BEA, Baby!

This weekend I attended Book Expo America (BEA) at the Javits Center in New York. It was my first time at BEA, which is a major annual conference for the publishing industry. Publishers, booksellers and other book-related vendors set up booths that together cover the area of a couple of football fields!!

All told, it was a weekend of many book signings, excellent networking and awesome giveaways!! In fact, there was so much going on that it would be hard to fit it all into one post. I'll save the most dramatic details for a few follow-up posts, but in the meantime, here are some of the highlights:




Sharon Draper recognized The Rock and the River when I gave her my flyer!
















Meeting Olivia! I was so excited. It was almost ridiculous. But how cute is she?!?!











My new BEA buds. Two writer friends I met at the conference, Latria and Tiffany.



Stay tuned for more on my many BEA adventures!

Summer Blog Blast Tour, Featuring ME!

Exciting, exciting things today!

First of all, pop over to Elizabeth Bird's blog, A Fuse #8 Production, where you will find an interview with me that is part of the Summer Blog Blast Tour 2009. I talk about The Rock and the River, my inspirations for writing it, people's reactions to it, and lots of other stuff. Fun!

What is the Summer Blog Blast Tour, you ask? Excellent question! It appears that a group of KidLit bloggers have gotten together to do a series of interviews with interesting authors (if I do say so myself!). It'll be going on all week. Colleen Mondor has posted a schedule for the week, plus links and sneak peeks, on Chasing Ray. I'm headed there now to check out the other interviews. For me, it's already been lots of fun to be part of this special week - and it's only just begun!

Okay....when you're done with all that, take a peek at the Best Books for Young Adults nomination list, recently posted by the American Library Association. Guess who's on it?? It's so very exciting that The Rock and the River was chosen to be part of this group.

I'm all smiles today, friends!!!

Studio 4 (aka Video of ME!)

So...a few weeks ago, I went into my publisher's headquarters (Simon & Schuster) and did a short video interview for the S&S website. I sat in a little room with a videocamera in my face and a microphone clipped on me while they asked me questions about The Rock and the River and me as a person. I have to say, at the moment it felt very glamorous. But some of the questions were hard!

They said, "Describe yourself in eight words...." I was like, "Umm..." (Can "umm..." be one of my words, please?)

So, why am I bringing this up now? Well. It's getting to be about the time when I can email my editor and ask if I can see it. The video people will have done their editing work, and they'll send me a nice shiny copy. I'm half eager about this, and half not. I always think I look a little funny on camera, so I'm nervous to see it! The camera man said it was good. The interviewer said it was good. My editor said it was good. But I am still nervous.

But I can't wait until I have a video clip... :)

Hunger Mountain Auction: Bid on Critiques with Authors & Agents & More

The Hunger Mountain Spring Fundraising Auction will feature manuscript critiques with notable authors and literary agents as well as limited edition letterpress broadsides!

All items will be available for bidding at The Hunger Mountain Store, beginning at noon EST May 2. Bidding ends at noon EST on May 9. One-on-one critiques in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, writing for children, writing for young adults, and writing for the stage will be conducted by phone, email, or snail mail.

The auction offers opportunities to work with award-winning children's-YA authors Donna Jo Napoli, Sarah Ellis, Martine Leavitt, and Tim Wynne-Jones. Highly acclaimed picture book author-illustrator Laura McGee Kvasnosky and Newbery Honor author Marion Dane Bauer will also be offering their expertise.

In addition, literary agent Mark McVeigh, founding member of The McVeigh Agency, has donated a full-length children's/YA fiction critique and Tracy Marchini, agent assistant at Curtis Brown, Ltd., has donated a middle grade/YA critique.

Those who write for adults may bid for critiques with such authors as Philip Graham, Jess Row, Thomas Christopher Greene, Natasha Saje, Xu Xi, Michael Martone, David Jauss, and David Wojahn.

Been toiling away on a script or stage production? Bid on a full-length play critique with playwright Gary Moore.

Sue William Silverman is offering a full-length creative nonfiction manuscript critique, complete with a complimentary signed copy of her latest book Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir (University of Georgia Press, 2009).

Also available are signed broadsides from the Stinehour Broadside Award Series including work by authors Alice Hoffman, Neil Shepard, David Rivard, and Lucia Perillo. These letterpress broadsides are all signed and numbered, limited edition, and frame worthy, making them the perfect gift for anyone who appreciates the artistry of literature!

All purchases are charitable in support of Hunger Mountain's non-profit mission to cultivate engagement with and conversation about the arts by publishing high-quality, innovative literary and visual art by both established and emerging artists, and by offering opportunities for interactivity and discourse.

Richie's Picks Review!

I'm pleased to report that The Rock and the River was reviewed on Richie's Picks today! Richie says of the book...

"In the course of Sam Childs' coming of age story, amidst the American history I thought I knew so well, author Kekla Magoon has radically altered my understanding of the Black Panther Party. In her debut novel, Magoon, who studied history as an undergraduate, does an exceptional job of integrating many sides of very complex racial and political issues into this tense tale of an adolescent who has grown up in the Civil Rights Movement."

Cool, huh? Take a peek at the full review HERE.

Hunger Mountain Presents...The Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children's Writing

Calling all YA and children’s writers! We are thrilled to present the inaugural Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Writing in Hunger Mountain.

Hunger Mountain, the arts journal of Vermont College of Fine Arts, will launch our new online arts journal early this summer. Our new site will include YA and Children’s Literature; we’ll feature articles on hot topics and trends in YA and children’s literature, interviews with publishing industry insiders, and fiction selections by well-known and up-and-coming YA and children’s authors. Upcoming issues will feature pieces by Katherine Paterson, Carrie Jones, Cynthia Leitich Smith, K.A. Nuzum, Rita Williams-Garcia, Sara Zarr and many others!

Writers of Young Adult Fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, and Picture Books are encouraged to enter the Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Writing for a piece of fiction NOT yet under contract or under consideration by a publisher. Newbery Award-winning author Katherine Paterson will judge. One winner will receive $1,000.00 and publication in Hunger Mountain online, and two honorable mentions will receive $100.00 each.

Entries may include:
Young Adult Fiction (novel excerpt or short story)
Middle Grade Fiction (novel excerpt or short story)
Picture Book (text only)

Submission Fee: $20 per entry

Deadline: Entries must be postmarked by June 30th, 2009

Contest Guidelines:
Your packet should include four items:
1. A one-page cover sheet that includes:
--Your name, address, email and phone number
--The title of your manuscript
--The category of your manuscript (YA, MG, PB)
--A brief (one to two paragraph/200 word) bio of yourself
--A brief (one to two paragraph/250 word) synopsis of your manuscript
2. Your manuscript:
--Up to 5,000 words of middle grade/young adult fiction, or one picture book manuscript (text only)
--Entries must be double-spaced, with margins of at least 1”
--Please number the pages of your entry, and label each page with the title
--Please DO NOT label the manuscript with your name (entries will be judged anonymously)
--Please paperclip (do not staple) your entry
3. Entry Fee:
--Check or money order for $20, payable to Hunger Mountain
4. Self-addressed, stamped envelope for notification of award winners
--Plus, a self-addressed, stamped postcard for us to acknowledge receipt of your entry (optional)

Packets should be mailed to:
Katherine Paterson Prize for YA and Children’s Writing
Hunger Mountain
Vermont College of Fine Arts
36 College Street
Montpelier, VT 05602

Author Visit: Pontiac Library

This week I'm in my hometown, Fort Wayne Indiana, for some library visits and book signings.

The first was at Pontiac Library, where I got to speak to kids in the after school program there. It was my first visit to this particular library branch, which had recently been remodeled. A very nice facility, that seemed popular with neighborhood teens.

They loved my interactive Readers' Theatre; I had more volunteers than I had speaking parts in the piece! Well, it's something to keep in mind for next time: Create a readers' theatre that involves ten readers instead of six!

We did a raffle to see who got to take home each of the three copies of my book that I signed for them. The winners (and friends) lined up for a picture.

All in all, a fun afternoon!!