Caren Johnson Literary Agency

Last week I launched a blog for the authors of MTV Books, in the style of the blog I launched last year for the authors of the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies. Caren asked me to guest-blog today about how and why I started these blogs. (Check out the blogs here: MTV Blog and Simon Pulse Blog)

My first novel, MAJOR CRUSH, a Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy, came out in August 2006. In the months leading up to the release, I drove myself crazy Googling myself and checking my sales rank on Amazon. (If you’re not published yet, don’t laugh—it will happen to you.) On Amazon, when MAJOR CRUSH was included in someone’s Listmania list, it was almost always a list of all the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies. Other places online, I saw people asking each other when the next Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy was coming out.

This may seem like a no-brainer to you. All the covers in the line are designed by the same artist to give them a cohesive look. They’re all light romantic comedies suitable for younger teens. If a reader likes one, she’ll probably like others. Yet unless they’re grouped together in a dump (fancy bookstore terminology: that cardboard stand in the middle of the aisle), these books aren’t shelved together. They’re shelved under the authors’ names. And though the past books in the line are listed inside the front cover of each book, that doesn’t give readers information about the books to come.

Kelley St. John was participating in a group blog for the Warner Forever authors, and that’s where I got the idea to bring all the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy authors together on one blog. The blog would help readers because they’d get information about new books before their release, and they could check out the covers and descriptions of the old books plus blog posts from the authors, all in one place. For authors, of course the blog would promote the new books coming out. But even if the author was writing something different now, the blog would link to the author’s web site, where he or she would have her new work on display. And on that web site, the author would post a link back to the blog, increasing traffic in the other direction. The blog would be beneficial to everyone.

I could have simply e-mailed the authors I knew and started the blog that way. But nowadays almost all authors have at least one blog already, and I predicted low participation. I thought I’d get a better result if I went through the Simon Pulse editors. Also, I wanted to write “Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies” at the top of the blog, and I figured the editors might take issue with that. This is their brand name of sorts, and I didn’t want to use it without their permission.

I proposed the blog to my editor. She thought it was a great idea but she would have to get approval.

There were committee meetings.

There were more committee meetings.

There was a conference call with me, my editor, her assistant, and a marketing expert.

And five months after proposing it, I had a blog.

It’s been a great success. We now have twelve authors participating. I have a target date for each of them to blog once a month. If they don’t hit it exactly, that’s fine. The point of the date is to ensure we have new content every few days. Their posts are hilarious, interesting, touching—each in a remarkably different voice. Go visit and see what you think, and don’t forget to comment!

My second book, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, was a Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy published in June 2007. But my next book, BOY IN BLUE, will be released by MTV Books in March 2009. With the same purpose in mind, I proposed to my MTV editor that I start a blog for the authors of MTV Books. These novels aren’t as similar to each other as the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies. Some are realistic, some are paranormal, and some are downright frightening. But they’re all for older teens, and like the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies, if you like one MTV Book you’ll probably like others.

This time approval was quick, perhaps because of the precedent of the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies Blog (Simon Pulse and MTV Books are both imprints of Simon & Schuster). We already have ten authors signed up, and I expect more to join. Hop over and post a comment about my fabulous finish in my latest 10-K race, Barbara Caridad Ferrer’s frustrated Christmas past, or Stephanie Kuehnert’s road to publication plus the coolest author photo ever.

Wow, when I look at this beautiful blog, I feel very impressed with myself. Then I remind myself that I didn’t do much. They’re MTV Books’ gorgeous covers, the authors’ thought-provoking blog posts, and interesting comments from the reading and writing community. All I did was sweep these elements into one black and hot pink pile.

Jenn Echols

www.jennifer-echols.com

I didn’t have time to post last night, but I’m bursting with the news. Kelley St. John and Jennifer Echols were winners! For Real Women Don’t Wear Size 2, Kelley won best single title contemporary. For Major Crush, Jennifer won best YA. The loudest voice in the room was mine as I cheered both of my wonderful authors on. Go check out these books (as well as their newest ones—To Catch A Cheat, Kelley St. John and Boys Next Door, Jenn Echols) and leave some reviews for them please. And check out the pictures below.

Jennfer Echols’ new YA ro-com with Simon Pulse, THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, will be released on June 26. To celebrate, her teen heroine is throwing a virtual book release party.  I’m a big fan of book parties, but the ones I go to are pretty formal affairs. There’s lots of wine and cheese and I spend most of the night running outside for a cigarette (bad habit, I know). But this is different. You can eat cake while attending this book party and show up in your pajamas if you so chose to. I love the concept of a virtual book party because anyone can drop by and see what’s going on at any time. Now this is going to be a lot of fun so go check it out and let us know what you think. The book party is here so be sure to stop by.

From the publisher (Simon Pulse):

Lori lives for summertime on the lake. She spends all season wakeboarding, swimming, and hanging with her friends — including the two hotties in the house next door. With the Vader brothers, Lori’s always been one of the guys.

But while Lori and the “baby” brother, Adam, are inseparable friends, she can’t deny a secret crush on Sean, the older Vader boy. This year Sean’s been paying Lori a lot of attention, and not in a brotherly way.

But just as Lori decides to prove to Sean she’s girlfriend material, she realizes that her role as girl friend to Adam may be even more important. And by trying so hard for the perfect summer romance, she could be going way overboard….

You can buy a copy of the book here. And congrats to Jen for being a double finalist in the National Reader’s Choice Awards for her book Major Crush, which was nominated for Best First Book and Best YA Novel.

Congratulations to Jennifer Echols and Kelley St. John for becoming finalists in the National Reader’s Choice Awards. Jennifer’s book Major Crush is up for best first book and best YA book and Kelley’s book Real Women Don’t Wear Size 2 is up for single title contemporary. I’m so proud of them; grab a copy of their books and let us know what you think. And don’t forget to enter the very cool contests they have—-you can score free books and free stuff to go with them (anyone interested in a spa vacation?).

I’m blogging on the teen lit loop this week so come on over and ask plenty of questions. I’ve had some good ones so far. What are some of my favorite YA/Teen books and why, what I’m looking for in authors and what types of books do I want, were some of the questions. My list included two of my authors novels, Adios to My Old Life, Barbara Caridad Ferrer and Major Crush, Jennifer Echols. I like them, not because I represent them, but because these are genuinely good books. So go read them and let me know what you think.

C.