S.A. Bodeen's Blog, page 3
May 1, 2012
Some super news...
Last week was a bit roller coaster, because I did get this great news before I got the bad news I recently posted about.
The Compound has won the 2011 Nebraska Golden Sower Award. Here are the winners and runners-up for all three age groups...
http://www.goldensower.org/index.htm
The Hunger Games won last year which puts me in some very fine company. I'll be heading to Omaha in October to accept the award at the state library conference. ( And they have posted the nominees for next year. I'm happy to see April Henry's Girl Stolen on the list. Great book you should read if you haven't.)
The Compound has won the 2011 Nebraska Golden Sower Award. Here are the winners and runners-up for all three age groups...
http://www.goldensower.org/index.htm
The Hunger Games won last year which puts me in some very fine company. I'll be heading to Omaha in October to accept the award at the state library conference. ( And they have posted the nominees for next year. I'm happy to see April Henry's Girl Stolen on the list. Great book you should read if you haven't.)
April 28, 2012
Piracy of books ( And how much it ticks me off)
Piracy, in terms of copyright violations, "includes the unauthorized storage, reproduction, distribution, or sale of intellectual property." Which includes books. For my purposes, and this post on my blog, this particularly applies to the unauthorized distribution of the electronic copy of the galley of The Raft, which will not be released until August. Here is a screen shot from the website Share Term Papers.
As you can see, The Raft has been down loaded 61 times. Of course, this was March 7, so I can only imagine how many more times it has been downloaded since then. Share Term Papers does have an Author Opt Out list, so you can put your name on there and this will not be allowed on the general boards. Of course, this happened on the private boards, and you can see the bold-faced Please do not repost on STP or any other site.
And apparently, Net Galley denied Book_Fiend an electronic copy of The Raft ( for review purposes only) , so she went on here to get it. I don't think that's the way Net Galley intends for their review copies to be used. I did a bit of looking around, and found a book of Lauren Myracle's that had been downloaded 45 times. Now you are probably thinking, "Oh well, 45 copies, 61 copies. No biggie." My books don't sell a million copies. I am not wealthy. Nowhere close. And I have a kid in college this year and will have two next year. But the royalties from 61 copies might buy a week's worth of groceries. Or fill up the gas tank once, maybe twice. Maybe buy a textbook for one of my kids. In this economy? That makes a difference.
Honestly? I believe with all my heart that none one of these people would have gone out and dropped $16.95 on The Raft when it comes out. Does that mean they should get to read it for free when most of my friends and relatives will wait until August? Hell no.
And I'm not going to sit here without at least letting people know this crap is going on with a lot of people's books.
As you can see, The Raft has been down loaded 61 times. Of course, this was March 7, so I can only imagine how many more times it has been downloaded since then. Share Term Papers does have an Author Opt Out list, so you can put your name on there and this will not be allowed on the general boards. Of course, this happened on the private boards, and you can see the bold-faced Please do not repost on STP or any other site.
And apparently, Net Galley denied Book_Fiend an electronic copy of The Raft ( for review purposes only) , so she went on here to get it. I don't think that's the way Net Galley intends for their review copies to be used. I did a bit of looking around, and found a book of Lauren Myracle's that had been downloaded 45 times. Now you are probably thinking, "Oh well, 45 copies, 61 copies. No biggie." My books don't sell a million copies. I am not wealthy. Nowhere close. And I have a kid in college this year and will have two next year. But the royalties from 61 copies might buy a week's worth of groceries. Or fill up the gas tank once, maybe twice. Maybe buy a textbook for one of my kids. In this economy? That makes a difference.
Honestly? I believe with all my heart that none one of these people would have gone out and dropped $16.95 on The Raft when it comes out. Does that mean they should get to read it for free when most of my friends and relatives will wait until August? Hell no.
And I'm not going to sit here without at least letting people know this crap is going on with a lot of people's books.
April 26, 2012
A heads up for all you authors....
There's a website called Share Term Papers. Apparently, they are also sharing lots of books, including the PDF galley of my not-yet-released book The Raft. And plenty of other people's books. Yes, they have an Author Opt Out list. But that only applies to the general boards, and they do whatever they want on the private boards. Someone was nice enough to alert me to this and took screen shots of The Raft being offered to anyone who wants it. Did I mention the book isn't even published yet? The board I managed to get on was requesting, and getting, books by Lauren Myracle and others. The Lauren Myracle book had been downloaded 45 times. Wow. That can't be legal, can it? Please share this with whomever you think might want to know they may be a victim. Because there isn't another name for it, is there?
An addendum: The ARC of my book has been downloaded 61 times. Half my family has not even read the book yet!
An addendum: The ARC of my book has been downloaded 61 times. Half my family has not even read the book yet!
April 5, 2012
Best Thursday Ever.
So, this just hit Publisher's Marketplace, so I guess I can share:
THE RAFT and THE COMPOUND author S.A. Bodeen's first four volumes of a first middle grade series, pitched as "Swiss Family Robinson" meets "Lost," about a recently-blended family on a sailing trip in the South Pacific as a bonding adventure for the new step-siblings and step-parents, when things go terribly wrong, to Jean Feiwel and Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends, in a six-figure deal, by Scott Mendel at the Mendel Media Group (world).
April 3, 2012
My Tuesday Rocks. Just sayin'...
A couple of years ago, I read this:
The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith is one of my favorite novels of the past couple of years. It's dark and sinister and not easy to read. It's freakin' scary. If you haven't read it, because you've been too busy reading about vampires and witches and teenagers- that- are- dead -but -somehow -still- manage- to- narrate- an- entire- book-while-wearing-fashionable- clothing, you need to get it. Because it is a great read.
But I'm soooo excited, because my UPS dude, Kelly, just dropped this off.
Passenger by Andrew Smith. The sequel to one of my favorite books of the past few years. It doesn't come out until October. Yes, I despise when people do this. "Oh snap. Lookie what I've got. But you can't read it for three years yet, because it's not out, but I have a galley because I'm cool like that." I despise that. So here I am, doing a despicable thing. Only because I have been dying to get my hands on this ever since I heard it was going to happen. So I did what any respectable reader would do: begged my editor, who happens to be Andrew's editor, to send me one. And, wonderful person that she is, she sent me one . Along with a note saying Buckle up tight. It's a dangerous ride.
( I don't do this very often. Beg for a galley. In fact, I do it much less than often. Maybe once a year I beg for a galley I want to read.) I didn't do this so I could lord it over you all who don't have a copy. (Because those of you who live near me will certainly be knocking on my door to borrow it and I will let you. Maybe.) I wanted the thing so I can read it, because if I had to pick only novel, YA or other, to read in 2012? This one would be it. And I don't want to wait until October. So forgive me for doing that which I despise. But hey, may I just say, "Oh snap. Lookie what I've got...."
The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith is one of my favorite novels of the past couple of years. It's dark and sinister and not easy to read. It's freakin' scary. If you haven't read it, because you've been too busy reading about vampires and witches and teenagers- that- are- dead -but -somehow -still- manage- to- narrate- an- entire- book-while-wearing-fashionable- clothing, you need to get it. Because it is a great read.
But I'm soooo excited, because my UPS dude, Kelly, just dropped this off.
Passenger by Andrew Smith. The sequel to one of my favorite books of the past few years. It doesn't come out until October. Yes, I despise when people do this. "Oh snap. Lookie what I've got. But you can't read it for three years yet, because it's not out, but I have a galley because I'm cool like that." I despise that. So here I am, doing a despicable thing. Only because I have been dying to get my hands on this ever since I heard it was going to happen. So I did what any respectable reader would do: begged my editor, who happens to be Andrew's editor, to send me one. And, wonderful person that she is, she sent me one . Along with a note saying Buckle up tight. It's a dangerous ride.( I don't do this very often. Beg for a galley. In fact, I do it much less than often. Maybe once a year I beg for a galley I want to read.) I didn't do this so I could lord it over you all who don't have a copy. (Because those of you who live near me will certainly be knocking on my door to borrow it and I will let you. Maybe.) I wanted the thing so I can read it, because if I had to pick only novel, YA or other, to read in 2012? This one would be it. And I don't want to wait until October. So forgive me for doing that which I despise. But hey, may I just say, "Oh snap. Lookie what I've got...."
January 11, 2012
Drowning Instinct
Drowning Instinct by Ilsa Bick comes out in February. Here's the premise:
There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)
Jenna Lord's first sixteen years were not exactly a fairy tale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother--until he shipped off to Iraq. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.
There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and everyone cries for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)
Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain...magnetism.
And there are stories where it's hard to be sure who's a prince and who's a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)
Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds--and the rules.
I don't know if you can get this from that, but there is an Ewwww factor here. (Maybe it's just me, and the fact I have two teenage daughters and do not want to think about something like this happening to them or any of their friends.) But this book was bleak, very much so. I wanted something good to happen for Jenna, who has had a very sucky life so far. But the "good" thing, the thing that makes her happy for the first time in a long time, is not really a "good" thing. So I tried to look at this from the perspective of a teen, the intended audience. I don't know. It would serve the purpose of a teen reader who really needs to know there are people who have things worse than they do. Because Jenna has it bad. Like so bad I want to grab her parents and her teacher and smack them all upside the head. I guess I was just so frustrated by the adults of this book that I couldn't enjoy it. (Which may very well come from the fact I am not the intended audience. Teens will naturally be frustrated by adults, so that's nothing new for them.) But another reviewer said that they weren't sure teens would like it, but award committees would. I suspect they are right. Anyway, if you're in the mood for a well-written book with more than its share of depressing moments and a fairly taboo premise, give it a go.
December 20, 2011
A little news before the holidays...
This is The Compound, my first YA novel that came out in 2008. I honestly never thought about writing a sequel. Ever. It was a stand-alone story with a fairly open ending. But was there really more to tell?
Apparently,according to readers, yes. This past year and a half I spent a LOT of time in middle school and high schools in states where the book has made it onto state reading award lists. And everywhere I went, it was the first question they all asked: "Will there be a sequel?" And I always said no. Sequels are never as good as the first, everyone is disappointed, etc. etc. There would be no sequel. But then, I was watching television, as I am wont to do, and heard this fairly amazing story on the science channel about a discovery. And it got me thinking. ( Also as I am wont to do...) And I came up with this CRAZY idea. In July, my editor and I presented together at a SCBWI conference in Maryland, and we had a chance to talk. I said, "Okay. I've never considered a sequel, but...I have this idea. You will either think I am insane or you will love it." I told her and and she said, "I love it."
Well, I spent the next few months working up a synopsis to go with the idea, not sure it was going to work. But, I just found out last week that it is a go. So the next book you'll see from me after The Raft will be the sequel to The Compound.
December 19, 2011
2012-13 Missouri Truman Award Finalists...
I'm thrilled to see The Gardener on this list....
Sonnenblick, Jordan
After Ever After
Scholastic
Shusterman, Neil
Bruiser
HarperTeen
Falls, Kat
Dark Life (Dark Life #1)
Scholastic
Henry, April
Girl, Stolen
Henry Holt
Carter, Ally
Heist Society (Heist Society #1)
Hyperion
White, Kiersten
Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy #1)
HarperTeen
Shulman, Mark
Scrawl
Roaring Book Press
Choat, Beth
Soccerland
Marshall Cavendish
Bodeen, S.A.
The Gardener
Feiwel and Friends
Shulman, Polly
The Grimm Legacy
Putnam Juvenile
Riordan, Rick
The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1)
Hyperion
Reichs, Kathy
Virals
Razorbill
December 12, 2011
My own personal Scrooge
This round over at One Potato Ten we are posting about our publishing Scrooges:
http://onepotatoten.blogspot.com
http://onepotatoten.blogspot.com
December 6, 2011
A challenge for my fellow YA authors and bloggers....
This Christmas is different. Sure, we have our tree and decorations up, and we're getting ready for our oldest daughter to come home from college, but our thoughts are also directed toward Afghanistan, where her boyfriend is on the front line of a war we've been fighting for far too long. He's 19, a teenager, as are a lot of his buddies. I don't think he's been much of a reader in the past, but in a care package I sent him my YA novels. He told me today he has read them both and is now passing them around to his buddies. When he told me that, I immediately went to my bookshelves to see what other books I could send for him and his friends. So this is where you come in. These soldiers have time on their hands, time to read good books. Do you have any ARC's or extra copies of your books sitting around you could send to our teen readers spending their Christmas fighting for our freedom? Facebook me or Email me ssbodeen@yahoo.com and I'll send you the address.
