*with apologies to Blink 182

Tip of the Day: Get ready for the WriteOnCon Luck 'O the Irish Pitch Fest in March! Start prepping your pitches now and get feedback in February. Get details on various book blogger sites.

As any YA writer who pays attention to the wide cast of the internets knows, the subject of New Adult has been gaining more and more attention.

If you do need to catch up, the awesome bloggers at School Library Journal's Adult Books 4 Teens (more specifically this post here; and you can search SLJ.com for "new adult" and get more hits) talk about the topic, as do the writers at NA Alley.

The pov I'm using to write this post is from my YA Librarian position, and the format I'm focusing on for the New Adult materials is print books, and the definition of New Adult I'm going to use is from NA Alley:

We view New Adult fiction (NA) as a category of literature —- meaning, it gives readers content expectations, but it does not dictate genre-based criteria. Typically, a novel is considered NA if it encompasses the transition between adolescence —- a life stage often depicted in Young Adult (YA) fiction —- and true adulthood.

Protagonists typically fall between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, though exceptions may apply. NA characters are often portrayed experiencing: college, living away from home for the first time, military deployment, apprenticeships, a first steady job, a first serious relationship, etc.

In my role at a public library with a specialty in materials for grades 6-12, the idea of New Adult as a focus from publishers is both fabulously awesome and a tidge bit daunting.

First, why the idea of NA rocks:

1. As an 18-22 year old college student, I remember it being difficult to find books that related to my life experience, and although today there are more titles that cover that time period in a young adult's life, there is still a gap compared to those titles focusing on older and younger age brackets.

2. As a 16-17 year old high school student, I remember it being difficult to find books that related to the life experiences I expected for myself (college), and again, there is still a gap compared to those titles focusing on other age brackets.

3. As a YA Librarian, I love reading, compiling, and recommending the Alex Awards titles and highlighting them in my YA area even though they are published by adult imprints and purchased by the Adult Services Librarian and her budget for the reasons listed below -- although those Alex Award titles don't often reflect the NA definition above.

4. I'm sure a number of great authors have NA stories in them, and that it is difficult for them to find publishers, so it is great for there to be a wider opportunity for stories that would be loved and appreciated by readers.

Now, why the idea of NA is a tidge bit daunting:

1. If YA imprints pick up NA titles, I can purchase them with my YA budget and shelve the books in my YA section because it spans grades 6-12...BUT if NA imprints become their "own thing" and the price point is higher than YA titles, it will be trickier for me to stretch my budget (since my budget is based on YA prices).

2. If adult imprints pick up NA titles, I COULD purchase them with my YA budget, but most likely the Adult Services Librarian and her budget would have to purchase them due to the price point...and I might have to continuously recommend these titles to her since they may be off her radar.

3. If the adult budget buys the NA titles, then they will be shelved with the adult books, interfiled by author, so without a pathfinder for readers, the books will not stand out.

4. Even though my YA Area is for grades 6-12, some parents/teachers/readers may complain that "risque" NA titles for 18-year-olds should not be in the same area as books for 12-year-olds (even though I don't have a problem with it).

Overall, I will embrace the New Adult books as they come down the pike, and take each reviewed/recommended title on a case-by-case basis to see which library division should purchase it/where it should be shelved, and time will tell how successful any of these marketing attempts turn out to be.

What are your thoughts on New Adult titles in libraries and where they should be shelved?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: Read about Kate's 2013 goals here, and Tina's 2012 recap here.

Happy 2013, readers!

In my library world and writing life, I'm constantly thinking about...(read with a booming voice)... *The Future of Books and Reading.*

So what topics are occupying my mind? Probably the same ones that many of our readers are thinking about, namely:

1. Ebook sales to libraries. Will *all* publishers soon allow libraries to purchase and lend their ebooks? I hope so! Right now it looks to patrons like libraries are lagging behind in ebook purchases when in reality it is the publishers who have not yet decided how to sell these books. I can't wait for this perception and reality to change.

2. Ebook lending on OverDrive. Right now OverDrive, my library system's lending platform, does not allow all self-published books to be sold through OD to libraries so we can lend them to patrons. I'm not sure what the cost to OD is to "stock" books for libraries to purchase, but I know that as the YA Librarian I would love to be able to puchase and lend self-pubbed YA titles. Right now authors must apply to OD to sell their books and they can be rejected. I'm not sure why and I hope this changes.

3. New YA lines. Merit Press, Soho Teen, Entangled Teen, Spencer Hill Press, Month9Books, Strange Chemistry, Poisoned Pencil, Algonquin Teen.... Hopefully this list will continue to grow! I love having more options of lines to buy from for my library. I also love having more publishers that may be interested in reading my work! But with the popularity of YA fiction, will even more writers be submitting to these publishers, still making it hard to get noticed in a glutted market? I know good writing trumps all, but the reality is that pubs can only release so many books per season. Time will tell....

4. New YA agents. It seems that Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents Blog regularly posts new agents hunting for authors to rep, and many of them rep YA fiction. Yay! I'm so glad there are pros in the field who love YA fiction as much as I do. But when I look more closely I see that many of them do NOT rep MG fiction, which I also write...and some may actually be better agents for adult fiction and are only hoping to score a YA author since that is a hot seller now. OK, so I might be reading too much into agent interests, but it's hard for an MG/YA author to find the right agents to query for this reason.

5. New Adult: the "genre." This December 14 Publishers Weekly article on the "New Adult" label made the rounds last month and sparked many discussions about the topic on both writing boards and YA Librarian lists I belong to. I plan on giving my thoughts on this in more detail in another post, but for now I will say I am a) excited that books targeted to 18-24-year-olds are gaining momentum because it is a gap that needs filling, and b) I've always wanted to write stories featuring MCs of those ages so I like that the market is opening for them.

Thoughts on any of the (5) topics above?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the day: See what your library is doing for Teen Read Week (October 14-20)!

Summer is over and the YA books at my library that were checked out by teen readers all season are making their way back onto my shelves.

Based on the displays I did over the past three months, what were the types of books checked out the most?

Here they are, from the most popular to the less popular, though the books know I love them all.

1. Dystopian. I put up a display of "If you like The Hunger Games, try these" books in preparation for my showing the The Hunger Games on DVD -- and the shelves were cleaned out daily. A mix of light sci-fi made its way onto this display too and was very popular. While I am close to done with reading new books in this genre, I think the teens still love it because they haven't been reading them as they were released all year; they were catching up this summer. Is there room for more on the shelves? It will take a unique premise for me to buy them as they come out in 2012/2013.

2. Paranormal Romance. Zombies and angels and mermaid oh my! Like with dystopian, I have no shortage of titles to put on this shelf featuring these creatures, but the teens seem hungry for more. And I have to say, the mermaids went super fast, even though in my opinion, those are the stories that feel the most similar to each other. With Amanda Hocking's new mermaid series, I'm sure these books will continue to go out even if new titles wane as publishers are filled up.

3. Even More Paranormal Romance. The vampires didn't fly out the door the way the faerie books did (I had them paired together), but they still hold appeal to the teens.

4. There Be Ghosts. To promote my ghost hunting program, I pulled books I loved that have ghost hunters and just creepy ghost stories. Unfortunately the program had to be cancelled for lack of registrants, but the books were still popular.

5. GLBT Fiction. I love that these stories, mosty contemporary YAs, find an audience. There are some awesome titles in this category.

6. No More Bullies. Novels about bullies, the bullied, and the affects of bullying again primarily feature contemporary YA plots, and again I like seeing these titles checked out amongst the otherworldly books.

7. Realistic Historical Fiction. To promote our Civil War 150-Year Commemoration Week at the library, and then to promote a Veterans Memorial Essay Contest for my town, I did a display of books that take place during pivotal points in American history. I think maybe one book was checked out. Historical fiction that depicts reality without any paranormal or fantastical elements are a very hard sale right now.
What books have the teens you know been clamoring for?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: Taking a trip to Burlington, VT? If so, you must stay at this B&B! The Willard Street Inn is the epitome of fabulous location, grounds, staff, breakfast, and cookies. Total hospitality.

After reading Kate's post from Monday, I was inspired to blog about an adult non-fiction book that I am reading (a recommendation from my sister Andrea Lipomi, author of AMERICAN SPASPITALITY):


Danny Meyer is the successful restauranteur of 11 restaurants in NYC, and this book talks about how he got to where he is -- and the secrets to his continued success. Namely, hospitality.

Now I haven't finished reading it yet, but based on the first half and the words of my sister, Danny's thoughts on hospitality can apply to any business or service you offer -- not just food service.

For example, at a public library, the service you expect is checking out the materials you want. But extra hospitality in the library is when the library staff is happy to serve you, sees what you enjoy reading/viewing and recommends additional choices, tells you about other events coming up that you may enjoy, and genuinely wishes you a good day and thanks for their patronage.

If the library cannot give you the materials you seek, the staff focused on hospitality will offer options to get the items in as painful and quick a way as possible.

Now replay this scenario in a bookstore. Hospitality keeps people coming back. Booksellers who handsell midlist authors or other books the customers may not have picked up themselves show personal attention; they don't just point customers to the bestseller tables at the front of the store.

I'm not sure what my total point here is, lol, but I do know this:
1. We need bookstores and booksellers to talk to potential customers about books (ditto for libraries/librarians/patrons);
2. We need e-retailers to sell ebooks for immediate customer satisfaction (ditto for ebooks available through libraries);
3. The combination of (1) and (2) above is probably the best (a bookseller talks up Book A, customer is excited, bookseller sees the hard copies are sold out, customer can still immediately buy a copy for her ereader).

We need everyone who loves books to work together (read Megg's post from Friday for more on this) and keep the book buying/lending businesses/services hospitable to all.

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: WriteOnCon goes through the end of the day today! Check out this amazing and super well-attended FREE online kidlit conference.

At my library, the Children's Services Manager is hiring a new part-time Children's Librarian. The head Reference Librarian and I are on the interviewing committee. We sifted through over 30 applications to find six candidates to interview, and on paper, they look great!

Next comes the interviews. Dun dun DUN....

Based on conducting interviews for such positions in the past, I have some advice.

Now I'd hate to spout wrong information regarding interviews for other non-librarian jobs in the kidlit world (as a Children's/YA bookseller, agent, editor, teacher, etc. for example), but if you are being interviewed for one of these positions, it cannot hurt to consider the following.

1. Know the most recent Caldecott/Newbery/Printz/Morris Award winners. Please. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY, no matter how much you may have disliked the titles, know who won and possibly a runner-up or two. Nothing says, "I don't keep my eye on the industry at ALL" like having no clue about any of these titles.


2. Be able to name at least five of your favorite RECENT (within the past year or so) picture books, MG novels, and YA novels. This is where knowing the runner's up from the awards in (1) above can also come in handy (let your research do double duty).


3. Exude a huge interest in kids/teens/kidlit. Don't tell me you always wanted to be a librarian; say you always wanted to be a CHILDREN'S librarian. I don't want to think you just want ANY job (even if you do); make me think you are DYING for THIS job and you will just be CRUSHED AND BAWLING if you cannot officially call yourself a Children's Librarian (or whatever is relevant).


4. Be able to book talk some of your favorite titles without rambling/taking up half the interview. PRACTICE this out loud to yourself ahead of time if you are not comfortable doing book talks -- CONCISE book talks. We all know that person who tells you every detail of a movie/book they just watched/read so you don't even need to watch/read it yourself; DO NOT BE THAT PERSON.

Keep in mind, you don't need to memorize any of this info. You can come into the interview with a notebook with notes on it. You will look PREPARED! You will look INTERESTED! And you will NOT look EMBARASSED when you don't know the info above. Note: this can be super awkward for the interviewers too.

What questions do you have about the above? Any? Need any advice on interviewing for a librarian job? The door is now open!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: Emily may have said yesterday that Wendy's summer beverages are delish, but for those lucky enough to live near a Wegmans, their organic lemonades are addicting!

I love summer time in the library! Let me count the ways:

1. Kids and teens are exciting about reading! Yes, we also bribe them with Summer Reading prizes and parties, but they love talking about the books they've read.

2. Teens are done with exams and have time to read so my YA shelves are nearly bare. YAY! I love it when stuff is checked out, especially my new book shelves! Not kidding. Probably 100 new books checked out. Sweet!

3. It is so busy that the time on the reference desk flies by.

4. It is air-conditioned.

5. I can sit outside in the shade during my lunch breaks and write without shivering.

6. Natural vitamin-D for better patron/staff moods.

What are you favorite things about summer at your local library?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: Catch up with the books I read and what I think of them here.

A few weeks ago, a reader asked what teen books are currently going out from the library like hot cakes. I've been monitoring my YA library collection in order to properly answer this question. And I've learned that the answer is: It depends.

Here are some observations.

1. I had a YA display up for all of May, Asian American Heritage Month books; titles that featured Asian characters or themes. And over the course of the month, only a handful of books were checked out -- and I have a fairly large Asian population in my town. These books were a mix of historical, contemporary, and fantasy stories.

2. I had a YA display up for two weeks in May, Jewish Heritage Month books; titles that featured Jewish characters or themes. And over the coures of the two weeks, a large number of these books were checked out -- and I have a very large Jewish population in my town. These books were a mix of historical (WWII/Holocaust primarily) and contemporary.

3. I had a YA display up for four days in June (so far), Gay Pride Month books; titles that featured GLBT characters or themes. And over the course of the four days, a lot of these books were checked out (and this display was super popular last year over the course of June as well) -- and I have no idea how big the gay population is in my town. These books are primarily contemporary fiction.

4. In the books that were NOT recently on display, I've noticed these titles/genres going out:

a) high fantasy (ex. Cinda Williams Chima's HEIR series)


b) spy novels (ex. Ally Carter's series)


c) action adventure novels (ex. James Patterson's series, Anthony Horowitz's series, Cassandra Clare's series)


A lot of "midlist" books that I bought in 2009/2010 are now languishing on the shelves, even if they are good books, and sadly I will probably have to weed them to make space for new stuff soon. BUT it's amazing how much these same titles can suddenly take off when they are put on the local school's summer reading lists or for assignments. I can see why authors get so excited when their books make the "state award lists."

Another conclusion is that while high fantasy and some paranormal romance are still going strong, contemporary is being read a lot, too, compared to the past couple years (during the TWILIGHT series' debuts).

Oh, and if you want to know the title in general with the most holds in our system, it is 50 SHADES OF GREY (about 700 holds between the hard copy and ebook versions; yes, it's beating out HUNGER GAMES).

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: Anyone in the greater Rochester, NY area must come to our Teen Book Festival this Saturday!

Last Thursday, Tina talked about which author events are generally worth an author's time. One type of event she didn't mention are Book Festivals. I guess they could be considered similar to "Author Fairs," but I'm not sure; hopefully someone will weigh in with their opinion on if these are a "must" or "bust."

What I do know is that the Rochester Teen Book Festival has grown and grown over the past seven years, and there are thousands of teens who attend. Through the promotion and publicity for the event, the attending author's names are spread across the county, and much of Western NY. Authors now ask the Fest organizer if they can come, instead of her having to pursue them. Part of it is, from what I hear, because of how well the authors are treated by the organizers.

But some authors still say no thanks when they are invited.

For the authors who do attend, is it worth going? Like Tina said, it is an all-day affair that takes away from writing/family time. Some publishers do pay the authors' travel expenses, but some do not, so for a long trip that can be pricey and a lot of books would need to sell for it to be worth it financially.

If the authors want to connect with teen readers, they will often succeed at this event. But if teens have limited money to spend and can't buy ooks no matter how much they love an author and her presentation, is it worth it?

And if you are an author with a limited audience/brand new book without a following yet, some authors may worry that no teens will attend their breakout sessions which can be stressful.

Yet during the autographing session at the end of the day, it is hard not to get excited at all the teens who are into books and authors and reading!

What do you think about Book Festivals as worthy author events?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: I entered The Writer's Voice, a cool contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista van Dolzer of Mother. Write. Repeat. I'm #81 on this list if you want to read a blurb and opening 250 words for my YA novel. Whether or not I make the final 40 cut, it's been a great contest to enter and check out the other writers' works!

Two weeks ago, I hosted my library's Teen Lit Contest Award Ceremony and Reception. There were so many great poems and prose (fiction and non) entered.

This year's trends in teen submissions? Amongst the winners we had:

--Mermaids/Water creatures
--Fantasy/Sci-fi epic tales
--School settings
--Sports
--Survival/Adventures
--Angst/Reflection
--Satire

This year there were no vampires or zombies. Does that mean teens are tiring of them? That with all the school, sports, surivial, and angst pieces perhaps it is the time for contemporary realistic to come back?

The best part of the ceremony is hearing the winners read from their works. They put so much of themselves into the words that it makes their pieces even stronger. I do love this part of my job!

Anyone out there with teens, what are they clamoring for? If they are writers, what are they writing?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Thinking of a career in public librarianship? Go to your local library and ask the reference librarian on duty some questions. We love to talk about our careers, and will take your inquiries as reference stats. Bonus!
On Saturday, I was a panelist with four other public librarians who spoke to a group of Masters in Library Science graduate students at the University at Buffalo. It was a great experience and I was honored to be asked.

I got a lot out of the Q&A format, and I hope the students did as well. My perspective of my career broadened by listening to the students' questions/concerns, and the responses from the other librarians around western NY.

For example:
--one panelist has been a librarian on four continents
--one had to stand between an angry husband with a gun and the man's wife who worked at the library until the police arrived
--one talked about the need for librarians to listen to what the public wanted, not just to tell the public what we will provide
--one discussed the library's role in being useful to refugees
--one had a cool local history program, where historians talked about old objects and collections important to the region
--one talked about loving the creativity allowed in her job
--and I, of course, talked about needing passion for your job, a forward-thinking apporach, and the idea that one must always try to keep oneself relevent in librarianship as books and access to information continues to change.

What questions would you have for a public librarian about her field?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

*with apologies to Jerry Maguire

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: The public library is not a social services office, but remember that sometimes it feels that way.

I'm not an agent or editor, but as a YA Librarian, I have a "wish list" of books I'd like to see on my shelves, too. While I can't sell or produce these types of books, I can buy them, talk about them to my colleagues, put them on library book lists for patrons, put them face-out on displays, and directly set them into the hands of readers. Here's my current YA wish list:



1. Realistic, contemporary books with boy main characters that are funny but grounded. (Examples: SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO by Eric Luper; FOOD, GIRLS, & OTHER THINGS I CAN'T HAVE by Allen Zadoff; NOTES FROM THE MIDNIGHT DRIVER by Jordan Sonnenblick) Girls will read these books, AND I can give them to boys who are looking for something humorous.



2. Teen books with tween appeal. (Exampls: THE GALLAGHER GIRLS SERIES by Ally Carter; JUST ONE WISH by Janette Rallison; THE ESPRESSOLOGIST by our Kristina Springer) Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade girls particularly will come to me while I'm working reference in the children's room and ask for some "more good books from the teen area." *PLEASE NOTE: This is very different than the PARENTS who come to me in this scenario and say that their kids are "very advanced readers" who need teen books since they've outgrown the middle grade novels -- but the books can't involve romantic relationships or kissing or or or....* These girls just want to expand their library and book horizons with more "innocent" titles that feature slightly older scenarios and characters.

3. Contemporary fiction with non-white characters on the cover -- that aren't stories about the hood/drugs/race "issues". I want Sarah Dessen with an Indian girl on the cover. I want Jordan Sonnenblick with a Chinese boy on the cover. (*Edited to add: YES! A Jordan Sonnenblick novel DOES already exist with a Chinese boy on the cover and the story is funny and the cover is great -- ZEN AND THE ART OF FAKING IT -- and I'd love more like this to put face-out on my shelves.) This wish is more to the publishers than the authors, although count me amongst readers who want to see characters from all over the globe in my books so if you can write them, bring it on! I have so many non-white teens in my town who don't see themselves on the covers of YA books -- but they read a ton, and when I give them a book that features a teen who is Fill-in-the-Blank-American like they are, they are so happy.

I have to throw some middle-grade wish list titles too:



1. True science fiction with boy and girl characters. (Examples: a "younger" ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card; CHRONAL ENGINE by Greg Leitich Smith) I get this question from a lot of student teachers, and it's a good extension for all the kids who ask for Star Wars books all the time and are looking to expand their base.

2. Ditto (3) above in the YA section, but for middle grade fiction (non-white kids on the covers of just good contemporary fiction).

All right, who's gonna write them? :)

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Enjoy my blog posts? Think they mean I'm a good librarian? Think that means my Brighton Memorial Library is the best public library in Monroe County? Vote for BML!

On March 12th, I am presenting book talks on Hot Teen Titles to a bunch of librarians! Anyone who's met me in person knows I can booktalk for hours. I only get 20 minutes, so I better practice my speed-talking!



To prepare a well-rounded presentation and book list, I've been reading a lot of new teen graphic novels and non-fiction. I loved LILY RENEE, ESCAPE ARTIST (graphic novel) and am enjoying THE PREGNANCY PROJECT (non-fiction), but since I usually read teen fiction, I want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything HOT that was released between September 2011 and March 2012.



Does anyone have any recommendations of teen GNs or NF that I must read and include in my presentation?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day:  Did you hear J.K. Rowling's big news?

Question: What's keeping teens from reading ebooks?

Short answer: Nothing.

There was this really interesting article from Publisher's Weekly about teens and ebooks earlier this week. Read it here.

Based on a survey, teens are "reluctant" to embrace ebooks. Then the articles goes to talk about how agents, editors, and writers disagree. I think that's fantastic! In whole, it's a really exciting article about the future of ebooks for teens. There are some pretty cool apps that can be piggybacked on ebooks and it seems publishers are jumping on that. Luuuuv that idea - planning to do that myself in the future.

Unfortunately, I think there were a couple of odd assumptions made in the article.

Tip of the Day: Tina has a HILARIOUS short story on a teen's first job in a grocery store in this new YA short story anthology of firsts! I bought it -- I mean, it's only $2.99. You can't lose!


In addition to the Mock Printz Club at my local high school, I am also attending the meetings for the Mock Newbery Club at the junior high. I've only read three of these so far, but have two others on hand that I can't wait to read. And the books selected by the committee of librarians and English teachers are:


(Yes, Gary Schmidt's book is on the Mock Printz AND Mock Newbery lists. It really straddles readerships, though I think it will resonate more with older teens.)







(The poems in this book are amazing! Multiply layered and brilliant.)

These two are "extras" since some of the selection committee thought MISS PEREGRINE could be too creepy for their 6th graders, and some thought EMERALD ATLAS was too commercial/not "literary" enough. But let me tell you, I can't wait to read MP!

What are your picks for the Newbery this January?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Tip of the Day: I just finished watching all of Martha Alderson's Plot Whisperer Tips on YouTube while taking notes. Wow. I know this will help me as I go through my ms one last time in November. Have you watched all 27 parts yet?

Some awesome teens at my local high school are doing a Mock Printz Club and invited me to sit in. I love hearing their thoughts on different titles! Here's their short list. I agree with many of them and have read 8 out of 11. Three of these are my faves of the year (along with RIVAL by Sara Bennett Wealer), and one was a fave of last year (I read the ARC) so I was thrilled to see them on the high schoolers' list!

The teens vote on their faves in January. Which have you read and loved?























Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing