OA Today and Some Helpful Info on Avoiding Scams

I've got a post over on Operation Awesome today, talking about cover art for books.

And also wanted to direct you to a post on David Gaughran's blog with some new dirt on AuthorHouse, and how they're using the Penguin Random House merger to try to lend some legitimacy to their practices. The most confusing thing about all of it is that AuthorHouse now has so many subsidiaries, it's difficult to keep track of them all. There's also a thread on Absolute Write going back to 2002 with complaints about AuthorHouse's practices.

It's just another reminder to do your due diligence if you're looking for a way to self-publish your book. This is not the way to go! I had someone in my writer's group fall for this and he was out over $2,000 for a book that was riddled with errors (most of them on the "publisher"'s side) that was unsold and unsellable.These are the kinds of practices that give legitimate publishing services a bad name.

Roll Call for Los Angeles SCBWI International Conference

I've seen meetups of YA bloggers for BEA and ALA and been writhing with envy (unless the writhing was because you really should respect the expiration date on salsa), but no more!


I'll be at the SCBWI International Conference in Los Angeles  August 2-5 and I'd love to meet up with some of my blogger friends and tweeps! (for any would-be burglars wanting to take advantage of my trip, know that my ex-drummer-in-a-metalhead-band husband will be home along with the cats--and if he doesn't get you, the black cat will) 


So are you planning on going? Leave a comment below and I'll create an email list and see if there's a time we can all get together! Even if it's just "let's take pictures of our kooky 60s outfits for the Hippie Hop Saturday night! Y'all are wearing far-out threads, aren't you?

Or email me at strikingnotes (AT) yahoo (DoT) com. YA Highwayers, Absolute Writers, Bloggers and Wordpressers welcome! Hope to see you there.

Query Hellions

Over at the Absolute Write forums, the place to post your queries for feedback is known as Query Hell. That about sums up most people's feelings about the process of crafting your query and then holding your breath while you wait to hear back on it.

But if Query Hell doesn't quite cover it for you, Amanda Hannah has posted a contest, where you can write a haiku, limerick, song lyric, or poem--whatever best captures the query process for you.

Be bitter, be creative, be mopey--but have fun, it's a great way to channel your frustrations!

Here's my entry:

You launch your query bird
Into the wide blue sky
Only to see it fail and fall
A few weeks later.

You can't bear to look at it right away
But eventually you doctor it
And send it off again
Weighted with your dreams.

The worst times are when
It's left endlessly soaring,
Waiting for an an answer to it's call
That never comes.

So you craft another pair of wings
Strong enough to carry you with them
Over the walls blocking your way
To land in nurturing hands.