Thanks to Kelly Parra for blogging about book trailers. I headed over to Simon & Schuster’s BookVideos.tv and found a cool list of trailers and interviewers with S&S authors. It’s a great site and I signed up for their weekly video e-mail. Check it out! 🙂

Today was my interview with my local paper and I think it went great! 🙂 I have to meet with the paper next week for a photo shoot and when the article runs, you’ll find the link here. The interviewer was so nice and friendly, so I wasn’t nervous once we got started.

I get to play interviewer tomorrow and interview Brock Gill, an illusionist and motorcross competitor.Role reversal was great, but I’m ready to write my interview questions and dig for info! 🙂

Tomorrow, a local newspaper (I’ll tell you which one after the interview) is coming to my house tomorrow to interview me. They got wind of the S&S news and are interested in running a story. 🙂 I was nervous at first, but I’m excited now. I’ve conducted dozens of interviews and that’s helping me to anticipate the questions and not be so nervous. I’m used to being the interviewer however, instead of the interviewee.

In the mean time, I’ve got a lot of typing to do and am trying to get 2k down on paper today. Wish me luck.

Anyone ever been interviewed before? Have any tips to share?

Anyone read this on Yahoo yet? Harry Potter magic spells losses for booksellers

I think it’s interesting that a book I assumed would make huge profits for booksellers is in fact a loss due to price slashing. I have noticed that several independent booksellers around town have closed their doors because they can’t offer the discounts big chain booksellers can offer.

I’m off to do some serious typing and am starting to add articles and clippings to a big binder I have on book promotion. I read an author should start thinking about promotion 2 years in advance and I may as well get started now! 🙂

Score for the girls! I’ve been in horse heaven today. First, the gorgeous filly Rags to Riches won the Belmont Stakes. For the non-horsey folks, she’s the first filly to win the Belmont since 1905. 1905! I’ve been watching her for a while and had my eye trained on her jockey’s number seven silks through the two and a half minute race. Every year, no matter what horse is in the lead, my throat catches at the final pole. It’s a stunning sport, that’s for sure.

If that wasn’t enough, ABC is showing Ruffian, a racing movie, tonight about a famous filly. I’ll definitely be watching.

How is your weekend going so far?

I can’t believe it’s Friday already! The week seemed to whiz by, but I’m glad the weekend is almost here.

Today I’m finally going to get back to my YA draft that hasn’t been opened in 3-4 days. Poor thing. I’m used to spending 6-8 hours a day writing, but I must have spent half that time answering e-mails yesterday! If you e-mailed me and I haven’t responded, sorry and it’s coming! 🙂

Anyone see the USA Today book buzz section from yesterday? There was a sidebar on the lovely Sara Gruen, whom I absolutely adore, and the range and variety of her fiction amazes me. Horses, apes, the circus–oh my!

TGIF and share your weekend plans!

I’ve been buzzing about since my PM news was announced! 🙂 One of my greatest FSU lit professors (you know who you are!) has been helping me spread the news around school and I cannot thank him enough!

I’m doing an interview with The Florida Virtual School today. FLVS is a virtual school free of charge to Florida residents that allows students of both homeschool and public school to take classes via the Internet. I took a course from FLVS and when I shared my news with them, they were interested in an interview. 🙂 Wish me luck!

I’ll be working on my Website over the weekend and hope to have newer content by Monday.

I’m also working with the amazing PR folks at Shriners Hospital for Children on a story of my journey from a spinal patient at Shriners to where I am today.

Life just got busier! 😉

Thank you ALL so, so much from Blogger, to LiveJournal to Facebook for your messages of congrats! I’m in a bit of a daze right now. I’ve known for a few days about the sale, but that doesn’t compare to the feeling of sharing my news with family and friends.

A special thanks goes out to the Florida State University English department! They got my news online already and I appreciate it! Check it out here!

I started a new MySpace page for High Jumps at Collins Academy. It’s MySpace Music, so I can upload a chapter reading in the future. Check it out here!

I’ll have more updates as they come and thank you again! 🙂

CHILDREN’S: MIDDLE GRADE
Jessica Burkhart’s HIGH JUMPS AT COLLINS ACADEMY series, pitched as Saddle Club meets Mean Girls, about a small-town girl who attends a boarding school and must learn to compete with the equestrian elite, to Molly McGuire at Aladdin, in a four-book deal, in a very nice deal, by Alyssa Eisner Henkin at Trident Media Group (NA).

I was reading this article The Greatest Mystery: Making a Best Seller (sign up for a free account to read) in the NYT and was so, so interested in the thought process that goes into making an author an advance and what numbers are crunched to try to determine an accurate idea of book sales. I liked that the article likened the publishing business to a casino and that there were so many books people thought wouldn’t be hits (like Prep) that sold quite well. I guess everything depends on the market, the timing, the economy and millions of other factors that determine how a book will sell. Obviously, an author’s job doesn’t stop when “the end” is written. 🙂 But we all knew that, didn’t we?