#JoinTheAgenda: TATTOO CONTEST

      “Adelice, here!” My father shoves me toward another hole as Amie and Mom disappear into the passage, but before I enter he grabs my wrist and presses cold metal near my vein. A second later heat sears the tender skin. When he releases my arm, I draw the spot up to my mouth, trying to blow off the burning.                   

“What . . .” I search his face for a reason for the techprint, and looking back down, I see the pale shape of a flowing hour- glass marking the spot. It’s barely visible on my fair skin. 

The Agenda is recruiting and you can join the resistance!

Win one of three scholarships! And books for your library!

Scholarship Contest #1

Calling all artists: Sharpen your pencils, power up your photoshop, or get out your crayons.  Ever dreamed of your art being scratched systematically on someone's body with a needle?  No.  Ok, that's probably healthy.  But hear me out.  

Adelice's techprint is important.  More important than you might have guessed and it holds a big clue about her past.  And that means it's important to me.  It's so important that I want my own techprint tattooed on my body and I want you to design it!  

Right here.

The what:

- The techprint looks like a scar in the shape of a flowing hourglass.  But instead of sand, it actually contains a minuscule code.

The Prize: 

- Not only will I tattoo it on my body, I'll vlog it.  Prepare for cursing.

- But if that's not enough for you, I'll also be giving away a $100 cash scholarship to the winner to be used to continue your artistic education.  Use it for new materials, books, tuition, towards a computer.  That's up to you.

- Up to two runners up will receive signed first editions of Altered.

TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS: 
- If your student wins, I'll donate a signed hardcover of CREWEL to your classroom or library.  Click here for a downloadable poster you can share with your kids.

To Enter:

- Share your art with us in the comments below or via social media.

- To enter via Twitter: Use the hashtag #JoinTheAgenda and include one of the following accounts in your tweet (@GenniferAlbin, @MacKidsBooks, @FierceReads)

- To enter via Facebook: Share it on Gennifer Albin's page or the Crewel World page.

- To enter via Tumblr: Use the hashtags #JoinTheAgenda #GenniferAlbin #CrewelWorld

- To enter via Pinterest: Use the hashtags #JoinTheAgenda #GenniferAlbin #CrewelWorld

The Fine Print

- I reserve the right to not choose a winner if the entry pool is low.  Mostly because I should be a bit picky about what I tattoo on my body.   I don't anticipate this happening.

- Contest is open in the U.S. and Canada for legal reasons.  I'm sorry.  I promise a big international contest soon!

- Entrants under 18 should have their parent's permission to participate.

- No purchase is necessary.

- Contest will run until September 15, 2013 at 11:59 pm PST.  Winners will be chosen after October 1, 2013.

- Winners grant permission for their art to be replicated for promotional purposes.  Full credit will be given (except for the tattoo on my actual body, yo.)

And stay tuned for the next scholarship contest which will be announced on August 31st!

Books Are Forever Valentine's Day Contest

I wanted to do something fun and different for Valentine's Day and I was inspired by a meme that features the quote "If a writer falls in love with you, you can never die."  As a writer, I know this is true.  Both Erik and Jost in my novel have qualities that I admire in my husband.

So for Valentine's Day, I'm holding a contest for people to nominate someone they love to be a character in my third book.  Most likely it may be a name mentioned in passing, but who knows?  Imagine telling your Valentine that they'll be a character in a novel that global-warming-willing will survive for hundreds or thousands of years.  Personally I think that beats roses or chocolates any day.

The Contest

Tell me who you want to immortalize in fiction this Valentine's Day.  It can be a boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, sibling, grandparent, parent, your best friend, that cute guy at school, your favorite barista—whoever you want to wow this Valentine's Day.  It can even be YOU!  

The Prize

The nominated name will appear as a character in Crewel #3.  I won't know who this person is until I see the name.  They could be a passing reference or the most important person in the world!  As a bonus, I will send you a special signed copy of the page in which the character's name appears for posterity!

The Rules

Contest is opened internationally and will run from February 13, 2013 from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM.  The winner will be announced at noon (CST) on Valentine's Day!  See rafflecopter entry form for additional legal stuff.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Art Contest Update

Last night I got my first entry in the cover reveal contest (full details here).  But basically you can win this:  

with a very special

 

loaded on it.

And here's the first entry from Anna.  Didn't she nail the tagline?



 

 

 

 

Also I've been digging Pinterest so much that I made something else.  WrAHMs will enjoy it!

It's a tie!

Let me start this off by saying this was much harder than I imagined.  All of the pitches were A-mazing, and I spent time reading through each, popping on to websites and narrowing down the finalists.  And it was hard - did I mention that? Like I considered making everyone a winner hard.  In the end, I couldn't choose just one pitch.  I chose two winners and three honorable mentions.  Both winners get the 50 page critique and the honorable mentions receive a first page email critique.

In no particular order, the honorable mentions and first page critique winners are:
Monica Zepeda - The Why of Kelly McNeill
Kimberley Miller - Triangles
Katherine Sheridan Kupanoff - Black Lace and the Clocktower

And the winners of the 50 page manuscript critiques are:

Emy Shin - The Paradox of You and Me
Jenna Wallace - Somniloquy

Congrats to all the winners!  And believe me, many more of you were close and a lot of it came down to personal taste.

Winners email me for the details: genn@genniferalbin.com

The contest is over!

Thanks to everyone who entered!  There are some amazing entries, and I have a big choice ahead of me.  I will be announcing a winner no later than September 13th.  Watch my twitter feed or check back here next Tuesday to see the winning pitch and honorable mentions!

The Super-Amazing Critique Contest

I promised you all something big today, and I hope this delivers. I'm hosting a pitch contest on my blog. The prize? A 50 page partial critique from me - old school style. I'll be printing out your partial and making lots of lovely, helpful notes in the margin like "oh snap!" and "um, no, this is dumb" (actually they will be much more helpful, I promise). And then I will mail it to you.

 Now if you don't follow this blog and you are wondering why the hell you should want a partial critique from me, I thought I'd give you my street cred. I'm repped by Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary+Media. My book, Crewel, sold at auction. It will be published by FSG next fall. I'm very nice, and I drink too much coffee.

Every day until September 5th, I'll be choosing one entry to highlight on facebook and offer feedback on.  So make sure you are following my page to see if you've been randomly chosen!  The winner of the critique will be selected by myself.

 So here's the details:
 1. You have 100 words or less to pitch your story.
2. It doesn't have to be finished (you'll have 3 months to redeem your critique!)
3. You have until September 5, 2011 at 11:59 CST to enter.
4. You have to share this contest somewhere: facebook or twitter or your blog.

To enter, comment with the following info
Name: 
Email: 
Where did you share: 
Title: 
Genre: 
Pitch:

Let the games begin!

WINNER! Winner! Chicken dinner!

Apologies for the late post.  Minion #2 is sick :( and I've been cuddling her a lot.

So first the winner of the writer's survival guide goes to post #26, according to random.org (incidentally, 26 is my lucky number...all amazing things happen to me involve 26 or 2 and 6, no lie --I believe this bodes well for our winner)

#26 is CAROLSUE!  Congrats!  email me, girl!

And if you are interested in helping storm relief in Joplin, MO and you donate to the Greater Kansas City Joplin Missouri Disaster Relief Fund, I will do a private query critique for you by email.  This is open to the first 10 people to post or email me that they donated.  I will respond to all queries within 2 weeks with feedback and suggestions.

Some of my family is in Joplin and they were spared, but they're watching the devastation of their entire town day by day.  If you can help, please do!

Wherein Things Do Not Get Less Surreal

This showed up in the book deals on Publisher's Weekly this morning (right before I went to bed and then I couldn't sleep):

Deals: Week of 6/6/11 
FSG Gets 'Crewel' ...for the Kids
Mollie Glick at Foundry sold North American rights at auction to Gen Albin's debut YA novel, Crewel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers senior editor Janine O'Malley bought the book last Friday, June 3, after four other pre-empts came in earlier in the week. Albin, who founded the parenting blog theconnectedmom.com and edited the Missouri Review while getting her M.A. at the University of Missouri, blends science fiction, suspense, and romance in the story, which is set in a world where women designated as "Spinsters" can control time. The novel follows a 16-year-old set to become a Spinster—Glick said the special designation comes at a price as these women must "enter a world of secrets and lethal intrigue"—who has a special power that will play a key role in the destiny of the world.


And yes, I'm still pinching myself!


Tomorrow I'll be picking a winner for the writer's survival kit, and offering you a chance to get private, personal query feedback to benefit storm relief in Joplin, MO.

The more things change

I have to admit that over the last month, walking into a bookstore or library has been different.  I've always felt at home in those places, like a warmly welcomed guest, but now there's a different sense of belonging. Others have read my book, people who take books from manuscript to a tangible item.  Now I feel like I'm part of those shelves.

Mandy Hubbard told me that when I get my ARCs someday I will put them up on the shelf and stare at it.  I can only imagine how I'll feel then.

So keep writing, my friends, the payoff of having a finished manuscript is hard to describe.

And don't forget to enter my contest, which closes tonight!  Lots of good stuff: books, critiques, gift cards.

Friday Five and My First Contest

Ok, I thought I'd get in on the whole Friday Five thing, so we can get to know each other better! This week's addition is past lives. So I'll tell you five things from my past, and you can share your own past life with me!

1. I'm married to my high school sweetheart, so when people criticize YA writers for the whole teens can't be in true love thing, it makes me crazy!

2. We got married at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO. The hotel that inspired The Shining and where they filmed the tv version!

3. I got a full ride scholarship to undergrad, but only because someone else turned theirs down. I have no idea who that person is, but thank you!

4. My undergraduate thesis was on marriage in Shakespeare, and it was titled Much Ado about Matrimony!

5. For two years I owned and ran a business selling car seat safe blankets called the Baby Bloak.

AND NOW FOR THE EPIC CONTEST, AND IT IS EPIC. SO EPIC I AM FORCED TO TYPE IN CAPITOL LETTERS.

Ok, calming down now. I'm giving away a writer's survival kit, which is guaranteed to keep you sane if not on track.

What's in it?
Coffee.coffee.coffee (or tea, if you're a weirdo)
An awesome Starbucks mug
A Barnes and Noble gift card
A selection of summer reading materials
AND a query and 10 page critique by yours truly. I'll even talk with you on the phone if you'd prefer.

So how do you win all this loot? I'm giving you a couple of ways to enter. Please leave a comment for each method you complete!

1. Leave a comment telling me something awesome about your past life.
2. Follow me on twitter (@GenniferAlbin )
3. Friend me on Facebook.
4. Follow this blog.

Easy enough, right? One entry for each, leave a comment for each entry. I'll run this contest through June 2, 2011. Entries will close at 11:59 CST. Good luck!

Throw out of your best pitch

It's baseball season, which means Ill be seeing less of my husband, but I thought I'd get in the spirit by throwing out my very own pitch.  The lovely Shelley Watters is hosting a pitch contest and, at the risk of sounding all fangirl, it's being hosted by Suzie Townsend, who is in my top picks folder on QueryTracker (in case I ever finally write a query I'm happy with!)

You can enter your very own short pitch (140 characters or less).  Here's mine:
Title: Crewel
Genre: Young Adult
Word count: 70,000

A girl fights for autonomy in a futuristic world where beautiful Spinsters weave everything from food rations to weather to human life.

I came. I listened. I pitched.

You can pick this up from Rainy Day Books

I posted about a month ago about pitching your book live with tips on presentation. Well, Monday night the Book Doctors, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, came to Kansas City with Pitchapalooza. Think American Idol meets hopeful writers, but without nasty, sarcastic Simon. It's open to the public and anyone can put their name in to pitch to the panel. Only 25 lucky writers are drawn to pitch their book in front of everyone. It was a really fun event, and I was awestruck by how many writers there are in my area. I also learned a few things about the oral pitch that I'm going to share.

Pitchapalooza allows you one minute to share your book idea. I know some conferences expect you to give a one-liner. Always make sure you know how much time you have and what is expected if you have a chance to pitch, which leads me to the first thing I learned.

Practice and time your pitch! There were a number of participants who got up there and just started talking abstractly about their books. Many had interesting ideas, but didn't put their minute to use effectively. Others talked lightening fast to get as much plot as possible into their pitch, often getting cut off when time ran out.  Read your pitch out loud several times while timing it so you know if you need to cut or add.

On that subject, use your whole minute.  Several promising pitches cut off after 30 seconds, leaving me wanting more!

Write it out.  I had my pitch memorized but for this type of presentation, note cards function as a lifeline.  Use them to keep track of where you are in the pitch, but don't just read off them.  Glance at them and then look up and make eye contact with the panel.  If you get so nervous you freeze up, your note cards will save you.  Also you're presenting an idea not performing.  Using notecards conveys that.

Do your research.  I was a bit surprised by the number of people who didn't know what to expect or came without a prepared pitch.  Why?  Because there is fabulous info on how to write your pitch on the Book Doctors website!  I used their info combined with info from the Querytracker blog on writing a query to build my pitch.  You may naturally be able to sell your book in casual conversation, but it never hurts to have a strong written and rehearsed pitch going in.

Remember everyone is nervous.  The people waiting to see if their name will be called.  The people on deck to pitch, and especially the people pitching.  When I gave my pitch, they complimented me on my composure and I laughed and said how nervous I was.  I was sure they could hear the tremble in my voice or the slight shake of the notecards.  Apparently not.  You can be nervous and still give a good pitch.

My awesome critique partner
came to cheer me on!

Stick around to the end.  A number of people ducked out early and they missed out on a Q&A with David as well as a book signing.  And maybe most importantly?  A chance to meet other writers.  I met so many awesome local writers, including a teen author who is going to beta for me.  Talk about networking.

Plus, you never know, you might just win.  I know, because I did!  My pitch won the contest, and I'm still shocked. It was surreal, humbling, exciting.  Writing can be so isolating and it was a huge boost to my confidence to get great feedback, plus I get to talk with David and Arielle about my book and get their expert help.

If you have an opportunity to attend a pitch session like this, do it!  The feedback is invaluable and you get to meet your kind of people.  To see if pitchapalooza is coming to a city near you, check out their calendar here.