New Feature Coming Soon! First Impressions: Page Critiques by Melissa J.
Starting this November (along with a bunch of other cool stuff), associate agent and submissions coordinator Melissa Jeglinkski will be critiquing first pages RIGHT HERE every first Wednesday of the month. Cool, right? Not only is Melissa the query master around the office, she's also built an enviable client list in just two short years at The Knight Agency. Before joining, many of you know she was a senior editor at Harlequin. Melissa's promises all pages will be thoughtfully critiqued; however, don't expect to be treated with kid gloves. This is an honest, true-blue reaction to your work. So, if you're still with me, details for entering your first page are below:
To enter, email your first page (300 words or less) to Contests(AT)KnightAgency.net with “First Impressions” in the subject line. Include the title and genre in the email, as well as the name you wish us to use when referring to you publicly. All genres are welcome. Do not send your entry as an attachement; it must be within the body of the email. Winners are randomly selected using www.random.org.
**Disclaimers, Rules, Stipulations, What Not, and All That Jazz: By emailing your entry to Contests(AT)KnightAgency.net, you agree to have your first page posted on our blog for critique. Entrants will remain in the selection queue indefinitely, so your number could come up tomorrow or two years from now. Such is life. We will drop you a line if your email is pulled out of the hat. Maybe. It’s best to just swing by our blog often and check things out, no? Winning a first page critique does not in any way indicate an interest or offer of representation by The Knight Agency, and we reserve the right to delete any material that we find improper or offensive. Though we encourage blog readers to offer positive, thoughtful feedback, we cannot control their opinions with Imperius Curses. However, we will promptly banish nasty, mean-spirited comments to the outer limits of cyberspace. Dontcha wish you could do that with people in real life?**
First Impressions Schedule for the next 6 months: November 3rd, December 1st, January 5th, February 2nd, March 2nd, April 6th
UPDATE: The winner of GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE by Marley Gibson is petite. Please email your physical addy to contests(at)knightagency.net. Congrats!
Marley Gibson's Ghost Huntress series is the perfect Halloween treat for any YA fan, and today she's giving away an autographed copy of the first book, GHOST HUNTRESS: THE GUIDANCE. Leave a comment to enter the giveaway. The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon. Good Luck!!
The 411: Kendall and her ghost hunting team is the talk of Radisson, Georgia, but one person isn’t so pleased. Courtney Langdon doesn’t appreciate Kendall’s new popularity or her relationship with Jason, Courtney’s ex. So Courtney begins dabbling in the paranormal world. At first it’s all a game to draw attention away from Kendall. But Courtney doesn’t know what she’s getting into—or what wants in her. This is one game that’s about to turn deadly serious.
**PLEASE READ. The Knight Agency's contest rules have changed. Beginning 10/05/2010, our contests are now only open to US and Canadian residents, unless otherwise noted. We appreciate all of our past international participants, and will honor any past giveaways with an international winner that have not yet been claimed. Also, from 10/05/2010 forward, if you do not claim your prize by emailing Contests(AT)knightagency.net within 30 days of the winning announcment being posted -- your prize will be declared void. A second winner will not be chosen.**
Check out the video below of New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh chatting about the highly anticipated ninth book in her Psy-Changeling series, PLAY OF PASSION (Berkley, November 2010).
UPDATE: The winner of A GHOST A DAY by Maureen Wood and Ron Kolek is Margay. Congrats! Please send your physical addy to Contests(AT)KnightAgency.net.
Leave a comment to win a copy of A GHOST A DAY by Maureen Wood and Ron Kolek! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
**PLEASE READ. The Knight Agency's contest rules have changed. Only US and Canadian residents will be allowed to enter giveaways on our blog from this day (10/05/2010) forward, unless otherwise noted. We appreciate all of our past international participants, and will honor any past giveaways with an international winner that have not yet been claimed. Also, please note that from this day forward, if you do not claim your prize by emailing Contests(AT)knightagency.net within 30 days of the winning announcment being posted -- your prize will be declared void. A second winner will not be chosen.**
THE 411: Can't get enough spooks, spirits, and specters? Now you'll never have to go a day without your ghoulish fix. This ghastly collection features some of the scariest stories of murder, revenge, and suicide ever told--and the spirits that haunt their resting place for all time. As a truly unique convention, each story directly relates to the specific day on which it's found. You'll find shocking stories of:
--Sightings of the spectral SS Valencia that was lost at sea on January 22nd, 1906
--The "Thirteen Lost Souls" trapped in the burning Jolema Building in Brazil on February 1st, 1974 seen roaming the new corridors and offices
--The ghostly "mist of the Green Lady" in the oldest graveyard in Burlington, Connecticut, which she started haunting on April 12, 1800
--Not for the faint of heart, this book delivers tales to terrify you every day of the year!
Linda Gerber's TRANCE Countdown: 14 Days. 35 Authors. 29 Prizes. One BIG Party.
The countdown to the release of Linda Gerber's TRANCE has begun, and the author has planned a mega book party to celebrate. Join her for fourteen days of blogs by the coolest young adult authors in town and enter to win a bunch of awesome goodies. Here's the official announcment:
Come celebrate the release of TRANCE by Linda Gerber, and win stuff!
Fourteen days. Thirty-five authors. Twenty-nine prizes. Four ways to enter. One great party!
A S King** Alyson Noel** Jeri Smith-Ready**Jennifer Lynn Barnes** KC Dyer** Becca Fitzpatrick**Heather Swain** Nancy Werlin** Lisa McMann**Lisa Cach ** Brenna Yovanoff** Beth Fantasky**Amanda Ashby** Sara Zarr** Elizabeth Scott**Alana Johnson** Carrie Jones** Stephanie Kuehnert**Suzanne Young** Melissa Walker** Kay Cassidy**Jennifer O'Connell** Sydney Salter** Ally Condie**Jessica Brody** Lauren Strasnick** Gena Showalter**Melissa Francis** Rhonda Stapleton** Wendy Toliver**Mara Purnhagen** Chelsea Swiggett** Kate Coombs**Marley Gibson** Marsha Skrypuch**
The 411 on TRANCE: Ashlyn Greenfield has always known when bad things are going to happen. Each time that familiar tingling at the back of her neck begins, she knows what's to come a trance. She's pulled in, blindsided, an unwilling witness to a horrible upcoming event. But she's never been able to stop it not even when the vision was of her mother's fatal car accident. When soulful Jake enters Ashlyn's life, she begins having trances about another car accident. And as her trances escalate, one thing becomes clear: it's up to her to save Jake from near-certain death.
We're a little late to the party, but Banned Books Week kicked off on September 25th and runs through October 2nd. The event is sponsored by The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, the McCormick Foundation and the Newberry Library.
The Banned Books website has a long list of fun activities you can do to help support this important cause, including reading and sharing some of your fave banned books. I, for one, can't imagine my teen years without access to Judy Blume's FOREVER, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, GO ASK ALICE or any of the many other books that pushed me to become an altogether more well-rounded, thoughtful person. Below are the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009.
1. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle 2. AND TANGO MAKES THREE, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson 3. THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, by Stephen Chbosky 4. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, by Harper Lee 5. TWILIGHT (series) by Stephenie Meyer 6. CATCHER IN THE RYE, by J.D. Salinger 7. MY SISTER'S KEEPER, by Jodi Picoult 8. THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER BIG, ROUND THINGS by Carolyn Mackler
9. THE COLOR PURPLE, by Alice Walker 10. THE CHOCOLATE WAR, by Robert Cormier
UPDATE: The winner of JANE AND THE DAMNED by Janet Mullany is thebookfairyhaven. Congrats! Please email you rphysical addy to contests(AT)knightagency.net.
Leave a comment to win a copy of JANE AND THE DAMNED by Janet Mullany. The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
The 411: Mullany (Improper Relations) pens an impressively compelling Jane Austen mashup full of humor ("You damned Damned!") and poignant irony. At a Basingstoke dance, the Austen sisters encounter some fashionable Londoners with a taste for blood. Jane is drawn to meet one of the Damned, enigmatic William, who turns her into a vampire against her will. Reverend Austen takes the family to Bath to seek a cure, but when the French invade England, Jane joins the other vampires in putting their superhuman strength and speed to the service of their country. Purists might regret Cassandra's relegation to soppy sister, but the bond between Jane and her father, the small scenes that reflect Austen's novels, the sly humor of a vampire Prince Regent, and an abundance of moral dilemmas and vivid action make this a very satisfying page-turner for vamp-lovers and Austen fans alike. (Oct., Publishers Weekly)
Starting this November (along with a bunch of other cool stuff), associate agent and submissions coordinator Melissa Jeglinkski will be critiquing first pages RIGHT HERE every first Wednesday of the month. Cool, right? Not only is Melissa the query master around the office, she's also built an enviable client list in just two short years at The Knight Agency. Before joining, many of you know she was a senior editor at Harlequin. Melissa's promises all pages will be thoughtfully critiqued; however, don't expect to be treated with kid gloves. This is an honest, true-blue reaction to your work. So, if you're still with me, details for entering your first page are below:
