Top Picks Thursday 12-06-2012

Want to help Hurricane Sandy victims and get some cool prizes? Check out the YA for NJ charity auction going on now through Dec 6. HURRY, ENDS TODAY!

In an earlier charity auction, KidLit Cares, Joanne Levy reveals the amazing final tally.

In another good book for a good cause, Donna Galanti is donating books sales from A HUMAN ELEMENT to the Pearl S. Buck Adoption Foundation through the month of December.

Since it is December, that means book awards and book lists!

YALSA lists its Nonfiction Award finalists, and the 2012 Nerdy Book Club Award nominees are announced (voting begins shortly—cast yours!).

How many Best Books of 2012 Lists can you find online? Here’s some we found: The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2012; Slate’s Best Books of 2012; and Kirkus Reviews’ Best Children’s Books of 2012.

Not Best of 2012, but book lists nonetheless: the NY Public Library 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list and Robert Gottlieb’s Top 10 Charles Dickens books.

Suzanne Collins is writing a picture book about war through the eyes of a child for Scholastic (fall 2013).

And if you’re a mom looking to bond with your daughter – start a Mother-Daughter Book Club!

NANOWRIMO

NaNo is over. Now what? Lee Bross tells us what to do with your NaNo manuscript;  Kristen Halbrook gathered agents’ thoughts on NaNo drafts; Joe Bunting lists 7 things to do when NaNo is over; and Chuck Wendig gives us surefire advice on how to flush your NaNo efforts down the toilet.

CRAFT

Every story starts with a concept. But how do you know if your concept can carry a book? Larry Brooks shares the secret to a successful concept. Once you put pen to paper, Michelle Krys talks about the emotional differences between drafting and revising.

Picking a POV for your story is always tricky. Dan O’Shea talks about the challenges of writing in the second person POV. Once you’re actually drafting, Jami Gold tackles transitions within a story by reminding us that every action should be a reaction to the prior action. And if you’re writing for an international audience, Oliver Randall demystifies the most common British/American English spelling mistakes.

Kristin Cashore walks us through writing and revising BITTERBLUE; Mark Nichol lists 7 reference resources for writers and editors; Patricia Zaballos gives us 5 tips for offering better writing feedback; and Krissy Brady tells us how to go from To-Do list to To-Done list.

There are a lot of different ways to push us through our writing even when the rest of the world gets in the way. A lot of writers use music as inspiration—for instance, Lucas Mangum’s playlist for his novel-in-progress FLESH & FIRE. Silas House recommends writing (in your head at least) every moment of the day, which requires perfecting the art of being still even while moving. And Therese Walsh explains how her biggest inspiration came at the moment of her worst defeat.

Sometimes, as the saying goes, people just can’t handle the truth. Tony Woodlief discusses the cost of writing the truth, while Angela Scott warns non-writers, “If you ask a writer what they’re thinking, prepare to be disturbed.”

It’s the end of the year—time for looking at our accomplishments in 2012 and planning for 2013. Sometimes, though, we make resolutions that are impossible to keep, setting us up for failure. Kristi Holl describes her simplified writing goals for 2013. Stina Lindenblatt forgoes resolutions altogether—she urges making a business plan for 2013 instead.

BUSINESS

The big news this week is that in 2013, many authors have the right under the Copyright Act to terminate contracts over 35 years old and reclaim their backlist. Names such as Stephen King and Judy Blume are among those eligible to take their works back from publishers.

Amazon plans a European publishing push beginning in 2013; Random House launches three new digital-only imprints; and HarperCollins Worldwide takes full ownership of HarperCollins India.

In other publishing news, HarperCollins and the J.R.R. Tolkien estate file an $80 million suit against The Hobbit producers; Ella Delany explores the impact of the Penguin and Random House merger on literary agents; and Jane Friedman debuts her monthly round-up of the best writing business links.

In genre issues, Teen Librarian Toolbox wonders what’s going on with the revival of New Adult—currently defined by publishers as ages 14-35. TLT points out the obvious: what is appropriate and interesting to a 14-year-old is not the same as for a 35-year-old, and vice versa.

YA is a very hot genre right now, with a lot of crossover to adults. Joe Monti tries to showcase diversity in YA with the new anthology DIVERSE ENERGIES, and he discusses how important covers are in bringing “minority” books to mainstream readers. In a troubling development in YA, publishers are beginning to allow adult tastes to influence what they buy for YA. Teen Librarian Toolbox worries that the YA genre will disappear as adult tastes push out true teen themes and concerns.

Agent Janet Reid talks about writing “rules” and focuses on the only one that matters: do your first pages make her want to read more? Agent Marie Lamba advises to NEVER tell an agent how your book should make her feel in your query. Agent Linda P. Epstein describes what to expect when you finally get an agent.

Are you looking for an agent? Here’s some new agents looking for clients: Andy Scheer of Hartline Literary seeking fiction and nonfiction, and Laura Biaga of Jean V. Naggar Literary seeking adult fiction and kids books.

If you want to get short stories out there to build your audience and platform, Michael Kardos explains how and where to get a short story published.

Our platform is mostly online these days. Henneke Duistermaat shows how to draw in blog readers using the 7 psychological triggers to fascination, while Kristen Lamb explains how we can brag online without being obnoxious.

THE UNIQUE SHELF

If you’re into travel and exploration, you can soon check out this rare collection of travel and exploration books donated to the University of Wisconsin by Bruce Glover Kohler.

You can buy Oscar Wilde’s flat for a mere $1.8 million dollars.

Fun fact: On 11/29/ 1898 C.S. Lewis was born. He provides the earliest examples of ‘autumny’, ‘escapist’, & ‘marmalade’ (verb) in the OED.

Check out the incunables (books printed before 1501) recently added to Penn Provenance Project’s photostream.

Speaking of old books, THE ARCHIMEDES PALIMPSEST is now available on Google Books. It is the oldest google book to date!

Want to know William Shakespeare a little better? Take a peek at the exhibit Finding Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s World in 100 Objects.

That’s all for us this week!