Pub Rants

STATUS: TGIF! This probably doesn’t mean much since I plan to work this weekend just to get back on track still I love the idea of it.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? WONDER by Natalie Merchant

Obviously you’ll see there is a theme to my BEA Pictures but what can I say, it’s a lot of fun to see my clients’ books being featured by their Publishers.

Here’s Kim with her poster. I’m thinking nice placement next to Lisa Jackson—even if the books aren’t remotely similar.

This is my favorite picture of Hank (although she’ll probably disagree). She just looks like she’s having a blast in the Harlequin booth and who is that next to her? A Linda Lael Miller sighting!

Hyperion even had their posters lit up for maximum effect at BEA. Here’s Ally’s poster.

There is also a pic of the two of us and the poster but the flash didn’t quite go off. Dark, menacing figures… or maybe we just needed to hide our identities.

Here’s Stacey Ballis and Jennifer O’Connell doing a signing and who do they find standing in their line for an autographed copy? Megan McCafferty! Now that’s a great fan to have.

Just call us the color-coordinated girls (and no, we didn’t plan this. I swear). Mari and Kristin get their red on for this shot at the Dorchester booth.

Who says that Girls just want to have fun? Jennifer O’Connell worked hard at BEA. Here she again but this time with her co-author Vicki King for the Adams Media Divorced Girls’ Society signing. Don’t let this pic fool you. Signing is hard work!

And here’s a great shot with their terrific editor Jennifer Kushnier:

And it’s back to our regular scheduled programming next week (unless I have a couple more shots I can’t resist posting on the blog).

STATUS: I’m a ninny. You might laugh but I actually forgot to blog yesterday. I came back to my hotel room late (like close to midnight) and completely forgot about it. Sorry about that.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? THINK I’M IN LOVE by Eddie Money

And I’m a ninny for a whole other reason. I don’t just have 4 authors being showcased at Book Expo. I have five!!!

I’m going to start calling it the Nelson Agency BEA.

I found out on Friday that advanced reading copies (ARCs) have been printed in time and will be made available to booksellers at BEA for Kim Reid’s phenomenal memoir entitled NO PLACE SAFE. This book debuts in October 2007.

With quotes like these, you can see why Kensington would be excited to get this book into the hands of librarians and booksellers as soon as possible:

“Though a child herself, Kim Reid sat on the edge of a front row seat to one of the twentieth century’s most bizarre and baffling murder cases. With No Place Safe she delivers her experience as a compelling story told from a sensitive gut and a formidable intellect. A narrative woven with strands of threatened innocence and Southern gothic gives No Place Safe the texture of a modern, urban To Kill a Mockingbird.”
–Elyse Singleton, author of This Side of the Sky

“Like every great memoir writer, Kim Reid bares her heart and soul in this powerful account of growing up in a world of danger. Her honesty and storytelling skills make every page come alive.”
–Kien Nguyen, author of The Unwanted

“Where racism and sexism often violated their sense of safety and self, there was no safe place in general for black women in their struggle to survive, achieve and succeed. However, in her quest for safety, Kim discovers the bonds of friendship and family as well as an inner strength, courage and sense of purpose. This outstanding offering is sure to safely place Kim Reid in the company of best-selling authors. So don’t blink or you will miss this author’s meteoric rise to the top.”
–Carolyn Quick Tillery, Southern Homecoming Traditions

“A gracefully written, vivid, heartfelt and deeply intimate work. Against the backdrop of Atlanta’s infamous and still controversial child-murder spree, thirteen year old Kim Reid demonstrates uncanny wisdom, grit and confidence as she overcomes the fear and panic gripping Atlanta’s children, to narrate her compelling personal story; all the while bringing to heartbreaking life each of the murdered boys. If we want to understand the hearts of today’s children being inundated with daily stories of slain or kidnapped classmates and the threatening world we say is waiting for them, we would do well to spend some time with Kim Reid.”
–Robert Hooks (Actor/ Producer/ Cultural Activist, Burbank, CA)

So if you are there this weekend, you might want to snag your own copy at the Kensington booth.

FROM THE BACK COVER:

In this compelling memoir, Kim Reid hauntingly transports readers to the innocent world of a childhood protected by a loving home, yet threatened by a danger beyond any child’s understanding . .

Thirteen-year-old Kim Reid will never forget the summer of 1979. In those precious free moments when she is not taking care of her little sister while her single mother works as a cop, Kim’s days are filled with thoughts of boys, makeup, and starting high school in the fall. When a heartbreaking discovery along a quiet Atlanta road makes the news, Kim’s mother instructs her girls to be careful. Accustomed to her mother’s warnings, Kim feels she already knows how to stay alert and carry herself as if she’s not scared.

But as the shadow of danger lengthens over Kim’s once-sunny landscape of friends and family, she learns there is no place safe. While her mother becomes preoccupied with her increasingly high-profile job, Kim feels life unraveling. Straddling the worlds of her black neighborhood and her wealthy white school, teetering on the brink between girl and woman, Kim is torn between fitting in and finding her own voice; between becoming strong and clinging to the last traces of her childhood.

In this deeply intimate, powerful narrative, Kim Reid weaves an unforgettable story of growing up and the events that shape us forever…

STATUS: It’s a rainy day in Denver. Perfect for working on an edit. It was also a quiet email day. Folks are getting ready for the long weekend and then BEA in New York City.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HOTEL CALIFORNIA by the Eagles

Yep, it’s happening next week. Get ready for publishing to shut down for a couple of days while we all party at the Javits Center. And I do mean party. Parties in the Publisher exhibition booths. Parties at external locations. Invitation only parties. And parties worth crashing.

And I’ll be there—reporting from the floor if I see anything of interest for blog readers.

BEA 2007 is a banner year for the Nelson Agency. I have four authors who are being spotlighted there.

So if you are wandering the convention floor, you might want to pop in and say hello to some of my authors and get an autographed copy of your favorite book.