a taste of BEA

I think The Rejectionist summed it up best, but BEA is hard on an HSP (highly sensitive person) like myself.  Shmoozing and mingling and networking aren’t my strengths, so I only lasted an hour at yesterday’s Book Blogger reception.  I did get to meet some nice people, including author Melanie Hope Greenberg and author/blogger/radio host Lesley Etheridge-Gist.  I’ll be on Lesley’s show next weekend, and it was great to also meet Christopher Herz since we’d only talked via email and on blogtalkradio before.  Christopher’s a pro at “working a room”—or he should be since direct sales is what won him the attention of big chain bookstores and AmazonEncore.  Writing from 5-7am every day before work, Christopher finished his novel (The Last Block in Harlem) and then printed 1,000 copies, quit his day job, and hit the streets of NYC trying to persuade people to give his book a chance.  You can read more of his story over at Publishers Weekly.  Andrew Xia Fukuda was not ready for his close-up, so our Flip interview will have to wait—maybe I’ll catch him next week at his reading at the Queens Public Library.

Do you review middle grade fiction?  If so, let me know because I’ve got two ARCs of a new science-based book called Sweet Farts.  It’s by Raymond Bean, a NYC 4th Grade teacher (and fellow AmazonEncore author).  I’ll send a book to anyone who’s interested in writing a review…

Did you know that YOU can nominate titles for YALSA‘s 2010 Best Fiction for Young Adults?  It’s a quick process, though you do need the book’s publisher, a summary, and your reason for nominating the book.  Edi over at Crazy Quilts reminds us that books by and about people of color often don’t make the list, so NOMINATE!

Lastly, you know I’m not fond of heritage months, but this is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, and there was a major conference in Singapore: the Asian Festival of Children’s Content.  Want to learn more about it?  Tarie did a fabulous guest post over at Multiculturalism Rocks! Could YOU pass this test?

1. Name three Asian authors of children’s books.
2. Name three Asian illustrators of children’s books.
3. Name folk heroes or folk stories from three different Asian countries.
4. Name three African authors of children’s books.
5. Name three African illustrators of children’s books.
6. Name folk heroes or folk stories from three different African countries.
7. Name three Latin American authors of children’s books.
8. Name three Latin American illustrators of children’s books.
9. Name folk heroes or folk stories from three different Latin American countries.