February Link Love

All the best stuff I've read around the weboverse in the last month!

WRITING & MARKETING ADVICE
Jael McHenry in Writer Unboxed explains who's on your team as a writer
Cynsations compares 2 launch parties: one for a picture book and one for YA
Agent Rachelle Gardner on how to boost sales of other people's books--and your own
Chuck Sambuchino on How to Support a Writer's New Book (via Writer Unboxed)
New service from the Author's Guild lets writers set up virtual book tours/visits (via AppNewser)

Wastepaper Prose interviews several authors on their previous misconceptions about publishing and what they've learned
Why & how to declutter your writing life (Elizabeth Craig, Mystery Writing Is Murder)
Teen Library Toolbox on what teens want from libraries (and books!)

Eden from Project Mayhem on knowing when to let go of the book 
Lisa Cron (Writer Unboxed) on 5 Reasons Readers Love Your Story 
Elizabeth S. Craig of Mystery Writing Is Murder has timesaving tips for writing a series
Joanna Penn on How to Take Your Writing Further (Write to Done)
Kat Zhang of Pub(lishing) Crawl tells us how to write more vivid scenes

AGENTS & QUERIES
Marie Lu from Pub(lishing) Crawl interviews agent Kristin Nelson
Chuck Sambuchino with answers on FAQs about writing query letters (via Writer Unboxed)
Middle Grade Ninja tells you exactly how NOT to get an agent
Literary Rambles spotlights agent Amy Jameson of A+B Works
Middle Grade Ninja asks 7 questions of agent Elena Mechlin (Pippin Properties)
... and of agent Laura Rennert (Andrew Brown)
Agent Pam van Hylckama Vlieg featured on Literary Rambles

KIDLIT / PUBLISHING NEWS 
PW unveils Scholastic's brand-new cover for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (isn't it gorgeous?!) 
PW reveals that Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy is being developed for the Fox network
another from PW: Classic American Girl advice book gets an expansion
NPR's Renee Montagne interviews Tony Kushner about Maurice Sendak's final book 
Michael Pietsch, incoming CEO of Hachette, on Why Traditional Publishing Is in a Golden Age via NPR
Jason Boog of Gallycat offers good news on kidlit sales
PW: Kidlit booksellers talk about what books they anticipate most in spring 2013  

INTERVIEWS
PW  talks to Katherine Applegate about winning the 2013 Newbery
School Library Journal: Writing for the Middle Grades: A Roundtable with Birdsall, Stead, & Wilson 
Lindsay Deutsch of USA Today interviews Kate DiCamillo about her upcoming book, Flora & Ulysses (plus a sneak peek!)
Literary Rambles talks to Elsie Chapman, debut author of the YA dystopian Dualed

BOOK REVIEWS: (MOSTLY) FEBRUARY RELEASES THAT LOOK FABULOUS!
(links go to Kirkus reviews unless otherwise noted)

My Brother's Book by Maurice Sendak (picture book)
Night Sky Wheel Ride by Sheree Fitch, illus by Yayo (picture book)
Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle (MG contemporary)
A Dash of Magic by Katherine Littlewood (MG fantasy)
The Secret Room by Antonia Michaelis (a 2012 MG fantasy; review by Project Mayhem)
A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff (MG fantasy)

Blaze, or Love in the Time of Supervillains by Laurie Boyle Crompton (YA contemporary; review by The Busy Bibliophile)
City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster (YA fantasy; review by In Bed With Books)
Dualed by Elsie Chapman (YA dystopian; review by Sparkes and Lightning)
Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood (YA contemporary; review by Fluttering Butterflies)
Me, Him, Them, and It by Caela Carter (YA contemporary; review by The Hiding Spot)
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys (YA historical)
Pivot Point by Kasie West (YA paranormal)

BOOK TRAILERS
Genie Wishes  by Elisabeth Dahl (MG contemporary; April 2, Amulet Books)
In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (YA historical ghost story; April 2, Amulet Books)

MISCELLANY
Remember my rant about the New Adult category? Here's another take, by Rachel Siegel of Publishing Crawl
Have time to read one chapter a week? Middle Grade Ninja's new book club does just that, starting with Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire


image courtesy of wikimedia commons; available for reuse under this Creative Commons license