Some Great Upcoming Conferences

Before we get to the conferences, are you thinking about pitching to an agent or an editor this year? I wrote a post on the Writer's Digest Blog Guide to Literary Agents about 7 Tips for Pitching to an Editor or an Agent at a Conference. It's all stuff I wish I would've known before I went to a pitch session.

If you live in or anywhere around Utah, there are some fabulous conferences coming up in the next three months!

Where:   Provo, Utah (At the Provo Marriott Hotel)

When:   February 13-16 (That's in just 2 1/2 weeks!)

Price:   $45. (Might be more if you register after Jan 31.) 

For 3 DAYS of conference!

Link:   http://ltue.net/

What:   Tons and tons of panels, and over 1,300 people

who love writing just as much as you.

Why:   Because there is seriously something for everyone. 

This conference has an incredible variety. I've gone every

year since I learned about it 6 years ago.

Where:   Orem, UT (Utah Valley University)

When: March 8

Price:   $49 (if you register by Feb. 8)

Link:   http://teenauthorbootcamp.com/

What:   A writer's conference just for TEENAGERS! How awesome is that?

Why:   Because there are awesome people presenting (hello! James Dashner

and Ally Condie! Plus a ton more), and they (okay, I should say we)

are all doing presentations specifically geared toward teens.

Where:   Provo, UT (At the amazing and beautiful Provo City Library)

When:   March 22

Price:   $50

Link:   http://writingforcharity.blogspot.com/

What:   A one day writer's conference where all of the proceeds go to

a charity that provides books to shelters and hospitals for children in crisis.

Why:   Every single panelist is nationally published, and the panels all

fall within five tracks-- Beginners, Picture Book / MG / YA, 

Advanced / Professional Writers, Craft & Technique, 

and The Business of Writing.

Where:   Layton, UT (Davis Conference Center)

When:   April 25-26, with boot camp / publication primer on April 24

Price:   $185 (by Feb. 20)

Link:  http://ldstorymakers.com/conferences/2014-conference-2/

What:  Many workshops and presentation on all areas of writing, for

all age groups and genres, attended by top agents and editors.

Why:  This conference has an incredibly high quality of instruction

by published authors and agents and editors that are the top in their

field. This is my favorite conference. 

It's the one I make sure to never miss. I highly recommend it.

Have you been to any of these conferences, or are you planning to go this year? Do you have any others that are a favorite in or out of Utah? I'd love to hear about them!

Cover for SKY JUMPERS 2: THE FORBIDDEN FLATS!

Hi, everyone! Guess what happened over the weekend? My cover for book 2 was revealed at The Book Monsters! (Psst. There's a giveaway going on there, if you want to head on over.) I'm so very thrilled to have my second baby visually represented now, and that I can share it with you! A few advanced reader copies landed on my doorstep the same day the cover was revealed, for an extra awesome bonus. I put the book 2 ARC right next to the book 1 ARC, and I can't stop staring and staring. They're just so pretty together! Okay, enough talking. If you haven't seen the new cover yet, here it is!

I'm in love with the orange--- it's the color I had pictured book 2 to be from the start. And I love that the cover shows the crack in the earth! It was one of the funnest scenes to write EVER. Guys, I am so excited for this book. It was insanely difficult to get just right, and took so many months and months of cutting and rewriting and reworking and polishing, and I am so very proud of what it became. I cannot wait until it's released! Want to know what it's about? Here's the official blurb:

Twelve-year-old Hope has always felt a little different from everyone else who lives in White Rock. She tries hard, but she doesn’t always think before she acts. She takes big risks. Sometimes her risks pay off, but sometimes they fail. Sometimes she fails.

Hope knows that the most dangerous thing about living in White Rock is that it’s so close to the deadly Bomb’s Breath—the invisible, fifteen-foot-thick band of compressed air that’s hovered over the earth since the Green Bombs of World War III. The citizens of White Rock live in fear of the Bomb’s Breath. Only Hope has figured out a way to go through it—and lived to tell the tale.

But when a massive tremor rips across the earth, the Bomb’s Breath begins to lower over White Rock. It’s up to Hope and her friends Brock and Aaren to make the dangerous journey far from home across the bandit-ridden Forbidden Flats to the wilds of the Rocky Mountains and obtain the one thing that may be able to stop it—before the Bomb’s Breath sinks too far and destroys them all. This time, Hope can’t fail.

Want to tweet about the cover? All you have to do is click on the button!

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I hope you all have a fantastic week!

ELEVATED by Elana Johnson-- Cover Reveal and Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to be part of Elana Johnson's cover reveal for ELEVATED, because I think the cover is incredible! What do you think?

About ELEVATED: The last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she's been avoiding for five months.

Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.

But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.

Buy:

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/elevated

Praise for ELEVATED:

"ELEVATED will take you on an emotionally gripping journey

through the highs and lows of first love."

~Carolee Dean, author of Take Me There and Forget Me Not

"Poignant, raw, and intense, ELEVATED is a novel that will grip your heart

and linger in your mind long after you turn the last page."

~Stasia Ward Kehoe, author of Audition and The Sound of Letting Go

"This book was brilliant and beautiful and touching and captivating and heartbreaking and amazing and kept me glued to my Kindle screen while I laughed and cried, always dying to know what happened next. LOVED it."

~Peggy Eddleman, author of nothing even close to verse

Okay, so maybe I'm not one of her official reviewers, and I just stole that from my own Goodreads review... But seriously, guys-- this book is amazing, and you should go on over to Goodreads right now and add it as a to-read. Here-- I'll even provide you with the link.

About Elana Johnson: 

Elana Johnson’s work, including Possession, Surrender, Abandon, and Regret, published by Simon Pulse (Simon and Schuster), is available now everywhere books are sold. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for download, as well as a Possession short story, Resist. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers.

Social Media Links:

Website/blog | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Wattpad 

League of Extraordinary Writers | WriteOnCon | Elana on Goodreads

Want to win $15 Paypal cash? Just help spread the word about ELEVATED!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thrice Interview & Giveaway!

Hi, Guys! I'm over at Jessica Spotswood's today, being interviewed as part of her Thrice Interviewed segment, and there's a giveaway of Sky Jumpers! Come on over!

Jessica Spotswood's Thrice Interview & Giveaway

Want to win Sara B. Larson's DEFY?

I had the pleasure of going to Sara B. Larson's launch party for DEFY last week. Her speech was fun and touching and hilarious and heartbreaking and real and so enjoyable. Plus we got to sing Happy Birthday to her five year old son, who is freaking adorable.

Photo courtesy Erin Summerill Photography

I was lucky enough to read an advance reader copy of Defy, and absolutely loved it. I highly recommend reading it. Want a chance to win a signed hardback of Defy? Just fill out the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2014 Events!

It looks like for the most part (except for some signings and another one or two events I'm still waiting to hear about), my 2014 events are planned! I'm incredibly excited for this coming year, because I'm going to get the opportunity to participate in some events that I've never been to before, and go to some that I've been to and love. Here's the (mostly) complete list (and, of course, all of these are on my Find Me in Person tab at the top):

January-February 
• Lots and lots of school visits. My favorite. :)

January 28
• Book signing at the Orem Public Library in Orem, Utah at 7:00 pm, in the Ship's Cove in the children's area.

February 13-15
• Life the Universe and Everything in Provo, Utah. I'll be on panels (TBA) and part of the group book signing. Have you ever been before? It's a three day symposium attended by around 1300 people, (so of course there are tons of workshops and panels on a huge variety of subjects), and is only $45 for all three days. Even though that seems like an insanely low price, no-- that wasn't a typo.

March 8
• Teen Author Boot Camp at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. I will be teaching a class titled “When ideas are stuck in your head and they can’t find their way out” at 10:10, I'll be on a panel for junior high writers at 2:40, then signing books at 5:20.

March 22
• Writing for Charity: Provo City Library, Utah. This is a one day conference at a great price, the proceeds benefit charity, and will be many kinds of awesome. I'll be doing critiques, be on a handful of panels throughout the day, and participate in a mass book signing at 4:00. I'll post more about this as everything gets finalized. It will definitely be worth looking into!

March 24
• Davis County School District’s Family Literacy Night: Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah. I will be doing workshops, then signing books. This is a family event.

April 8-11
• Texas Library Association's annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. More details to come. I'm kind of sort of insanely excited about this one. I'll also be doing some school visits and a signing in Texas with the ever awesome Polly Holyoke while I'm down there. 

April 17-19
• Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience: Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. More info TBA. (Side note: Last year's SLCC was the first, and it blew records out of the water. This year, they're expecting attendance to top an unbelievable 100,000. It sounds like it's going to be a blast!)

April 25-26
• LDStorymakers Writing Conference: Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah. I'm kind of in love with this conference. I'll be doing two presentations on writing middle grade– “The Parent Problem in Middle Grade” at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, and “Getting Inside the Head of a Middle Grade Kid” at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. I will also be a boot camp instructor on Thursday, and will be part of the mass book signing on Saturday.

April 30-May 2
• Utah Library Association's Annual Conference at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. More details to come.

May 6
• I'll be attending the book launch for Jessie Humphries' KILLING RUBY ROSE in Las Vegas, Nevada. Woot!

June 26- July 1
• American Library Association's annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. More details to come.

August 21
• Professional Writers Series: The Pleasant Grove Public Library in Pleasant Grove, UT. I'll be moderating and participating on a panel about writing for the middle grade audience. I'm thrilled to be doing the panel with Jennifer A. Neilsen (The False Prince trilogy), and an unconfirmed but amazing third panelist.

September 25
• The Forbidden Flats Launch Party! More details to come.

October 16-18
• And I think I may be going to the Vegas Valley Book Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. Details to come.

Do you have any fun writerly events planned this year? Will I get to see you at any of these?