Vacation Book Reports
Welcome back, everyone! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I enjoyed nearly a week in my hometown, eating too much, watching some hockey, and hanging with my many siblings. And I also managed to start and finish a book in there. Choosing books to travel with is always a delicate decision. You want just enough material to last you the trip, nothing too heavy if you are intending to relax, and one never quite knows how quickly some books will read. I've made the mistake of carrying too many books on flights, and then not finishing them, or not packing enough and then lacking for reading material.

Thanks!
We've been delinquent here at the CJLA blog, but wanted to drop a quick line to anyone still reading to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. It's been a great year for us, with some fabulous new books out, some fabulous new clients on board, and more amazing releases from our awesome authors who aren't new.  And we wanted to say thank you to our readers and queriers for just being here and talking with us. It's heartening to see so many passionate folks still eager to break into the mess that is publishing. So with that, a very happy holiday to all. And see you next week!

Fantastic Infinity: Doug-Dennis Takes on Pre-School
Author/illustrator Darren Farrell took his debut picture book, Doug-Dennis and the Flyaway Fib (Dial, March 2010), out for its first spin in the classroom this week. The rest of what follows is Darren's report of Doug's unveiling, pictures included:   I successfully completed Doug reading number o

My Clients - An Appreciation
It's been a great month for several of my clients, with some awesome new sales, and a few I've yet to announce formally. A few of these clients are newer and their books went right on through, but several of them have been laboring with me for over a year, being patient, revising and trying again.  I've been excessively picky about who I've signed. I actually haven't requested all that much in the last month, and rejected most of it. They were good, but nothing got me all hot and bothered. (In the good way.) Nothing hitting the spot of what I'm looking for. But then I had a beer with a client on Tuesday, and he starts talking about his next book, and it's exactly something I've

Shortsighted...But I'll Be Fine
Before I came to work today I caught this segment on the Today Show where Matt Lauer, who I do think is one of the smarter men in television, asked John Grisham about the price wars in book publishing. I have very many mixed feelings about Mr. Grisham's statement (mostly the "I'll be fine...who knows about everyone else" approach) but he also made some good points.  Watch the clip below and then let's discuss it in the comments. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy