I have a whole bunch of HUNGER cover small posters — roughly, 8 x 10 inches. Perfect size to fit inside of a locker, or slip into a looseleaf cover.

Want one? For free? All you have to do is email me your postal address.

Yup, that’s it. I’ll mail out one poster per person, anywhere in the world. While supplies last.

So if you’d like a HUNGER cover poster, email me at J  A  X   a  t  J  A  C  K  I E  K  E  S  S  L  E  R  d  o  t  c  o  m with your postal address. In the subject line, please put POSTER.

And now, back to writing LOSS.

Title: Got Issues?
Description: In this crazy world, young people have to grow up faster than ever. Let’s discuss some issues like anorexia, cutting, depression, and so on.
Time: Fri 01:00 pm  Location: A707 – Marriott  (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: Surprise! You’re Dead
Description: Death, ghosts, and the afterlife in fantasy fiction.
Time: Fri 08:30 pm  Location: Cairo – Hyatt  (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: Growing Up Scared
Description: Young adults in dark fantasy literature.
Time: Sat 02:30 pm  Location: Montreal / Vancouver – Hyatt  (Length: 1 Hour)

——————-
Title: Dancing On The Head Of A Pin
Description: The role of angels and divine messengers in modern fantasy and horror.
Time: Sun 11:30 am  Location: Montreal / Vancouver – Hyatt  (Length: 1 Hour)

Hope to see you there!

At one point, there was a comment about how you — aspiring published author you — may be into writing YA fiction now, but you may be thinking about nonfiction or a how-to book in the future…and that you should let a potential agent know. I completely and totally disagree.

[Public-Service Announcement: Before I get into the whys and wherefores, please understand that while I do strongly disagree (and I'm convinced I'm right, of course), mine isn't the only point of view, and if you're about to look for a literary agent, you should definitely get other opinions on this. Did I mention YALITCHAT?]

So yeah, I disagree. Strongly. If you’ve got an offer from an agent, and you’re having that all-important Conversation With A Potential Agent, the last thing you want to do is get into potential projects way down the line that are in a completely different market — potential projects that you may never write.

Here’s where people will chime in and say “You HAVE to have that conversation now, before you sign!” And again, I insist that you absolutely don’t. Why?

1. It goes off-brand. An author’s name becomes that author’s brand. That is, when people hear your name, you want them to automatically think of This Type Of Book. That’s branding. This means writing a particular style or genre of book, for a number of books. And that means staying focused on that particular type of writing, at least for the near future. After you’re established in one genre, you can branch out into another genre or market — and probably take a lot of those genre readers with you.

2. It goes off-project. Agents sell one project at a time. I’m not talking about sequels or series — most agents probably would be thrilled to hear that there are two more books you’re working on that are sequels to the book he or she passionately wants to represent. (But not in your query letter. That, however, is a different blog post.) An agent probably would be less excited to hear that the book he or she is over the moon about is only a for-now phase. Remember: branding. An agent wants his or her clients marketable.

3. It throws a wrench in the works. Let’s say you’re talking to Dream Agent, who’s in love with your Great American Novel and is itching to represent it. When Dream Agent asks you about future projects — because an agent is all about building your career — you reply that after doing YA novels, you really want to focus on nonfiction. Dream Agent hears that and loses interest, because she personally doesn’t rep nonfiction — and it doesn’t matter that in her agency, there are other agents who do. Now the Dream Agent isn’t on fire about you as a client. That’s not the best way to begin a partnership, especially when it’s your career on the line.

4. You can get a nonfiction agent down the line. This is something people may not be aware of, but it’s possible to have more than one agent represent your works — especially when one specializes in fiction and the other in nonfiction. It doesn’t have to be a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to finding an agent. So after you’ve written a number of YA novels and your agent has sold them, let’s say you finally decide you want to sit down and write that nonfiction book that you’ve been dreaming about. Write that proposal — and do keep in mind that selling nonfiction books is a different process than selling novels — and discuss it with your agent. Even if your agent doesn’t represent nonfiction, she or he can point you in the right direction — possibly even to someone right there in the agency.

5. You may never write that down-the-road project. Once you have a few published books under your belt, you may discover that you really enjoy that particular genre and/or market, and that’s where you want to stay for the short and mid term. The road to that down-the-road project just got a little longer.

6. Your interests may change. When I first got serious about writing, if you would have told me that I’d write a young-adult novel, I would have thought you were crazy. My writing at that time was all about college seniors and people just out of college; I had no interest writing anything with teenage protagonists. I was focused on Big Fat Fantasy, albeit with contemporary protagonists. Just because today you think you may possibly write a particular book down the line, that doesn’t mean you’ll feel the same way down the line.

7. You may write that down-the-road project…with your agent’s support. I’d come up with the notion for Hunger about 10 years ago, but I didn’t write it. I’d convinced myself that I had to be a Big Name Author to write something that looked at eating disorders, because otherwise no one would want to read it. My agent was the one who convinced me to write it. I did, and she sold it. She’s also reviewed contracts for me on projects she didn’t represent, such as my two comic book scripts, because she is invested in my career and wants to make sure I’m not getting a raw deal.

So that’s why I’m firmly in the Don’t Tell Potential Agents About Potential Projects In Other Genres Or Markets camp.

I just went to AgentQuery (a terrific free online resource if you’re hunting for an agent) and selected “How-To” for a nonfiction topic and “Young Adult” for a fiction genre (even though YA is an audience and not a genre, but whatever). Want to know how many matches came up?

Zero.

That being said, 1) that doesn’t mean at any one YA agent’s agency there isn’t someone who represents How-To, and 2) if you do a similar search for “Cookbooks” for nonfiction and “Young Adult” for fiction, you get 56 agents. No matter what, when you’re in the market for an agent you should do your homework. You may come up with a list of agents who represent every possible thing you think you may ever write. That doesn’t mean you should discuss those potential, down-the-line bright and shinies when you’re on the phone with an agent who wants to represent your first book. Why derail the track to agenthood by mentioning a potential project — one you’re years away from writing — that has nothing to do with the book that the agent is eager to represent?

Yes, it’s important to talk to an agent before accepting an offer. And yes, it’s just as important that during that conversation, you and the agent get a feel for each other and talk about career aspirations and possible directions. Just keep in mind that talking about a completely different project — nonfiction or how-to, for example — during that conversation could turn that agent hot to sell your current project into someone only lukewarm about it — and about you as a client.

That’s my two cents.

She brought the razor to her inner thighs again and again and again, but with each sting came no release, no comforting numbness that dulled the horror of her life.

It wasn’t enough. So she cut again—swiftly, mercilessly.

Missy didn’t mean to cut so deep. But after the party where she was humiliated in front of practically everyone in school, who could blame her for wanting some comfort? Sure, most people don’t find comfort in the touch of a razor blade, but Missy always was . . . different.

That’s why she was chosen to become one of the Four Horsemen Apocalypse: War. Now Missy wields a different kind of blade — a big, brutal sword that can cut down anyone and anything in her path. But it’s with this weapon in her hand that Missy learns something that could help her triumph over her own pain: control.

A unique approach to the topic of self-mutilation, RAGE is the story of a young woman who discovers her own power, and refuses to be defeated by the world.

~

That’s the text that will appear on the back cover of RAGE, and it’s already in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt online catalog.

For those of you who have read HUNGER already, Death has more of a role in RAGE. (Yeah, I’m psyched about that too!)

~

I owe tons of people swag (sorry) and interview answers (ditto), and I’m woefully behind on Post Mortem (mea culpa). In August, I’m going to be focusing on writing LOSS, but I promise to play catch up!

Light from DEATH NOTE…

…is really Justin Bieber.

We talked about my adult series too, and why I went with a slightly different name for my young adult books. But I thought you might be interested in reading more about HUNGER and the Riders. And hey, if you’re into superheroes, my second superhero novel, SHADES OF GRAY (coauthored with Caitlin Kittredge), hits the shelves Tuesday, June 22, 2010 here in the US and in Canada. SHADES OF GRAY, like the first book, BLACK AND WHITE, is dystopian. Think Frank Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, or Alan Moore’s WATCHMEN, or Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN.

The interview is here.

If you want to preorder HUNGER, you can do that here, here and here (among other places).

If you want to preorder SHADES OF GRAY, you can do that here, here and here (ditto the among other places).

And another interview, this one talking more about SHADES OF GRAY, is here.

Both interviews have contests to win a copy of the first superhero book, BLACK AND WHITE.

Italian rights to HUNGER and RAGE sold to Newton Compton in a four-book deal!

Yes, this means I’m working on books three and four of the Riders’ Quartet. Working on Book Three right now. The working title is LOSS, and this time, the Horseman is Pestilence.

Rock on!

To find out how to enter the contest, read this blog post.

Here’s the synopsis, from Richelle’s website:

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong…After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and he’s out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won’t join him, he won’t rest until he’s silenced her…forever.

~

Yeah, I’ll be going to the bookstore today.

And in other vampire news, if you haven’t checked out the new Post Mortem interview with Rachel Caine’s Shane (from the Morganville Vampires series), you really should.

WHITE CAT (Curse Workers #1), Holly Black

Mobsters as magicians? Dude. I’m in love. Ever since I read Tithe, I’ve been enamored of Holly’s writing. Hugely looking forward to this new series!

RUNNING SCARED (Sentinel Wars #3), Shannon K. Butcher

I have been pestering Shannon about when the third book in the Sentinels would be available for months. Months. I love this series, and I can’t wait to dash to the bookstore over lunch today to get my grubby hands on book three.

DEAD IN THE FAMILY (Sookie Stackhouse #10), Charlaine Harris

Way before True Blood, there was Sookie Stackhouse. After the way things were left in last year’s Dead and Gone, I just wanted to give poor Sookie a ginormous hug. Definitely eager to see what happens next to our favorite telepathic barmaid from Louisiana.

MAGIC ON THE STORM (Allie Beckstrom #4), Devon Monk

Yay, apocalyptic storm approaching! Yay, Allie has to save the day! Devon is one of my fellow (fella?) Deadline Dames, and I’m looking forward to reading the latest in her terrific series.

THE DEMON IN ME (Living in Eden #1), Michelle Rowen

I loved Michelle’s fabulous Immortality Bites series. I am so thrilled she has a new series out now — and about demons! Rah, demons! This new book is at the top of my To Be Read pile.

SHADE, Jeri Smith-Ready

I’m a huge fan of Jeri’s vampire series, and when she mentioned her new YA about ghosts, I new I wanted to read it. I was fortunate enough to get an ARC, and I devoured SHADE. And oh my God, it’s phenomenal. I **loved** this book. Everyone should read it.

THE RED PYRAMID (The Kane Chronicles #1), Rick Riordan

My kids and I adore the Percy Jackson series. Tax Deduction the Elder is very into Egyptian mythology, and it’s a toss-up who’s going to read RED PYRAMID first — him or me. (Oh, okay, I guess we can read it together…)

Already Available, But I Missed It Because I Have The Attention Span Of A Toddler On Pixie Stix

KISS OF DEATH (Morganville Vampires #8), Rachel Caine

Argh — I can’t believe I missed this last week!!! When I think YA vampire series, Rachel’s Morganville Vampires is one of the first series that comes to mind. Gotta have it!