L.R. Lam's Blog, page 41

The Literature Show on schmuFM

Photo credit: Colin Edwards

Yesterday I made my first appearance on the radio for the local station schmuFM, 99.8, on the Literature Show. I chose a few songs, did a few readings, and answered some questions. I think it went pretty well, all told! Thanks to everyone involved in the Literature Show for inviting me to come: Haworth Hodgkinson, Ian Anderson, Rachel Grant, Mark Pithie, and Colin Edwards.  The show will re-air at 1 pm on Monday on 99.8 FM, but you can listen to it online anywhere–but only until next Sunday!

How to Help Debut (or, really, any) Authors

I’ve had quite a few people (well, okay, like 5) ask me the best way to support me, and so I thought I’d collate the information I’ve learned. Obviously, this isn’t a completely altruistic post (as evidenced by my clever buy links) and it’d be wonderful if you use this information to help Pantomime, but some of this was new to me, it might be for you as well, and you can use it to help all the wonderful books that need a little extra love.

Buy the book

Yes, seems obvious, but really the best way to support an author is to pay with your dollar/pound/currency of choice. Debuts especially live and die by the numbers, especially in the early months. These numbers can have a huge impact on the writer’s career, such as if further books in the series are commissioned.

If you can’t buy it: request at your local libraries! Libraries are awesome.

How to Buy the Book

Ebook

The format that will probably give them the most money in their pocket is actually e-book, as there’s lower costs to the publisher (manufacturing, distribution, storage, what have you). I personally make the most money through Angry Robot’s store, where the (DRM-free!) ebook is dispensed straight through the publisher. Kindle/Nook/whatever is also beneficial to the author as usually royalties are around 25% net receipt.

Print

However, print books are still important. Of course there are online dispensaries like Amazon, but buying from a bookstore can be very important for a debut. Bookstores buy in a certain number of books, but the important part is the sell-through—i.e. how many of those books actually come off the shelves and are taken home by a reader. If the stock starts moving quicker, then the bookstore will notice this and order in more copies at a time, maybe put it face out on the shelf or on the bargain 2 for 3 table, and all that good stuff. If the books don’t sell through, then those books are remaindered, count against an author’s advance, and basically isn’t very good. Poor little books without a home.

If you go into a bookstore and don’t see the book that you want, it could be the book hasn’t been distributed to that particular store, or the copy(ies) have already sold and more haven’t come in. If you don’t see a book that you want, ask a bookseller rather than just shrugging and wandering off. As was the case just after Pantomime’s release, a few people I know went to the bookstore, didn’t see it, and it turns out it was just in the back of the shop and hadn’t been put on display yet. The bookseller gave the person who requested it a copy, and also took out a few more copies to go on the shelf.

Also, if people request a certain title often enough, then booksellers will sense there’s a demand and supply more copies. Shelving space is tight, and competition is fierce.

Spread the Word

Most debuts especially don’t have a huge marketing campaign. Debuts, as with all authors, are very reliant on word of mouth. A little baby book is thrown into the world, and it’s expected to beat the odds, sell decently, and find enough fans that might follow the author along to future books. And it’s so easy for books—really awesome books—to become lost in the noise. It makes me think of this quote: “Writing a book [of poetry] is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo” (Don Marquis).

So if you read a book and like it—spread the word! If you read a book and hate it—spread the word anyway! For a debut, there is no bad publicity (even if the bad reviews can hurt our sensitive little hearts if we stumble across it). Book-related sites like Goodreads are a great place to leave ratings/reviews, and doing little things like becoming their “fan” (yeah I really have no shame with these links, do I?) can help the publisher know that there are, indeed, fans of the work. A lot of casual readers just look at places like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, so leaving reviews there helps. Also, there are magical algorithm thingeys (technical term, I’m sure), so that the more reviews there are, then the more lists and ads and whatnot the book will appear on. All of that adds up and helps visibility.

Personally, I rely mainly on my friends to tell me what to read next, or trusted bloggers I follow. If my best friend, Erica, tells me I’d love a book, I’m pretty much guaranteed to get it because that girl knows me inside and out. If everyone tells 5 people about a book they liked, and they tell 5 people, and so on and so forth like Pay it Forward, aka a film with soulful Haley Joel Osment that makes you cry, then word about a book can spread far and wide.

Whatever happened to this kid? Didn’t he have a mugshot?

I’ve been really humbled by how nice people have been to me about my book. People I know who would never read a YA circus fantasy picked it up to support it. Someone at my work bought four copies–one as a gift, one for him, one for his wife, and his wife also bought it on Kindle. Yay Jimmy! I am happy to promote myself but a lot of the time don’t know what to do or who to contact. People have used connections to help me schedule book signings, school visits, festivals, and a radio interview (more on that in a minute), all of which helps boost my book’s signal.

Before I wrote a book, I never thought about any of this. Over the last month, I’ve understandably thought about it a lot. As a hopeful writer you think a lot about the process of getting published, but not quite as much after it happens. It’s like you’re too afraid to daydream that far ahead. So many new fears and uncertainties face you that it can be overwhelming, especially because you don’t have hard numbers at your disposal. Almost every day someone asks, “so how’s the book selling?” And I kinda go like this:

Subtext: “I don’t knooooow!”

All you have is the Amazon Central numbers if you sign up for it, which don’t count e-books or about 30% of bookstores. So all it does is crush your confidence and dreams. (Joking. Sort of.) As ever, it’s best to just ignore that stuff and get on with writing the next book, but easier said than done.

Some other posts on helping debut authors:

Paul Joseph: “How Can Readers Help Debut Authors?”

Natalie Whipple: “5 Easy Things you Can Do to Support Debut Authors“

Mary Robinette Kowal has a series on Debut Author Lessons, which I have found invaluable.

A lot of bloggers do a debut author challenge each year, which is wonderful.

Do you have any other tips and suggestions on how to help debut authors?

—-

Event announcements:

I’m going to be on schmuFM’s The Literature Show Saturday, March 16. It’ll also re-air the following Monday at 1 pm and be on the website for a week. I’ll be doing a few short readings and also answering questions via the FB event page and choosing some tunes.

I’ll be doing a school event March 22 and possibly signing up in Moray, Aberdeenshire, on March 23 but details still be be confirmed.

I have a signing at Waterstones Langstane Saturday, April 13th at 1 pm. Please come, and bring lots of people so I’m not sitting awkward and alone at a table!

Books Read in January & February

I never updated about January’s books as basically life imploded, so here’s the first two months. Between full-time work, the launch, starting part-time study, and finishing book 2 to get it out to betas as well as beta-reading MSs for friends…I haven’t been able to read very much outside of that.

January:

1. Frostfire – Zoe Mariott (YA, fantasy, Africa-inspired, awesome)

2. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn – Alison Goodman (YA, fantasy, Asia-inspired, girl-disguised-as-boy, dragons)

3. The Obsidian Mirror – Catherine Fischer (YA, fantasy, time travel)

Favourite book: Frostfire

February:

4. Skellig – David Almond (YA, fantasy, magical realism, angels, grief)

5. Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-century French Hermaphrodite – Introduction by Michael Foucault (nonfiction, intersex, memoir, history, medicine, Victorian, France, heartbreaking)

6. The Limbreth Gate – Megan Lindholm (fantasy, portal worlds)

7. Scarlet – Marissa Meyer (YA, science fiction, fairy tale, cinderella, red riding hood)

8. The City’s Son – Tom Pollcok (YA, urban fantasy, alice in wonderland retelling)

Favourite book: Scarlet for entertainment, the Herculine Barbin memoir for being really moving and so sad.

Feel free to add me on Goodreads!

A Day in Edinburgh: Guest Talk at Napier University

Photo credit: David Bishop

Yesterday I went to Edinburgh to do a brief guest talk at Napier University for their MA Creative Writing students that are specializing in Genre. As a side note, I love that a course in genre is offered, as so many creative writing courses have a decidedly literary fiction bent. Which is fine if you wish to specialise in literary fiction, but if a student wishes to be a screenwriter or write genre, it can not be as useful. So, yay Napier!

I was nervous and might have rambled a bit too much, but the students were all so sweet. David Bishop, their professor, asked me some questions and then the students did. We discussed publishing–and I told them all my stupid mistakes I made so they don’t have to!–as well as: privilege in fiction, the QUILTBAG aspects of Pantomime, the cover image & marketing, and other topics that’s now a blur of nerves. I had a wonderful time and I hope the students enjoyed my talk.

David Bishop is also doing a project where he takes 100 portraits and I’m one of them. You can see the others here.

Afterwards I went to a nearby pub and spent the evening with the lovely, talented YA author, student, and commercial photographer, Elizabeth May. We’ve known each other on the Twitter. We are both Californians in Scotland writing fantasy. So we met up and drank beer and during the five hours where we chatted a mile a minute NONSTOP discovered we have so much more in common that it’s a bit uncanny. Yay Elizabeth May!

Overall, the last two weeks I’ve been adjusting to life on the other side of book publication. My friend sent me a photo of my book in New Zealand, and others have sent me photos from Canada and various places in the US and the UK. But it’s WEIRD, man. You prepare for the launch and then suddenly…it’s out there. And life goes on and is normal, except for little snippets of amazingness. I’ve been getting a few fan letters, which I honestly never thought I’d get. I love getting them, though–they brighten up my day to no end.

Pantomime’s Aberdeen Launch

Photo credit: Alex Silver

Friday the 15th was my Aberdeen launch at the local Waterstones, for my friends and family who understandably couldn’t make it out to London. And wow. I moved to Aberdeen three and a bit years ago, knowing only Craig’s immediate family and friends. About 80 people showed up to my launch. I stood in front of them and felt so overwhelmed and blessed. I know I’ve been saying that a lot, but it’s still true. The support I’ve received for the launch of my baby book has been extraordinary and I’m so touched.

Photo credit: Waterstones Union Bridge

Photo credit: Claire Jubb

So this launch went similarly to the London one, except this time I had a normal microphone as opposed to a Madonna headset. I read from a different section and opened it up for questions again, and I actually got about 10 questions! Whoohoo. And then the signing. Unfortunately, Waterstones didn’t anticipate 80 people coming (I sent them the FB event page which showed at least 70, but in retrospect I should have confirmed numbers! But I was a little distracted by London), and so there weren’t enough books for everyone.

In any case, they’re going to order more stock and perhaps hold another signing, so I’ll announce that when I know more. It felt pretty rockstar to sell out in about 2 minutes though. It was nice to chat with people and sign more books (I’ve signed 139 at the time of writing in total!). Craig bought me a fancy fountain pen for signing, though it might not be the best choice when signing more than one or two at a time as bits of the paper kept getting stuck in the nib.

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Afterwards, it was a lot of flitting around between groups and speaking with people. My Aberdeen worlds collided–in the same room were: Craig’s family, people from my current job, people from my old job at the library, two of  my writing groups, people from nights out, and others. I was on a nerves and adrenaline high the whole time but overall I was just so happy. My book is out there and people came to launch it in style. Thank you, everyone, and I hope you all come back for launch 2.5!

Pantomime’s London Launch

The Forbidden Planet launch at London’s megastore on the 7th was wonderful. I flew down Wednesday night, and the journey ended up being rather farcical as I took: a car to the airport, the plane down to London, a bus, a train I had to wait 25 minutes for, an overground that I had to wait 20 minutes for, and then a cabbie who first couldn’t find me and then got lost twice on the way to where I was staying. Oy ve. Luckily, when I was stranded waiting for the taxi with a dying phone at freezing Willesden Junction in the middle of the night, I met a nice girl and boy who walked around with me a bit.

Wednesday, I hung out with Strange Chemistry author & friend Kim Curran and then went to collect my mother, who had flown out for my launch. On the way to collect said mother, as soon as I left the Royal Festival Hall, the first person I saw walking down the street was…the girl I’d walked around Willesden Junction with at midnight the previous night! What are the odds of that? So I gave her my card and invited her to my launch.

My mother and I checked into where we were staying and then went to stalk Forbidden Planet. My mom, the obligatory paparazzi, took these photos. She also might have cried a bit, and just barely refrained from spontaneously combusting with motherly pride.

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I still couldn’t believe I was in the front window. So cool.

After that, we met up with editor extraordinaire Amanda Rutter for tea and then down to begin the actual launch! I think around 40 people showed up. I was both more nervous and not as nervous as I thought I’d be. So many faces!

I was originally going to read my first chapter but then Amanda rightly pointed out that a 3 minute reading might be a little short (darn it, she caught me out!), so I improvised another reading instead, and I think it went pretty well aside from the occasional stumble and my earrings clicking on my Madonna headphone set at the start.

Afterwards there was a Q&A but only one question (which my agent asked, hehe), and so next was the signing. As I’d only signed 4 books before that day, it was still weird to scrawl in books. I was writing in books! Wasn’t I ruining them? Did people really want my scribble? I also decided to number them as I signed because I’m geeky like that. I’ve now signed 77 Pantomimes.

It was lovely to see some bloggers I’d met at the Strange Chemistry launch back in August, except now they’d read the book (and liked it, whew), plus put faces to a few people I know from Twitter and meet a few strangers (!). As ever, it was great to see familiar faces like (cue namedropping): Juliet Mushens, Kim Curran, Adam Christopher, Amy McCulloch, Tom Pollock, Anne Lyle, Adrian Faulkner, Molly Ker Hawn, Will Hill, James Dawson, Paul Cornell, Liz de Jager, Jen Williams, & Laure Eve. One of my closest friends in Aberdeen traveled all the way down–yay Lorna! I also met an online friend for the first time, Imogen, and saw online friends again for the first time in a while (Susannah & Sandra), and my cousin Dylan and his lovely Rixt were there from Amsterdam. Also: the girl I met from the tube and then on the street showed up, though unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to say hello. Thank you for coming, Diana, if you see this!

A huge thank you to everyone at Forbidden Planet as well, who made my first launch smooth and seamless and helped put me at ease.

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Afterwards we went to the Phoenix pub and though it was hard to grab enough seats and chairs, it was nice to be able to chat at length with people. I drank champagne and felt very blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful folks to launch Pantomime into the world.

We finished on a note of unhealthy food at Byron burgers, and by then the adrenaline was wearing off…so I had some sugar.

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I’m still on a bit of a high from how amazing it all was…and then there’s still the Aberdeen launch next week!

Pantomime Achievement Unlocked: Officially Published

Well. Today is Pantomime‘s US release date. I am now a published author. It’s so surreal. I woke up this morning and when I checked my phone, Caroline Hooton had tweeted me this photo of Pantomime in the Strand Bookstore in New York.

In the Strand

This week has been a culmination of “is this real life?” moments. For instance, on Saturday (when at my favourite local cafe for the last time as they have now shut down, which is devastating), I was just settling down to edit when Stephen J. Sweeney was walking down the road in London and spied something in the window of Forbidden Planet:

Pantomime hanging out next to The Wheel of Time, Gail Carriger, and other famous people/franchises. I was absolutely floored! All productivity went out the window.

Sunday was also amazing because Magickedteacup left a comment on the Pantomime Blog Tour Post saying that they had written a waltz based on Pantomime!

Again, I was so touched and amazed. I’m going to send Teacup a signed copy of Pantomime as a thank you, because how often does someone get fan music, and such gorgeous music at that?

Monday continued to be surreal. At lunchtime I went to the local Waterstones where I’ll be having my Aberdeen launch, and I made a beeline for the L section of teen books. And wahey–I was face out and there were SIX copies! I was so pleased.

…And then I stood up, turned around, and saw the table display. My mouth dropped open comically.

So here we are. Tomorrow night I’ll be flying down to London for my Forbidden Planet Launch on Thursday. I’m out there in the US officially, and a few UK bookstores have me out already.

And now, my sales pitchy stuff, where hopefully I convince you to buy my book!

Print:

Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Waterstones, or see if your local independent has Pantomime or can order it in for you.

E-book:

DRM-free on the Robot Trading Company, which means you can buy straight from the publisher. Also: Amazon UK & Amazon US.

Strange Chemistry is also holding a contest to capture photos of Pantomime out in the wild to win more books! For details, click here.

Cover copy:

R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass – remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone – are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimeras is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

Praise:

“Who hasn’t dreamed off running off and joining the circus? Laura Lam’s Micah does just that, discovering a world of clowns and acrobats, con men and tricksters, corruption and incompetent doctors, and maybe more about himself. I look forward to more from this author.”

- Brian Katcher, author of Almost Perfect and winner of the 2011 Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award

“Micah is the most wonderful, complex, brave and contemporary teenage hero I’ve read, facing issues of identity and responsibility that will resound with any reader who has felt like an outsider. Pantomime is loving in it’s detail but hints at so much scope to come, it feels like the set up for an epic sequel. I raced through this book, desperate to know what happens next. ‘Look out behind you’, Robin Hobb…”

- Bryony Pearce, author of Angel’s Fury.

“Welcome to a world of shills and showmen, fading tech and circus freaks, where nothing and no-one is what it appears. An absorbing, accomplished debut.”

- Elspeth Cooper, author of the Wild Hunt series

“A lyrical, stunningly written debut novel, which set my heart racing with every lift of the trapeze. In Micah we have one of the most original – and likeable – protagonists I’ve read in a long time. An author to watch, without a doubt.”

- Amy McCulloch, author of The Oathbreaker’s Shadow

“In Pantomime, Laura Lam has created a world which will take your breath away, and characters you will never want to leave. Enchanting.”

- Lou Morgan, author of Blood and Feathers

“With its cast of runaways, freaks and bullies, Pantomime blends Victorian circus glamour with grittier YA themes like identity, body image and independence. Entertaining and thought-provoking by turns, this is an assured debut by an exciting new fantasy author – Laura Lam is a name to watch!”

- Anne Lyle, author of The Alchemist of Souls

“Ancient myths, vintage tech and living wonders abound in the riotous carnival of fancy which is Pantomime. Lam paints her world with greasepaint and stardust while exploring the notion of the circus ‘freak’ with subtle brilliance. A spectacular and brave debut!”

- Kim Lakin-Smith, author of Cyber Circus

Long post is long. TLDR: I AM VERY EXCITED. I’m trying to be cool, like this:

But really I want to be all:

More Milestones

A few days ago, the final version of Pantomime arrived. This was a moment I’d been idly daydreaming about since I was 14, and maybe even earlier than that. It’s one of the last milestones–ones I’m still looking forward to are signing my book for a stranger and walking into a bookshop and seeing my book on the shelves, plus others to come.

Wednesday night, I had just come back from the gym and I was starving, sweaty, and tired. None of that mattered when I opened the box and saw 20 copies of my book. I burst into tears–I was absolutely overwhelmed. There they were. Finished Pantomime, all grown up and ready to go into the world. When I could breathe again, I ate some food, waited until my face stopped being all splotchy, and took this photo.

A few days later, I went out for a meal with my husband’s family to celebrate the engagement of my brother-in-law and soon-to-be-sister-in-law. I gave a copy to each brother and their fiancees, and a copy to Craig’s parents. I was able to sign my first copies in an Indian restaurant.

So that was really amazing.

It’s one week until the US launch and 9 days until the UK launch. I’m torn between excitement and fear. It’s never far from my mind. It feels like another farewell and yet a new beginning. Evidently Pantomime is already shipping to those who pre-ordered on Amazon UK. I’ll be a published author with my book in bookshops, just like I’ve always wanted. Aiiee!

On one last marketing note, we’re running another Goodreads giveaway, this time for a signed final edition of Pantomime.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Pantomime
by Laura Lam

Giveaway ends February 28, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Pantomime Blog Tour

My Blog Tour for Pantomime begins today, January 18th, and runs to February 7th currently, which is the UK launch date. Below are the places I will be appearing, and I’ll come back and edit as the posts go live.

My blog tour is sort of two parts. My publisher Strange Chemistry arranged a blog tour with the bloggers in their Chemistry set. But over the past few months I’ve also had bloggers contact me for interviews and I’ve also approached some of my favourite blogs. This means on some days there will be more than one post.

For the blogs arranged by Strange Chemistry, there’s a blog button, made by Kenda.

Isn’t it lovely?

And here we go:

These went live but I didn’t link them to the blog:

24th December: Guest Post – Winter Holidays in Ellada: Starmetal Oak Reviews

11th January: Interview: YA Yeah Yeah (also appeared on The Book Bag)

18th January: Guest Post: The Road to Publication: The Book Galaxy

19th January: Interview: A Fantastical Librarian

20th January: Interview: Manga Maniac Cafe

21st January: Interview: Book Club Forum

22nd January: Guest Post – Top Ten Settings I’d Like to See More of in Young Adult: Bookworm Dream

23rd January: Interview: Readaraptor

23rd January: Excerpt – The Snake Charmer: Fantastical Imaginations

24th January: TBD: Red House Books

25th January: YA Debut Author Interview: Once Upon a Bookcase

25th January: Interview: Cuddlebuggery

26th January: Guest Post – Tour Through Ellada and the Circus with Pictures: The Book Fairy’s Haven

26th January: Interview: The Book Goddess

27th January: Interview: Nawanda Files

28th January: Guest Post – The Edibles of Ellada: Book Sake

28th January: Guest Post (Specific Topic TBD): Rainy Day Ramblings

28th January: Interview: Two Fantasy Floozies

29th January: Interview: Reader Girls

30th January: Character Interview – Micah Grey: YA Sisterhood

31st January: Guest Post – New Year’s Writing Resolutions: Lost in Thought

1st February: Guest Post – Top Ten Films that Tie into Pantomime’s Themes: One Page Reviews

2nd February: Guest Post – Bookcase Showcase: Overflowing Library

2nd February: Interview (and Giveaway!): Ensconced in YA

3rd February: TBD: Candace’s Book Blog

4th February: Guest Post on Circuses (Specific Topic TBD): Fantasy’s Ink

4th February: Interview: Distraction no. 99 (Nova Ren Suma’s Anticipated YA Debut Series)

4th February: Video Interview (and Giveaway!): Books That Glow (I Live for Reading, Ecstatic for Books)

4th February: Guest Post – An Introduction to R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic: Fluttering Butterflies

5th February: Guest Post – Turning Points: Distraction no. 99 (Nova Ren Suma’s Anticipated YA Debut Series)

5th February: Interview: Winged Reviews

7th February: Guest Post – My Favourite Bit: Mary Robinette Kowal

7th February: Interview: Terribleminds (Chuck Wendig)



And a few that haven’t been assigned dates yet (either because we’re still deciding or because I haven’t written them yet! *types faster*)

TBD: Guest Post – On the Back Lot of the Circus: One a Day YA

TBD: Interview: Reawrite

TBD: Interview: My Bookish Ways

TBD: Guest Post – Why the Circus and Elladan Worldbuilding: Book Adoration

TBD: Guest Post – The Fear and Joy of Writing Pantomime: The Book Smugglers

Books Read in 2012

So, 2012 was a reading year. I total I read 92 books, which breaks down into almost half YA.

January -

1. Delirium – Laura Oliver

2. The Dead of Winter – Lee Collins (beta-read)

3. The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great – Eva Stachniak

4. Genesis – Bernard Beckett

5. A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness

6. Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld

7. The Inheritance – Robin Hobb

8. Lessons from a Dead Girl – Jo Knowles

Total: 8 books – 5 YA, 1 historical fiction, 1 fantasy, 1 SFF short story collection

February -

9. The Merchant of Dreams – Anne Lyle (beta-read)

10. Behemoth – Scott Westerfeld

11. Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

12. Shotgun Gravy – Chuck Wendig

13. Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear – Jim Steinmeyer

Totals: 5 books, 3 YA, 1 non-fiction, 1 fantasy

March (unsurprisingly read less during the querying and total stress!)-

14. Goliath – Scott Westerfeld

15. A Great and Terrible Beauty – Libba Bray

16. The Scorpio Races – Maggie Stiefvater

Totals: 3 books, 3 YA

April-

17. Earth Girl – Janet Edwards

18. Fool’s Errand – Robin Hobb

19. Magic, 1400s-1950s – Jim Steinmeyer

20. Pantomime – Laura Lam (CHEATING! I know. But it went up on Goodreads at this time and I have read the thing 20 times so I’m putting it in my list. So there!)

21. City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

Totals: 5 books, 3 YA, 1 fantasy, 1 non-fiction

May-

22. Golden Fool – Robin Hobb

23. The 39 Steps – John Buchan

24. Rebel Angels – Libba Bray

25. The Housekeeper + The Professor – Yoko Ogawa

26. City of Ashes – Cassandra Clare

27. The Alchemist of Souls – Anne Lyle (yes, read them out of order on purpose)

28. What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People – Joe Navarro

Totals: 7 books, 2 YA, 2 fantasy, 1 historical, 1 contemporary, 1 non-fiction

June-

29. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife – Mary Roach

30. Clockwork Angel – Cassandra Clare

31. Shift – Kim Curran

32. Fleshmarket – Nicola Morgan

33. The Sweet Far Thing – Libba Bray

34. Blackwood – Gwenda Bond

35. Tithe – Holly Black

Totals: 7 books, 6 YA, 1 non-fiction

July-

36. In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination – Margaret Atwood

37. The Assassin’s Curse – Cassandra Rose Clarke

38. Fool’s Fate – Robin Hobb

39. The Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan

40. From Dark Places – Emma Newman

41. The Prince of Mist – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

42. Cinder – Marissa Meyer

43. Locke & Key Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft – Joe Hill

44. Locke & Key Volume 2: Head Games – Joe Hill

45. Locke & Key Volume 3: Crown of Shadows – Joe Hill

46. Locke & Key Volume 4: Keys to the Kingdom – Joe Hill

47. Handsome Heroines: Women as Men in Folklore – Husain Shahrukh

48. Sorrowline – Niel Bushnell

49. She – H. Rider Haggard

Totals: 14 books, 4 graphic novels, 2 MG, 3 YA, 2 fantasy, 2 short story collections, 1 nonfiction

August-

50. The Unwritten Volume 1 – Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity – Mike Carey

51. The Unwritten Volume 2 – Inside Man – Mike Carey

52. The Unwritten Volume 3 – Dead Man’s Knock – Mike Carey

53. The Unwritten Volume 4 – Leviathan – Mike Carey

54. The Unwritten Volume 5 – On to Genesis – Mike Carey

55. The Unwritten Volume 6 – Tommy Taylor and the War of Words

56. Seraphina – Rachel Hartman

57. Heartsick – Chelsea Cain

58. The Key of Gold – 23 Czech Folk Tales – Josef Budis

59. Annabel – Kathleen Winter

60. Broken – A.E. Rought

61. The Haunting of Tabitha Grey – Vanessa Curtis

Totals: 11 books, 6 graphic novels, 3 YA, 1 contemporary, 1 short story collection, 1 thriller

September-

62. Poltergeeks – Sean Cummings

63. Harpy’s Flight – Megan Lindholm

64. Shades of Milk and Honey – Mary Robinette Kowal

65. Art and Artifice: And Other Essays of Illusion – Jim Steinmeyer

66. Seven Wonders – Adam Christopher

67. The Windsingers – Megan Lindholm

Totals: 6 books, 1 YA, 3 fantasy, 1 science fiction, 1 non-fiction

October-

68. Songs of the Earth – Elspeth Cooper

69. The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling

70. The Holders – Julianna Scott

71. Bossypants – Tina Fey

72. Unspoken – Sarah Rees Brennan

73. Daughter of Smoke and Bone – Laini Taylor

74. The Stars my Destination – Alfred Bester

75. Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes

Totals: 8 books, 3 YA, 2 SF, 1 nonfiction, 1 fantasy, 1 contemporary

November-

76. Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins

77. Carter Beats the Devil – Glen David Gold

78. The Mad Scientist’s Daughter – Cassandra Rose Clarke

79. Days of Blood and Starlight – Laini Taylor

80. Affinity – Sarah Waters

81. The Oathbreaker’s Shadow – Amy McCulloch

82. Lola and the Boy Next Door – Stephanie Perkins

83. The Explorer – James Smythe

Totals: 8 books, 4 YA, 2 SF, 2 historical

December-

84. Angel’s Fury – Bryony Pearce

85. Time Between Us – Tamara Ireland Stone

86. The Letters of the Rozmberk Sisters: Noblewomen in Fifteenth-Century Bohemia – John M. Klassen

87. Some Kind of Fairy Tale – Graham Joyce

88. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

89. Anna Dressed in Blood – Kendare Blake

90. Shadows on the Moon – Zoe Mariott

91. Heart-Shaped Bruise – Tanya Byrne

92. We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver

Totals: 9 books, 5 YA, 1 MG, 1 contemporary, 1 fantasy, 1 nonfiction

I doubt I’ll hit these many next year, alas.