Book Deal News: Scholastic to Release My Next Science Fiction Novel in Early 2017
Thrilled to share this news.
Con Double Header: When Words Collide + Sasquan = So Much Awesome
Doing two cons back to back is exhausting and really, really fun. After visiting my old stomping grounds in Calgary for When Words Collide, I spent a smoke-pocalyptic week in Spokane attending WorldCon.
Highlights: paneling with industry giants such as Vonda McIntyre and Connie Willis, meeting up with Viable Paradise classmates, attending the Hugo Awards, parties, more parties, listening to some fantastic panels, signing books, reading, connecting with friends old and new, and the general awesomeness of attending my first two cons as a published novelist.
A treat: recorded live at WorldCon, episode 16 of Ditch Diggers hosted by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace, features me, Kate Elliott, Linda Nagata, and Aliette de Bodard navigating the hairy scenarios of publishing, D&D-style. It was a hell of a lot of fun and you can listen to it here.
Back to Where It Began: the Willamette Writers Conference
In August of 2013, I attended the annual Willamette Writers Conference. At the time, Zeroboxer was a freshly-written manuscript that I was getting ready to query. I submitted it for two professional critiques and pitched it to several agents at the conference that weekend. A few weeks later I had multiple agent offers, the book sold in December, and it hit the shelves a year and half later.
I think of the Willamette Writers Conference as the event that kickstarted my writing career. So I was thrilled to be back at the conference as faculty this year, teaching a class on writing action scenes, and I was especially honored to be named this year’s Up and Coming Award winner. Thank you Willamette Writers. Already looking forward to next year’s conference.
Reviewer Appreciation Campaign AKA “You Write 50 Words and I’ll Send You 9000”
Reviews are important to a book and an author’s success. For debut authors, they’re especially crucial. More reviews leads to better placement on book-buying websites. Positive ones entice uncertain buyers to give the book a chance, and critical ones warn away those who might not like it.
I really want to do something nice for those of you who take the time to leave an honest review of Zeroboxer. From now until the end of September, if you write and post a review online, I will send you my never-before-published short story “Old Souls.” I quite like it and I think you will too.
All you have to do is write a review of 50+ words and post it to two places on the Internet. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, Kobo, your favorite indie bookstore site, and your blog all count. Then click the button below, fill out where you posted it and your email address, and you get a shiny new short story back.
Important note: this is NOT me paying or bribing readers for five-star reviews. That’s a douche thing to do. Reviews should be honest, original (don’t plagiarize!) and based on having read the work in question (don’t leave reviews after only reading the back cover or first chapter).
I REVIEWED! SEND ME A SHORT STORY!Radio Interview: A Book and A Chat
Barry Eva interviews me on A Book And A Chat radio program. You can find it here on the New Visions Radio archives by scrolling partway down the page.
Top Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Novels For Teens
VOYA Magazine includes Zeroboxer on this excellent list of the year’s best science fiction, fantasy, and horror for teens.
Original Query Letter for Zeroboxer
Curious about how a book begins its journey to traditional publication? After writing a novel, a would-be author needs to find a literary agent who will represent him or her and attempt to sell the book to publishers. Query Letter Success has collected a lot of query letters that published authors first used to gain the attention of their agents. You can see the original query letter I wrote to my agent Jim McCarthy, back in 2013. Notice how similar the wording is to the back cover copy of Zeroboxer.
AISFP Podcast: Sports in Speculative Fiction
I talk with Brent Bowen from Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing about Zeroboxer, sports in speculative fiction, performance enhancement, sports marketing, the journey to publication, and more.
The Complete Zeroboxer Launch Schedule
The time is upon us. Here’s all the online and live Zeroboxer excitement that will be happening over the next few weeks. I’ll be pelting fun information, extra content, and giveaways left and right. Follow along, join in, show up – it’s going to be a great time.
List subject to addition and changes. Links updated as events occur:
Monday, March 30 – Interview with Marci Lyn Curtis at On the Verge
Tuesday, March 31 – Debut feature interview at Page Turners
Wednesday, April 1 – Author Spotlight at Pandora’s Books
Thursday, April 2 –
- Envisioning Zero Gravity Combat at Michael Sci Fan
- YA Scavenger Hunt (Team Gold) – Bonus content: the ZGFA and WCC Logos (the hunt runs until noon of Sunday, April 5)
Friday, April 3 – Debut Club interview at The Sweet Sixteeners
Sunday, April 5 – Debut Dish with Jana at Artsy Reader Girl
Monday, April 6 –
- Five Ways To Tell If You Should Read Zeroboxer at YA Books Central
- Interview and book giveaway at Literary Rambles
Tuesday, April 7 –
- Interview by Mindy McGinnis at Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire
- Google Hangout with YA Debut Authors at 9:30 PST / 12:30 EST with myself, Becky Albertalli, I.W. Gregorio, Marie Jaskulka, Stephanie Lyons, and Meredith Moore. (Click the link to watch the recorded event.)
Wednesday, April 8 – RELEASE DAY
- Zeroboxer Excerpt at Sci-fi Chick
- Zeroboxer in 3 Gifs at the Fearless Fifteeners
- Prize pack giveaway drawing for newsletter subscribers (sign up here)
- Follow #Zeroboxer on Twitter for What’s Your Prizefighter Name?
Thursday, April 9 –
- Interview at My Bookish Ways
- 5 Things I Learned Writing Zeroboxer at Chuck Wendig’s Terribleminds
- My Favorite Bit at Mary Robinette Kowal’s website
- Quote candy reveal at Icey Books
Friday, April 10 –
- The Making of the Zeroboxer Cover at Icey Books
- BOOK LAUNCH at Powell’s Cedar Hills Crossing in Portland, 7pm
Monday, April 13 – Settings in Zeroboxer at Book Nerd
Tuesday, April 14 – Sports Celebrity and the Inspiration behind Zeroboxer at The Book Smugglers
Wednesday, April 15 – You Might Like Zeroboxer If You Liked… at I Smell Sheep
Thursday, April 16 – Character Interview with Carr Luka at Page Turners
Friday, April 17 –
- Envisioning A Diverse Science Fiction World at Diversity in YA
- Desktop wallpaper reveal and poster giveaway at Novel Novice
Monday, April 20 – Debut Author Meet & Greet at Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, WA, with Shannon Grogan, Kelly Jones, and Stephanie Oakes.
Saturday, April 25 – Appearance and signing at the Oregon Author Fair at the Beaverton City Library, 10am-1pm
Thursday, April 30 – Book talk at Barnes & Noble Clackamas, 7pm, with Cat Winters and Susan Adrian.
Sunday, May 3 – Podcast interview about sports and speculative fiction on Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing
Tuesday, May 5 – Reading from Zeroboxer at SFWA Reading Series, 7pm at Wilde Rover in Seattle
Thursday, May 7 – Reading from Zeroboxer at SFWA Reading Series, 7pm at Mississippi Pizza in Portland
Signup for the Newsletter for a chance to win the Zeroboxer Launch Pack
My action sci-fi novel Zeroboxer hits the shelves in three weeks. It’s been quite the journey so far, but hopefully this is just the beginning of much more. So I’m starting up a quarterly newsletter called “News and Brain Scraps” to share author news, events, and extra features with those who would like to know.
If you would like to hear from me, I will send you an email three or four times a year. I’ll share news about my books, what events I’ll be at, videos, advance book excerpts or short fiction, exclusive giveaways, science fiction and fantasy related links, and any other random cool shit I want to show you.
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably at least remotely interested. So to sweeten the pot, I’m celebrating the launch of Zeroboxer on April 8 by giving away this prize pack to one randomly chosen person on my subscriber list.
This package includes:
- A personalized and signed copy of Zeroboxer (the photo shows an advance reader copy, but you’ll get a finished copy)
- DVDs of the two classic movies Rocky and Gattaca (to get you in the mood for sports drama and genetic engineering)
- Collectible vinyl figurines of Ender and Petra from Ender’s Game (because zero gravity battle room, natch)
Giveaway restricted to US and Canada.
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE