link

Congrats to Hafsah Faizal on Her Debut Deal!

A huge congrats to Hafsah Faizal, on her amazing debut young adult, WE HUNT THE FLAME!

Hafsah’s #ownvoices fantasy just sold to Farrar, Straus, Giroux in a four-imprint auction, in a two-book deal, for six figures a book. Check out the announcement in Publisher’s Weekly:

Screen Shot 2017-10-30 at 10.51.13 AM.png

Hafsah was already well known to the Kid Lit community as the designer behind Icey Designs. Her evocative work has graced the sites of authors across the YA/MG community, such as New York Times bestseller V.E. Schwab, Angie Thomas, and Traci Chee. It has also been featured in BuzzFeed, HuffPost, Brit+Co, and BookRiot

You can add WE HUNT THE FLAME on Goodreads, follow Hafsah on Insta and Twitter, and read about her #DVPit success story in her own words!

I am so excited and honored to be working with this incredibly talented woman, and I can’t wait for you all to read WE HUNT THE FLAME! Some folks got an early look, and this is what they’re saying:

“With fierce characters, deathly challenges, and world-building both lyrical and spellbinding, WE HUNT THE FLAME is unputdownable.” – Marieke Nijkamp, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

“Hafsah Faizal’s voice is not one that simply speaks, but sings across the page. WE HUNT THE FLAME is a spellbinding tale filled with deception, political intrigue, and atmosphere that lives and breathes—I am obsessed with this story.” – Kerri Maniscalco, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

“Fresh, bold storytelling populated with vibrant characters marks Hafsah Faizal as an explosive new voice in fantasy. Charged with adrenaline and romance, WE HUNT THE FLAME held me enthralled and desperate for more!” – Jessica Khoury, Author of the Corpus Trilogy and THE FORBIDDEN WISH.

“I adore Hafsah’s writing; she has such a beautiful way with words.” – Beth Revis, New York Times Bestselling Author of A WORLD WITHOUT YOU

“This promises to be a very successful debut and an authentic #ownvoices book we really need in the world. Hafsah Faizal has a strong, clear, original voice. Authentic use of Arabic phrases and the pitch perfect prose style matches the terse, action-packed narrative. This is an assured debut that will stand alongside the best YA fantasy adventure novels.” – Ashok Banker, international bestselling fantasy author.

Congrats Hafsah!

 

 

#DVPitLive Video: On Pitches, Rep, and #OwnVoices

Last night I got to participate in this live stream for #DVPit along with Stacy Whitman, Publisher of Tu Books, and fellow-agent Quressa Robinson, hosted by the brilliant author Claribel Ortega. We answer questions about pitches, representation, #ownvoices, and all sorts of cool publishing stuff.

As you watch, appreciate the fact that my cat is just off-screen trying to climb in my lap, and my awesome wife is ten feet away making a dinner that smells so good you can practically see me drooling. Thanks to Beth Phelan and the #DVPit crew for having me!

S.K. Ali Talks Family, Togetherness, and Ramadan at NBC News

So cool to see SAINTS AND MISFITS author S.K. Ali talking about blended families, togetherness, and Ramadan with NBC News.

With my remarriage nine years ago, my single-parented family of three gained two appetite additions: the nuanced one of my gourmand husband and, for two to three months of the year, that of my teen stepson, Jochua, solidly rooted in good ol’ southern American fare.

Which, for him, being brought up as a Christian, includes bacon. (Thank Allah for quality halal beef bacon ready to do fill-in duty!)

You could say my son Hamza is also a meat ‘n potatoes kind of guy. Halal meat and turmeric-laced potatoes that is. My mother, an amazing cook, has nurtured his taste for good ol’ southern Indian fare.

And then my daughter, Bilqis, turned vegetarian four years ago. The kind of vegetarian who thrives on the sameness of her favorite foods, like veggie sushi rolls, with drizzled spicy sauce on top (i.e. she’ll eat it every day if she could).”

See the full article here.

170519_ramadan_hamzajochuabilqis_91c13d8b213f14b018770eae791d12c1.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg

Check out SAINTS AND MISFITS (which has garnered three starred reviews!) on Goodreads, and pre-order on Amazon, B&N, and Indiebound.

Follow S.K. Ali on twitter at @sajidahwrites,

Congrats to Quinn Sosna-Spear on her Debut Deal!

A huge congrats to Quinn Sosna-Spear on her debut deal with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers! Guys this manuscript is so weird and wonderful, I can’t wait for you to read it.

From Publishers Weekly:

SosnaSpear Author PhotoLiz Kossnar at Simon & Schuster has acquired world rights to a debut novel by Quinn Sosna-Spear. Pitched as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets American Gods, The Mortician’s Son follows 12-year-old Walter’s travels in the stolen family hearse, through towns where people dress as fish, worship bees, and dig for living rocks, en route to meet the infamous inventor who mentored his father. Publication is planned for fall 2018; John M. Cusick at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management brokered the deal.

You can find Quinn online @qsosnaspear and quinnsosnaspear.com.

9 Great Young Adult Novels For Politically Engaged Readers

9 Great Young Adult Novels For Politically Engaged Readers

58ee93221600001f006581f7.jpeg

Really exciting to see S.K. Ali’s SAINTS AND MISFITS in the Huffington Post (and in such great company). When people ask “what’s changing in YA?” I point to lists like this.

Things aren’t changing fast enough, but we’re moving in the right direction.

 

Congrats to GENA/FINN, on the 2017 Rainbow List!

Congrats Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson! Their co-authored novel has made the Rainbow List, a bibliography of books with significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning content.

41O+px6P4HL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Gena and Finn would have never met but for their mutual love for the popular show Up Below. Regardless of their differences—Gena is a recent high school graduate whose social life largely takes place online, while Finn is in her early twenties, job hunting and contemplating marriage with her longtime boyfriend—the two girls realize that the bond between them transcends fanfiction. When disaster strikes and Gena’s world turns upside down, only Finn can save her, and that, too, comes with a price. Told through emails, text messages, journal entries, and blog posts, Gena/Finn is a story of friendship and love in the digital age.

Find out more about GENA/FINN here, and on Goodreads, Amazon, and B&N.

You can find Kat on her website and twitter, and Hannah on her website and twitter.

Congrats to Shutter, a 2017 YALSA Popular Paperback

9781250044679Congratulations to Courtney Alameda, whose fantastically scary SHUTTER is a 2017 YALSA Popular Paperback! Check out the full list here.

Visit Courtney’s website, follow her on Twitter, and like her on Facebook. You can also check out SHUTTER on Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, and Indiebound.

S.K. Ali Talks with NBC News about #OwnVoices

In this interview with NBC news, S.K. Ali talks about her #MuslimShelfSpace twitter campaign, and the importance of #ownvoices authors. Her debut young adult, SAINTS AND MISFITS is coming June 13th from Salaam Reads!

sajidah_alis_muslim_bookshelf_660c14276f25de4c40d8969ba6546f21.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg

You can follow Sajidah at @sajidahwrites, and check out Sajidah’s piece on her quest to find an agent.

 Pre-order SAINTS AND MISFITS on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound, and check it out on Goodreads.

Congrats to Courtney and Valynne

I’m so excited to finally share this news, and the unique way this novel came to be. Check out Publishers Weekly’s piece on Courtney Alameda and Valynne Maetani tweeting their way to a six-figure deal.

41671-1.JPG

“What began as a casual Twitter conversation between two long-time friends who for years talked about writing a book together – Valynne Maetani and Courtney Alameda – has become a hot property that recently was sold to HarperCollins in a two-book, six-figure deal after an auction earlier this year in which four major publishers participated. The final contract was signed in June.”

Visit Courtney’s website, follow her on Twitter, and like her on Facebook.

Check out Courtney’s debut SHUTTER on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, and Goodreads.

Check out Valynne Maetani on her website and twitter.
Check out Valynne’s debut INK AND ASHES on Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, and Amazon.

 

 

ENTER TITLE HERE on Most-Anticipated

Very cool to see Rahul Kanakia’s ENTER TITLE HERE on Epic Reads’s…

14 Most Anticipated YA Books to Read in August.

EnterTitleHere_Cover

Pre-Order ENTER TITLE HERE on Amazon, B&N, and IndieBound, and check it out on Goodreads.

You can also Rahul on twitter at @rahkan, and check out his amazing and prolific blog on culture, art, and life.