Writers are like hornets. If you shake up our nests we’ll come out buzzing, stinging and fighting to defend our home. The blogosphere was abuzz with agitation, Friday, when SLJ announced that the Best Books for Young Adult list would be bidding us adieu. The Young Adult Library Association (YALSA), keeper of the list, feels [ Read the full article… ]

So I’ve been reading about Cynthea Liu’s Take The Dare, Show You Care challenge for about three weeks, but most of that time I was on vacation and away from the PC. Now that I’m back, I wanted to make sure I posted it before it ends. Cynthea and a slew of other authors/publishing peeps [ Read the full article… ]

to brown author, Grace Lin’s Where The Mountain Meets The Moon. Visit Grace Lin’s blog to find out more about the novel for readers age 8-12 and her Twitter Book Party festivities. ************************************************************* Note: Whenever possible i.e. when I’m at my PC at the right time and can do it, I’ll try and pass on [ Read the full article… ]

I have no idea how people do it. But some authors have an insatiable need to pay it forward and give back. Mitali Perkins is one of them. Her latest (ad)venture is helping authors host twitter birthday parties for their new releases. The birthday parties are designed to showcase the books and build awareness. The [ Read the full article… ]

Last year, the kiddie lit authors had great representation at the fourth annual African American Literary Award show. The two winners (in bold below) were Brown Bookshelf spotlight authors and all of the children’s authors or their books have been featured on the BBS! Could be coincidence, but I choose to think it’s progress. •Denene [ Read the full article… ]

Congratultions, Summer, the winner of the Amy Hodgepodge series!! Please email Paula with your snail mail address so that we can pass your name along to the publisher.

Thank you to everyone for stopping by last week to read the review of Dork Diaries and meeting Miss Nikki Maxwell and her creator Rachel Renee Russell. The winner of the Dork Diaries giveaway is Olugbemisola. Congratulations to you and thank you for your support of new authors and the Brown Bookshelf’s initiatives.

You know how people like Ashton Kutcher and Diddy are tweeting? And so people think – ooh I can talk to Diddy. Except, when you look at celeb tweeters follow list you notice they’re like anyone else, they’re pal’ing around with people they know. Sure they may read tweets directed to them by their fan/followers, [ Read the full article… ]