Author Withdraws from Festival

Reprinted with permission of Publishers Weekly

Authors Withdraw from Teen Lit Festival

John A. Sellers -- August 18th, 2010

Ellen Hopkins.

Blogs, Twitter, and Facebook have been abuzz in the last 24 hours with news that four YA authors have pulled out of the annual Teen Lit Fest in Humble, Tex., a Houston suburb. The authors withdrew in support of writer Ellen Hopkins, who announced in a blog post last weekthat she had been disinvited from the festival, which is organized by the Humble Independent School District, and is scheduled for January 2011. In the post, entitled “Censorship Bites,” Hopkins announced that her invitation had been revoked after a middle-school librarian and parents approached a superintendent and the school board about her participation. Hopkins’s novels in verse deal with gritty subject matter: her Crank series, which concludes next month with Fallout, centers on meth addiction, while her 2009 novel, Tricks, was about teen prostitution. “We all feel badly that we’re making this stand,” Hopkins toldSchool Library Journal. “We don’t want our readers to feel like we’re punishing them. But this is about having the right to read our books, and these people don’t have the right to say you can’t.”
In the last few days, four authors who were also scheduled to appear at the festival—Pete Hautman, Melissa de la Cruz, Matt de la Peña, and Tera Lynn Childs—announced in quick succession that they were also withdrawing. “What is important is that a handful of people – the superintendent, the one (one!) librarian, and “several” (three? five?) parents – took it upon themselves to overrule the vast majority of teachers and librarians and students who had chosen one of the most popular YA authors in America to be their headliner,” wrote Hautman in a blog post. “That is a form of censorship as damaging and inexcusable as setting fire to a library.” And on her blog, de la Cruz wrote, “I believe that as a writer, we have to stick up for each other, and against censorship, and against people who want to tell everyone else what to think, what to read, what to watch.” Other authors scheduled to appear at the festival are Sharon Flake, Brian Meehl, and Todd Strasser.
Online reactions have largely been supportive of the authors, though several people have weighed to express dismay over the teens who won’t get to hear the authors speak. “I know we’re all supposed to be warriors against censorship, but I’m also a warrior for teens and I don’t want them to be the collateral damage,” wrote “A Teen Librarian” in a comment on Hautman’s post. Responding to this particular comment in a subsequent post, Hautman wrote, “I agree that teens should not have to pay for the political battles of their elders. But they do, every day, in more ways than I can count. I wish I could have figured out a way to attend TLF without hating myself for doing so, but I could not.”

Ray Bradbury Tribute

UCLA's online tribute to Ray Bradbury in honor of his 90th birthday (coming up on Aug. 22) is now live:  http://www.spotlight.ucla.edu/ray-bradbury/  . 

 

Fans can leave a virtual birthday greeting for Ray, watch the exclusive Ray Bradbury birthday message to his fans/advice for living to be 90,  view examples of Bradburyana held in UCLA's Library's special collections, and check out other information about Ray and his connections to UCLA... the biggest one being that he typed Fahrenheit 451 in the basement of Powell. 

 

Leads from Linda - News Releases

I recently discovered a site that allows folks to submit their own news releases. I tried it and I like it. It's easy to use and best of all…it is free.  

You can post the information directly free of cost at www.hispanicmpr.com/b2b.You register, create a profile, pick a category (press releases and books and magazines for example) and post.  You can include one photo up to 500 pixels in size.

Happy Marketing,

~Linda

www.FiveStarPublications.com

www.FiveStarBookAwards.com

www.FiveStarScripts.com

www.AuthorsandExperts.com

www.SchoolBookings.com

www.KidsCanPublish.com
(480)940-8182  Fax: (480) 940-8787

Leads from Linda - Looking for Submissions

Dog-Eared Pages Used Books in support of local animal rescue organizations is requesting submissions for a Holiday Anthology to celebrate people and/or their pets.  Articles should be December holiday-related, heart-warming, warm, fuzzy and friendly.  No dark entries, please.  

 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS - September 15, 2010           NO ENTRY FEE
E-mail submissions to:  AZCATSTAC@aol.com.

 

Now accepting

 

- Stories (Up to 1500 words)
- Poems
- Word Search Puzzles
- Crossword Puzzles
- Fill-in Puzzles
- Songs
- Recipes (people & pet)
- Art Work (Black & white only)
- Art Work for the cover (Color or black & white)

 

All entries should be original work. 

 

Stories should be submitted double-spaced in 12 point New Times Roman.

 

Poems should be submitted in 12 point New Times Roman.  No need to double-space.

 

Puzzles should include a solution page and/or an answer key.

 

Recipes can be for people and/or for your pets or wild critters. 

 

The internal art work will be published in black & white only.  All artwork should be submitted in a jpeg file using the highest resolution.

 

For queries or additional information, please contact Penni Ferry at 602 980-2614 or via e-mail at AZCATSTAC@aol.com.

 

 

Melanie Tighe

Dog-Eared Pages Used Books

(602) 283-5423

 

16428 N. 32nd Street

Suite 111

Phoenix, AZ 85032

 

www.dogearedpagesusedbooks.com

 

After Court Rules for B&N, Burkle Starts Proxy Fight

by Jim Milliot   Reprinted with permission of Publishers Weekly

The decision yesterday by judge Leo E. Strine Jr. that upheld Barnes & Noble’s poison pill provision has led disgruntled shareholder Ron Burkle to mount a proxy fight for control of the bookstore chain. In deciding for B&N, judge Strine ruled that the large acquisition of B&N stock by Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies could be viewed as an attempt by the investor to gain control of the company without having to pay a premium to stockholders. 

 

After issuing a statement saying it was disappointed in the ruling, Yucaipa quickly upped the ante by announcing the firm would nominate three candidates to run for the B&N board, opposing the company slate that includes B&N chairman Len Riggio. In a statement accompanying the nominations, Yucaipa made clear it views Riggio’s hold over the company as a major reason why the stock price is undervalued.  “In our view, this Board’s failure to act independently of the Riggio family’s agenda has contributed to the Company’s poor stock performance, has enriched the Riggio family at the expense of the Company’s other stockholders, and has led to numerous corporate governance and strategic missteps. We believe the incumbent Board is rife with business and personal conflicts and historically has been a rubber stamp for the Riggio family’s interests,” the statement read. If elected, the three Yucaipa directors “would to be an effective check on related party transactions with the Riggios, and will protect the interests of all Barnes & Noble stockholders,” that statement concluded.

 

A B&N spokesperson praised the court’s ruling as protecting shareholders from Yucaipa’s attempt to gain control of the company without paying a premium price. The spokesperson added that Yucaipa’s decision to nominate its own board candidates,”makes clear that Yucaipa wants to gain control without paying a control premium to all shareholders.”

 

Yucaipa’s slate of nominees includes Burkle, Stephen F. Bollenbach, non-executive chairman of KB Home and member of the board of Time Warner Inc. and Macy’s, Inc.; and Michael S. McQuary, CEO of Wheego Electric Cars, Inc., and a Partner in Ellis, McQuary, Stanley & Associates, an Atlanta-based consulting and investment firm.

 

The court decision and Yucaipa’s launch of a proxy fight came after talks between B&N and Yucaipa to reach a settlement collapsed. Yucaipa said it will soon begin the process of actively soliciting votes for its slate, something the will make for a lively period up until the B&N shareholder meeting set for September 28.

Create Your Writing Space - Part 2

Here's part 2 of Barbara Ardinger's guest post on creating a writing space.  Part 1 ran on August 11, 2010.

What are your basic needs? Do you start with paper and pencil? Then perhaps you need a desk or table and a chair that’s comfortable, but not so comfy you’ll doze off. Do you start at your computer? You can’t be staring at that monitor all the time, so what do you want to rest your eyes on between phrases or paragraphs? A tree like mine? I also have a calendar with nice art, my framed Ph.D. diploma, a drawing of a woman writing what may be a journal, and two goddesses, Green Tara and Sophia, who is Holy Wisdom. (Well, let me be honest: there’s also a Muppet-sized witch nearby, and she’s wearing a red button that says Cherish Your Agent.) What can you hang on your wall near your computer that inspires or comforts you? Maybe you want some friendly houseplants. And do you have a good desk chair with adequate back support? It’s hard to write well when your lower back is screaming at you.

Do you like to eat or drink while you’re working? How far away is the kitchen? Do you have a nice coaster for your cup? Room for a little plate? I drink Coke all day, but I don’t eat while I’m working because I’ve discovered that crumbs in the keyboard are counterproductive.

What else do you keep on your computer table or desk? Is the printer within easy reach? Where’s the paper? Is your cup of pencils, scissors, Sharpies, etc. within easy reach? I have two small stacks of paper, right and left, under paperweights. One is mostly printed sample formats for book reviews, and there’s a map of London on top. The other is printed emails, including notes from authors with specific requests or instructions (like the list of words one author wants capitalized in her book). I also have a tube of hand cream and a little desk lamp.

Do you work in silence or do you want music? When I was in graduate school, I was reading works like The Faerie Queene, Paradise Lost, and the plays of John Dryden, all of which demand enormous concentration, so I learned to crave quiet and solitude. Even today, as I edit at the comma and semicolon level, I prefer peace and quiet. But I know some writers like music. If so, are your speakers properly positioned? Are your CDs within reach? And how close is the telephone?

Finally, how much is going on around you? I know it’s fashionable to boast that we can multitask with ease, and I myself have done decent work while sitting on a bench at the mall while I was waiting for a friend, but I firmly believe that we do our best work when we are not being interrupted all the time. How private is your writing space? You’re allowed to get up, of course, while you’re working on your novel or self-help book, but I can assure you that you’ll do better work if you’ve got a clean, well-lighted, reasonably quiet writing space. If you’re serious about writing, create—or improve—your space now.

Colby Nominations

Thanks to Linda Radke of 5-Star Publications for forwarding this information.


Authors, Publishers, Agents and Book Sellers:

Tawani Foundation is accepting author nominee submissions for the 2011 Colby Award. The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2010.

Since 1999, the Colby Award has recognized first works of historical fiction or non-fiction that have made a major contribution to the understanding of intelligence operations, military history or international affairs.

First works published from January 1, 2009 through October 31, 2010 are eligible for the 2011 Colby Award. A complete list of past award recipients and the nomination guidelines and form can be found online at:

www.tawanifoundation.org/colby

If you have received this notice in error and there is a more appropriate or different point of contact, please reply to this email with their contact information or forward it on for review.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or visit our website for more information.

Sincerely,

Lisa M. Lanz
Executive Director