it.
Now then. Links!
Big congrats to Kate DiCamillo, who won the 2014 Newbery Award for Flora and Ulysses, to Brian Floca, who won the Caldecott for Locomotive, to Marcus Sedgwick, who won the Printz for Midwinterblood, and to Markus Zusak, who received the Margaret A. Edwards Award.
Amazon released its list of the bestselling books of 2013, with Inferno by Dan Brown taking the top spot.
Sarah McCarry, aka The Rejectionist, has kicked off the first few entries in her series on writing and depression/mental illness, and it’s off to a seriously terrific start. Here are the posts featuring Mairead Case, s.e. smith, Red Mills and Christine Hou.
Author Amanda Hocking had a really great an honest post about hitting a rough spot and not really being sure how much to share online or not.
Ann Morgan decided to read one book from every country in the world. Such a cool project. She shared her favorites with The Atlantic.
What makes for better writing – getting more words on the page or working slowly and getting things right the first time? Here’s a vote for quantity. I’m not sure I agree. (via Jennifer Hubbard)
And what’s the difference between middle grade and YA? Agent Janet Reid describes some of the differences.
The past few weeks in the forums: Title tips, book marketing as a marathon, and query critiques!
And finally, The Beatles’ famous impromptu rooftop concert, which ended up being their last, happened 45 years ago. Amazing:
Have a great weekend!
There's always at least one must-read link in these posts. Thanks, Nathan!
Madison! That's only 3 hours away! And one of my favorite cities. Maybe…
Erica and I live in Wisconsin. We met at the institute a few years ago. It'd be great to hear you speak! Christy
The Wisconsin conference sounds great! Seems comparable to Midwest Writers Conference in Muncie, IN.
Not sure if I'll get an answer to a question 3 days after this post, but here goes: Checked Amazon for DiCamillo's Flora and Ulysses and saw it categorized as "genre-busting." What the heck is that? I can speculate – crosses/mixes genres; makes a new one; ignores genre, etc. – but if anyone knows or thinks they know, I'd appreciate it. (If I don't get a response here I'll try somewhere else.) Thanks
Here's something I found interesting from McCarry's series on depression.
Mairead Case: "I do take medication, and I do see a therapist. … I never ever skimp on appointments or meds … I'd imagine I'll stay on medication for the rest of my life."
s.e. smith: "I have really benefited from the use of medication … In the past, therapy has been really helpful. … I find both therapy and medication effective in my case."
Red Mills: "Regular therapy and my antidepressants are among some of the few reasons why I'm still alive."
Christine Hou: "Currently, I’m not in therapy because it takes too much time out of my schedule. I find medication to be effective for me."
Litsa Dremousis: "I’ve learned I absolutely must stay on Zoloft. … I did benefit quite a bit from both my former therapists."
Every one of them is benefiting from medication, and every one of them has — at least in the past — benefited from therapy. Five out of five. Yes, there will be some people who aren't helped by medication and/or therapy. But anyone with depression really should give medication and therapy a real chance.