A.C. Gaughen's Blog, page 8

How to Tell a Second Printing

With this article as my guide, I think I have deduced how to tell the second printing from the first. 

Here is the information page from the first printing:

You'll notice:

And here is the second printing (not to be confused with a second edition--even though, um, I find it confusing):

You'll notice:

And...there we have it!  This also means, by the way, that it's shipping from Amazon again (even though amazon still says 1-3 months).  So...yay!

The YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes!

Welcome to my stop on the YAmazing Race with MGnificent prizes, a crazy whirlwind blog hop featuring over 50 debut authors and prize packs featuring ARCs, gift certificates, swag, and more!

 

If you haven’t yet been to the Apocalypsies website, please click here  to start from the beginning and read the complete rules. Now on to the race!

 

SCARLET by AC Gaughen [image error]

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

That's all you'll need to know for the quiz later on! 

You can also check Scarlet out on Facebook, Indiebound, Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

And....TA DAAAA!  Just for stopping by, if you leave your name and email address in the comments section below, you'll be entered to win a SCARLET tshirt!

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On to your next stop....Shannon Messenger!

 

Good luck on the race!

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Pay no attention to the killer penguin.

Fun ApocaStats!

As promised, here is part two of the ApocaStats Infographics!

Please refer to PART ONE to see what it's all about...

and as before, please don't reproduce these without my consent!

 

Book Related Swag Ordered

 

Maybe we are corrupting the youth of the nation...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FYI--The only program entered under "other" was iWork's Pages

 

What else are you dying to know? 

ApocaStats

Hello!  Today is the first of two posts on the Apocalypsies Infographics; basically, I compiled a whole lot of data from helpful members of the debut authors group the Apocalypsies.  There are two groups of statistics; the first are from about 85 members of the group, and the second are from about 65. 

Please do not reproduce these without my consent. 

Advances

 

 

Agents

 

Book Trailer

 

Multi Book Contracts

(the one that's cut off says "Yes; more than three books"

 

Hiring a Publicist

 

Length of Query Time for Agent (if applicable)

 

Submission Time to Publisher

(the one that's cut off says "I wasn't ever on submission"

Social Media Accounts Subscribed To...

 

...As opposed to Social Media Accounts Used Daily

 

Come Back Monday for a Look at the FUN Side of Publishing!

Did anything surprise you?

You are Infinitely Powerful

 

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I was at New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators annual conference this year, and a lot of it was totally surreal. This is *my* conference, my region--I got my start here four years ago at Mitali Perkin's workshop on strengthening your online presence/platform.  And I had the amazing experience of signing books, delivering a workshop, and sitting on a panel. 

During the signings in particular, I had people come up to me and share their writing stories, and I saw a mixture of emotions on their faces--hope, excitement, shyness, nervousness.  I remembered being back in their shoes and having this surface confidence that everything would happen for me, and a deep seated terror that it wouldn't happen.  That I wouldn't be the one it works out for. 

I thought when writers that I would fangirl gave me advice, they were being falsely positive, "just nice" or something of the sort.  But looking at these writers, I was floored, because it was like a got a glimpse into their future.  I could see it all unfolding for them in a grand way, in a way that they couldn't see for themselves.  I knew that all they had to do was keep at it, because they were so, so, so close to absolutely everything they wanted, everything they strive for. 

It's the same feeling I get at the Boston GLOW Awards Banquet, when we honor our finalists and award our biggest prizes.  That the world is theirs--some of them have an inkling, some of them have no idea--but it's like everyone else around them can see it with perfect clarity.  I can see it. 

My point is, at what point do we forget about this infinite power within us?  At what point do we give it up? 

Because it's there. 

I think we're born with this innate sense of power--we don't fly around the backyard with a cape yelling, "With a little more education, the right connections, and a lot of luck, I might be a firefighter!"

Of course we don't.  We pick up the kitten that we just saved from the tree and we say, "I'm a firefighter!"

As children we believe in ourselves in a way that we fail to as adults. 

And I am the first to say that I am way guilty of this.  WAY guilty.  I pass my power out like potato chips or the tshirts that you blitz out of a cannon.  I am tough and I am resilient and I am determined, but I all too often fail to believe in myself.  I fail to recognize my own accomplishments.  I fail to look within myself and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I can do anything. 

I think part of it is the Pretty Woman mentality--that the bad stuff is easier to believe. 

I think part of it is the power of fear, of jealousy, of admiration of those around us.  At a conference like NE SCBWI, it's easy to look around at the amazing people in the room (Sarah Aronson, Nancy Werlin, and Kate Messner were just a few of the people that completely floored me this weekend) and think that you're not good enough to be in their ranks.  To be in the same room, much less the same sentence.  Maybe we have a cultural, historical imperative to rank things in that invisible hierarchy--it helps us make sense of it all.

But really, this conference--and life in general--is full of people who give, who share, who offer aid, support, and emotional sustenance to those around them.  Nancy Werlin gave this talk that was just so generous.  It gave of herself in a way that really touched me and inspired me.  

They aren't there to show off.  They're there to inspire you.  They are there to release that influx of water that creates a rising tide to float all boats.  More importantly, they are there to remind you that all that stands between them and you is time and perseverance.  

It's okay if you've done it.  I have to find ways to forgive myself when I give others my power instead of remembering how infinitely powerful I am.  Maybe you'll believe me when I say this, but maybe you won't.  

I'll keep saying it.  

You are infinitely powerful.   

She knows it. 

She knows it.

We know it.

You want to do something?  Do it.  Dream it into reality and make it happen.  Maybe it won't be the way you first imagined, but you have the power to make it happen. 

Look at your life; be honest about what you've accomplished.  Look at yourself and remember that you probably have never given yourself the permission to believe everything that you are capable of. 

Don't ever give up on yourself.  You are precious, you are powerful, you are a breath away from everything you ever dreamed. 

And on those dark days when the I Suck Playlist won't get out of your head, when every mirror echoes the ways in which you've failed yourself and others, when all you can see inside of yourself is this horrible cocktail of suck and bad and ugly and awful and lame, just please, please remember this:

You are infinitely powerful. 

Upcoming appearances!

So, this weekend I will be offering a workshop, sitting on a panel, and signing SCARLET on both Saturday and Sunday at the New England Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators

 

AND

 

I'll be signing books next week in Newton at the New England Mobile Book Fair, April 25th, from 2-4pm! 

 

I hope to see some of you there!

This Crazy, Wonderful Week

FIRST

I got the UK edition of SCARLET!  It's very cool--a paperback, but very similar to the hardcover except that it has a tagline that reads "THIEF. OUTLAW. HEROINE."  WHICH I LOVE!!

SECOND

Scarlet went into a SECOND printing!  Just shy of two months, that's not too shabby.  I'll take it!

THIRD

And by far the coolest....

SCARLET WAS NOMINATED FOR THE YALSA'S TEENS TOP TEN AWARDS!

This is a huge honor because it's nominated by teens, and then the top ten is chosen by teens.  Basically, this means that actual readers ACTUALLY LIKE MY BOOK.  Plus YALSA is pretty much the be all and end all of young adult fiction awards. 

Here's a full list of the twenty five nominated titles--and there are some heavy hitters on there.  John Green, Meg Cabot, Maggie Stiefvater, Beth Revis--these are all authors with books that I'M obsessed with.  To be put in the same list as their names...I'm pretty sure that's the definition of beyond. Whether or not I have a prayer of being in the top ten, I have no idea, but if you would like to get involved, apply to participate in the Teens Top Ten!  That way you can vote for SCARLET (if you so choose). 

I just feel so thrilled, crazy humble, and wicked excited.  Thank you to all the teens that already voted; it's such an honor just to be included. 

And watch the blog...when I'm feeling grateful/honored I tend to give things away....

 

 

Procrastinate EVERYTHING.

A play by play of tonight. 

9:55pm  Get recognized by someone in Whole Foods as an author.  Look very confused, somewhat chagrined at my food choices, and (hopefully) manage to ultimately be gracious.  Then the clerk says, "Oh, you're an author?". 

9:56pm  Tweet about it.

9:57pm  Sit in car, feeling cool. 

1:10am  Think about responding to emails. 

1:12am  Watch Hulu.

2am       Respond to a few emails. 

2:07am  Order new shoes. 

3:45am  Sit down to read a book.

3:47am  Watch Hulu.

4:15am  Work on WIP

4:36am  Read this

4:37am  Write blog post, chronicling all of this. 

 

AND SCENE.

EVIL.

I hate my novel. 

I hate the way I write.

I hate what I'm writing about. 

I hate my characters.  I hate what they do and where they go and how they talk. 

I hate everything about this novel. 

EXCEPT THAT I LOVE IT. 

And there are some parts that are awesome and true and strike a chord with me.  But working on this thing, this damn, evil, monkey-in-the-closet kind of novel is so hard.  And that's not how I write--I don't like struggling through issues and gutting the manuscript like a fish only to build it back up again. 

I believe in flow, and start to finish, and feeling out the flaws in a novel. 

And this novel is the exception to everything.  Because I'm working on it despite knowing it's not working and despite feeling like if it were a person I would spike a dodgeball of its head. 

The worst part is that when my writing feels so difficult, I feel it.  I feel it in every part of my life.  I feel restless and grumpy and stressed.  I have no idea how to relax other than to just finish this evil, evil thing. 

If you want to know what I'm talking about, you can read the first chapter here. 

Sorry I haven't been blogging so much; I'm just trying to figure out how to punch a novel in the face without hurting my MacBook. 

 

 

Love and Pictures

I know, I've been quiet.  Part of it is sheer madness--debut week, signings, getting a terrible cold, buying a car (!!), working at Hotel Job, and also going through final stages for the IGNITE Change Essay Contest (woo!  More on that later). 

Part of it was not really knowing what to say.  This magical thing happened and I've been very wrapped up inside myself about it.  My launch party was amazing--I stood in front of friends and family, including grade school teachers:

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 and people who had known me since I was a little girl.  In fact, the owner of the store knew me since I was a little girl and my mother worked there--I used to walk to the store after school and read for hours. 

How cool is that?  How lucky am I? Just FYI, the (incredible! wonderful! incredibly welcoming and professional!) bookstore is Buttonwood Books in Cohasset, MA and if you're looking for signed books, I think they still have a few kicking around.  Authors, if you are ever interested in holding an event in the area, Buttonwood is AMAZING.

That one is me with my mom and two brothers.

And then, to make matters even more incredible, a week later in Porter Square (which is SUCH a cool bookstore--their cafe is amazing and the whole place transforms to hold an event there) friends of an entirely different set came--some friends I haven't seen since childhood, a childhood friend who is now a ridiculously cool illustrator/graphic artist:

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 That would be Ming Doyle, for inquiring minds!  And fellow Apocalypsies Hilary Weisman Graham and Kate (Kathryn) Burak came out:

And so did Katie Bayerl, of Teen Voices (love her and love Teen Voices--an amazing organization that gives teen girls great writing preparation and an outlet for their voice!) and Sarah Aronson, one of my personal FAVORITES.  A great example of a writer who does so much for other writers, and a woman who does so much for other people.  She's been such a true inspiration for my career, it was so wonderful to have her there (all the way from NH, too!)

Honestly, beginning to end, I felt so blessed through this whole process--and so humbled and gratified by the reaction to the book.  Reviews so far have made me feel like a bajillion bucks, but possible the coolest moment was my 12 year old cousin texting me WAY past her bedtime about her reactions to the book.  In fact, she said it was her second favorite--after the Hunger Games.  Which I will SO TOTALLY TAKE!  Especially because she's a pretty tough book critic.  Love you Sarah, if you see this! 

Is there anything better?  As a kid, I read books and I felt like someone out in the world, for this tiny shred of a second, understood me.  I felt this lightning arc of connection to someone I've never met.  And to think that another kid out there is possibly experiencing that through my words?  How special is that?  How utterly magical? 

I don't know what I expected to feel, but I can only say how moved I am.  The world doesn't give you many days where people show their love for you without expectation, where your work has its moment to be appreciated, where you both feel like a star and a tiny, tiny part of a much larger world.  Thank you all so much for loving, and caring, and supporting--but especially for reading. 

 

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