Win-It Wednesday: Time to SING! For A Treasure Map of Boys

Last week's winner of signed (with bookplate) copy of Evermore is... Llehn! And the signed copy of Blue Moon winner? Olivia! Send me your addresses, L and O. Evermore comes from me and Blue Moon comes from Alyson Noel. Yay! Now, this week I'm about to leave for a big trip, so I'm starting a three-week-long contest. It's all based on this video by my myspace friend/Violet fan Daniel: I cannot stop watching it. I love it. Seriously. I've already taped like 10 songs of myself doing this, none of which I can let you see (they are terrible). But I'm going to post my own version of me doing a song I love at the end of this contest. Now, for you, here's the challenge: Make a video like this. Whatever song you like, a quick excerpt works. Lip Sync it up. Everyone who makes a video gets a prize, because--hello--you're providing me with major entertainment. I'll send out lip gloss, a book or two, maybe some new music, various fun stuff. Nothing boring. If you're not up for the singing part (why not????!), you can spread the word about this contest. That counts as an entry too. Just tell me below where you posted/tweeted/talked it up, and you'll be entered to win a copy of E. Lockhart's latest, The Treasure Map of Boys (if you know the Ruby series--and you should know the Ruby series--you know this book is going to ROCK). One random video-maker and/or word-spreader will win this book. And if you make a video, you have a chance to win this book and another prize because every video gets a prize! Oh, and if you make a video, which you can totally do with the camera on your computer or a digital camera, put it on youtube and share it with me: youtube.com/melissacwalker. You don't have to make it public if you don't want to, but if you do, let me know if I can share it later. I would love to do a singing post in August. Remember, the deadline for videos is August 5th. Good luck, and have fun!

Win-It Wednesday + Cover Stories: Evermore and Blue Moon by Alyson Noel!!

First, the winner of last week's contest for Persepolis is... Katie Bug! Send me your address, KB.Now, Alyson Noel's Immortals series is basically at the top of the heap this summer. Bestsellers, major sequels, a spin-off middle grade series--hooray! And yesterday, Blue Moon, the sequel to Evermore, was released. Alyson has been kind enough to offer one commenter a signed copy of Blue Moon, and I'll send one commenter a signed (with bookplate) copy of Evermore, so two winners will be chosen next week! And here's Alyson with the Blue Moon Cover Story (remember her Evermore Cover Story?): "Once again, I had no idea what the might look like, or even what I might want it to look like--sad, I know! "My publisher asked for input, and even though I didn't have any real concepts in mind, this time, unlike the last time with the Evermore cover, I knew I'd be consulted so I was careful to make note of all the prominent symbols that appear in the story so I could at least appear to contribute in some way! "The Blue Moon cover was a series of stock photos altered to within an inch of their lives! The girl is made to represent Ever, and the flowers inside the crystal ball she holds depict the blooming fields of Summerland--a mystical dimension she frequents. "When I saw the first version of the cover (right), I thought, not so much. But we all knew we weren't going to use it, we were just finding our way at that point. I have the best editor ever--Rose Hilliard rocks!--and we had quite a few phone calls and e-mail exchanges about the direction we wanted to go in. "The cover changed greatly and for the better! Since it's a series, they were going for a more cohesive look, you know, the same but different. And I think the final Blue Moon cover ties in nicely with the Evermore cover since they both feature a girl (Ever) and a close up of an object that is hugely symbolic to the story inside. "When I saw the final Blue Moon cover, I loved it immediately! I feel really lucky to work with such a great team at St. Martin's!" Thanks, Alyson! I think these covers are iconic and they just glow. I have to admit that first version of Blue Moon seems 80s to me somehow. What do you guys think? Comment below to be entered for the signed copies! Happy Wednesday!
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YA Book Carnival Win-It Wednesday + Cover Stories: Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Phew! That's a mouthful of a title. But I wanted to say that this post is part of Shooting Stars Mag's YA Book Carnival. Yay! Go check out all the contest links over there (after you read this post, of course). :)The winner of last week's Win-It Wednesday for Serena Robar's Giving Up the V is... Tammy! Send me your address, T. Today I'm hosting the awesome Sarah Ockler for another combo Win-It Wednesday + Cover Story. Take it away, Sarah! "I love sea glass. I've always been fascinated with the idea that something whole and purposeful could be shattered and then utterly transformed by the magic of the sea into beautiful little gems, and that these gems could then wash up on shore somewhere else, years or even decades later. Think about that. Really. Isn't it amazing?! "My own sea glass collection has been growing for more than twenty years, treasure-hunted from beaches along both coasts of the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the shores of Lake Erie here in Buffalo, NY. Like Anna in Twenty Boy Summer, I keep the glass in mason jars -- a colorful reminder of the waves shushing against the sand. "For me, sea glass is highly symbolic of life's transformations. It's featured throughout Twenty Boy Summer to represent the beauty and rarity of true love and the cycle of loss, healing, and change that we endure when someone close to us dies. Because of the symbolism in the story and my own love of sea glass, I'd always secretly hoped that it would appear on the Twenty Boy Summer cover. "When Little, Brown began the jacket design, my editor sent me several rounds of concept photos used to generate ideas -- beach landscapes, girls walking along the shore, summer-themed objects, boardwalk scenes -- all sorts of summer vacation-y goodness. I was grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts on the ideas and watch them evolve. My editor is amazing, and she was diligent in her efforts with the designer and marketing team to find the best imagery to convey the story. "Over the next several weeks, we saw almost 20 different concepts before reaching the final choice between two images with equal support from the Little, Brown team: a girl in the water and a still-life concept that would require a photo shoot with sea glass (OMG, sea glass!). My agent and I shared our thoughts and later that week, the jacket committee convened to consider the options and seal my cover fate. "The final decision? Sea glass photo shoot! Sea glass photo shoot! Yay! There was cheering! There was clapping! There was... thankfully no video evidence of my celebratory dancing! ;-) "A few weeks passed before we received the email with the cover. Since the initial idea was based only on a concept, I didn't know exactly how the final image would appear. I had butterflies in my stomach as I waited for the file to open and ultimately reveal... a lovely sea glass heart on the boardwalk. <3 "*Insert more celebratory dancing!* "Well, it turns out the photo shoot was quite an adventure. Who knew that sea glass would be such a challenging model? :-) One of the assistant editors brought sea glass from home, which didn't work, and then had to run out and buy a new batch. Once they had the right glass, they went through dozens of different shots and setups and ideas and backdrops, looking for a perfect shot that just wasn't happening. Finally, at the very end of an all-day photo shoot, the cover designer suggested arranging the glass into a heart shape on a boardwalk prop, just to try something completely different and spontaneous. "Sea glass. Heart. Boardwalk. "The rest is cover history. ;-) "I love love LOVE my cover. It so perfectly captures the symbolism of Anna and Frankie's journey in Twenty Boy Summer. And the coolest part? They sent me some of the glass from the photo shoot, so now I have an awesome memento from my first novel, and a few more special pieces of sea glass for my collection. "Thank you, Melissa, for asking about the story behind the cover of Twenty Boy Summer!" I think I need to start a sea glass collection (that's Sarah holding hers next to her bookshelf)! This is such a great story and I love that there was a sea glass photo shoot! What do you guys think? One lucky commenter (in the US or Canada only) will win a signed copy of the book, courtesy of Sarah herself. Also, what books can you spot on Sarah's shelf? I see Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten, which I loved, and I can also spot the gorgeous spine ofIf I Stay by Gail Forman... I love seeing people's shelves! Oh, and I see What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell at the very left corner.

Win-It Wednesday + Cover Stories: Giving Up the V by Serena Robar

Last week's winner of the signed ARC of Aimee Friedman's Sea Change is... Sophie Brookover! Congrats, SB! Send me your address.Today, Serena Robar is here to share a Cover Story and give away a book! Bonus. Read on: "Every publisher is different. With my last publisher, they asked me what I thought the covers should look like and I would write a detailed email and send it to them, which they promptly disregarded and then did their own thing. Since I'm a writer and not a cover artist, maybe my cover ideas would not have sold the books as well as what they chose. It's always a concern that you will get a cover that doesn't portray the tone of your book accurately and have a negative impact on sales. "I've only asked for a change once in my book-writing history. In Fangs4Freaks I asked that the girl on the front not have black nail polish, since the heroine vampire was a cheerleader and loved pink. They switched it to a deep, hot pink. In my opinion, she should have had a pink French manicure but in the end it wasn't a issue I was willing to raise a stink over. And to be honest, they would have ignored me if I had. Writers have literally no say over what their covers look like. "With Giving Up the V, I really had no idea what the cover would look like and they didn't ask me. I found out they were doing a model shoot for the cover when my editor told me it was about to happen. I was pretty excited to learn they actually set up a traditional photography shoot. "One of the things I hear about my cover is how wonderful that they used a realistic model on the cover. She isn't anorexic, she looks healthy. This makes me laugh because my heroine is supposed to be a 'bigger' girl. The model on the cover is New York's idea of a chunky teen. "I loved the cover when I first saw it! Since I had no expectation and was up for anything, I was well and truly delighted. I thought the font and doodles on the cover really evoked the tone of a light, fun read. I suppose my only beef would be that my name is so small. When you view the cover online, you can't even see my name since they use a very thin, crayon font. With every book my name seems to get smaller and smaller on the front cover, but traditionally it should be getting bigger! Guess I never do anything the 'right' way. "I asked them to darken the font and make my name bigger. They did darken the font but my name stayed the same. Overall, I was really very pleased with the cover so I am tickled with the end result. "At my house, my books are all referred to as the 'midriff books' since almost all of them feature the middle section of a girl's body. This is a popular trend in cover art today. Just the body of the model with little or no facial features present. Sometimes I put my books face-out on my bookshelf and put Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series face-out on the bookshelf above mine just to see what my covers would look like with a complete person on the front, lol." I love book cover play like that! And yay for a healthy-body cover model (who has kind of a bangin' body, right?)! I also really like the playful crayon font. What do you guys think? Comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of Giving Up the V, courtesy of Serena! PS-Serena Robar is giving away book a day, every day, in honor of her latest book release. All you have to do to is sign up for her newsletter and you are entered to win. Enter once and you are in the running to win a book every day in the month of June. Whoa! (Today she's giving away Lovestruck Summer, yay!)

Win-It Wednesday + Cover Stories: Sea Change by Aimee Friedman

I love you guys for all those TV suggestions and I'll try lots of those shows out--thank you! But, I'm not sure I can watch So You Think You Can Dance, which was the most-recommended show! Okay, maybe I'll try it... Anyway, the winner of Lisa Ann Sandell's A Map of the Known World is... Mya! (Who just compiled an AWESOME summer playlist that you must check out). Send me your address, M!Today as a double-feature Win-It Wednesday + Cover Story Aimee Friedman is talking about her achingly lovely cover for Sea Change (which is a fantastic summer love story): "I got the idea for Sea Change one summer when I was riding the ferry to Governor's Island--a small, little-known island right off the coast of lower Manhattan. As I was standing on the deck and looking into the deep blue, mysterious depths of the water, I remembered how much I had always loved mermaid stories--everything from the movie Splash to the beloved Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Then I took it one step further, and wondered: what if the gender roles were reversed? What if it was a human girl, falling in love with a boy who came from the sea? My heart fluttered at this notion, and when I got home that evening, I sat down in front of my laptop and, well, dove in. "So, right away, before Sea Change even had a title, I envisioned the cover as being very sea-like in nature. I had the color blue in mind, of course (it has always been my favorite color), and I liked the idea of showing a girl underwater. It's funny, because even though I never learned to swim (call it the curse of being a city child), I am very happy when in water. Plunk me in the shallow end of a pool and I can bob there for hours, like a sea horse (see left). "I wanted the cover to capture this feeling of freedom and peace I--and the main character Miranda--feel in the water. For a long time, as I was writing, I pictured this amazing shot the photographer Annie Liebowitz took of Kate Winslet right after Titanic came out. "I knew we couldn't use Kate on the cover (as much as I love her!), but I was drawn to that kind of mermaid-like look. "And then I found The Photo. "At this point, I should probably explain my somewhat unique situation as an author. In addition to writing, I work full-time as a book editor, a job I absolutely love (although I wouldn't recommend juggling two full-time jobs to people who DON'T already have insomnia). One day, I was searching for an image for ANOTHER cover--for a book I was editing. Typically the design department is in charge of searching for stock photos on sites like Corbis and Getty, but we'd been having so much trouble with this particular cover, that I volunteered to pitch in. I was browsing through various images when my eye landed on this one: "It was love at first sight. To me, the couple looked as if they were underwater, and the composition was so dreamy and romantic that it captured the mood I was creating in the book. I immediately sent the photo to my editor and she said, 'YES!' "And so the Sea Change cover was born. It's usually never that smooth a process to get a cover just right--there's usually a lot of back and forth and several different attempts. But even the designer took one look at the photo and instantly knew how to crop it, and how to flow in the perfect kind of type. Somehow, in a way miraculous as mermaids, all the elements that make up the cover of Sea Change just came together, fluid as water. I couldn't be more grateful." Ooh, great story! And yes, the final cover is just divine--love the swirlies around it, too (swirlies is not an official term, but you know what I mean). I can't believe Aimee just stumbled upon the photo. What do you guys think? Comment below for a chance to win Aimee's dreamy book--signed! Happy Wednesday!

Win-It Wednesday: A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell

First, some winners to announce: Gracie won first place in the soulmates contest Susane Colasanti and I held! And Monica got second place! Send me your addresses, and Susane will send you her prizes. Last week's Win-It Wednesday, for a copy of Robin Benway's Audrey, Wait! goes to... SarahChristine! Send me your address, SC!Now, on to this week's action! I'm giving away a copy of Lisa Ann Sandell's A Map of the Known World. She was here sharing her Cover Story, which involves metal and art and apples, and you will totally get into this book. So, I have a serious question: What are you guys watching on TV right now? I need some new shows now that my favorites (Real Housewives of NYC, 30 Rock, The Office, Oprah, The Biggest Loser, etc.) are in reruns. What's your suggestion? Leave it below, and you're entered in this contest. Oh, bonus entry if you go visit me at Sara Hantz's blog or Alyson Noel's blog and say hi! Happy Wednesday!

Win-It Wednesday: Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

It was so much fun to hear about your favorite female heroines--awesome picks. The winner of Matthue Roth's Candy in Action is... Josh! A guy winner! Send me your address, J.Robin Benway's Audrey, Wait! is awesome, as probably everyone knows. It's about a girl named Audrey whose ex-boyfriend writes a song about their breakup, and then his small-town band hits the big time and everyone wants to know the muse behind the hit. Cue Audrey's life being turned upside-down. I have no idea why it took me so long to read this lovely book, and now I'm going to beg Robin to do a Cover Story with me about the original and the new paperback cover, below (how cute is it?!). Anyway, my copy is a paperback ARC with the original cover, to get triple confusing. And yes, it's used, but who can tell? To enter to win it, tell me your favorite song lyric of the moment, in honor of music-loving Audrey. I have to think about mine too... I'll weigh in soon! Happy Wednesday! PS-Don't forget to enter the big Lovestruck Summer and Waiting For You month-long contest hosted by me and Susane Colasanti--just a few days left! PPS-I'm over at Jennifer Banash's showing off a bathrobe. Odd? Okay, yes. But don't hold that against me. Come visit if you have time.

Win-It Wednesday: Candy in Action by Matthue Roth

Last week's winner of Laura Resau's gorgeous novel Red Glass is... Jessica! Send me your address, J.This week, I'm giving away a copy of Candy in Action by Matthue Roth. You read the Cover Story, now win the book! Since Candy in Action is all about a badass girl heroine, leave a comment naming one of your favorite female heroes (in whatever way you define that word--from Buffy to Susan B. Anthony) to enter. Good luck! PS-More touring for me on Diana Rodriguez Wallach's blog and Amanda Ashby's blog today! Extra entries for visiting there, or any of the blogs I mentioned yesterday, and leaving some love. Just mention that below.

Win-It Wednesday: Red Glass by Laura Resau

The winner of Beth Kephart's fabulous Nothing But Ghosts (and it really is fantastic--I just finished reading it and can't wait to share it!) is... Marie! Send me your address, M.Now, I have to admit that I hadn't seen Red Glass by Laura Resau before it was the readergirlz May pick, despite the fact that it won a gajillion awards. And now I know why--it's amazing. Seriously, you guys will find this story and Laura's fabulous writing so riveting. You can read about the book's plot here, but I'll just give you a sample of the spot-on images and emotions Laura renders: "Loneliness was tricky: A cup filled at one moment with freedom, and the next, with emptiness." "He said that guys my age can't look true beauty in the face--it scares them, blinds them like the sun." "For a moment I caught a glimpse of how life could be if the sharks turned out to be dolphins. If fear went out like the tide and confidence rushed in to fill its place. If I believed that my bony elbows actually were nice, that maybe there was a shiny stone of greatness buried somewhere inside of me." Okay, I have to stop or I'll just keep writing a ton of quotes that I flagged in the book. But anyway, it's fantastic. Can't you tell? So, to enter to win, tell me your favorite sentence/phrase/passage from a book you love. And if you can't think of one, tell me what book you're reading now, open your book to page 17 and write the first full sentence you find below. Just for fun. And join in the readergirlz talk about Red Glass! Good luck! PS-Help Guys Lit Wire pick out some books for a library for incarcerated LA teens (it'll make you feel warm and fuzzy).

Win-It Wednesday: Sophomore Switch

Thanks for all your insightful comments about the cover of Leigh Brescia's One Wish! The randomly chosen winner of the book is... Ann. Ann said, "I really appreciate the use of symbolism." (And this cover was chock full of symbolism--totally interesting!) Send me your address, A.This week, I'm giving a way a book that I hearted for I Heart Daily, so you can read my thoughts about it here. Abby McDonald has an awesome debut. I asked her which character--partying Tasha or studious Emily--is more like her, and she said, "I USED to be more like Emily. Back when I was a teenager, I was a straight-A student, super-focused, but then I came to realize how much pressure I was putting on myself - for no reason! It's one thing to want to get good grades and get into college, but there's so much fun stuff about being a teenager that can fly by if you're caught up in planning for the future, like Emily does. At Oxford, I was surrounded by high-achievers like her, and I actually found it hard to write her to begin with, because I just wanted to shake her and say, 'Calm down!'. But if it came to picking one of the characters to hang out with? I think Tasha would make an awesome friend!" You guys will love these girls. Abby's site has a ton of fun extras: social networking profiles for the characters, playlists, and a download of the first couple of chapters. To enter to win, tell me below: Do you consider yourself a feminist? Guy or girl, just weigh in on what feminism means to you. My own answer is: Yes! I think of feminism as being really pro-woman, and not anti anything (well, besides discrimination against women). So yay for the F word! Oh, and here's a trailer for Sophomore Switch that YA Book Nerd made!