Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar. To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.

Night Watch novelist Linda Fairstein will appear at the Center for Fiction to share practical writing tips for aspiring crime fiction authors. Hear her on Tuesday, February 26th starting 7 p.m. (New York, NY)

The 4th Anniversary Show of the “How I Learned” reading series will take place at the Happy Ending Lounge. Join the party on Wednesday, February 27th starting 8 p.m. (New York, NY)

Read more

Author Jodi Picoult has landed a 3-book deal with Random House, Inc.’s Ballantine Books imprint. The not-yet-titled first novel will be published in 2014.

Random House Publishing Group president Gina Centrello teamed up with Ballantine Bantam Dell publisher Libby McGuire to negotiate the deal with Laura Gross Literary Agency principal Laura Gross. Ballantine Bantam Dell editor-in-chief Jennifer Hershey will edit the books.

McGuire had this statement in the release: “Jodi’s ability to bring readers together and start conversations about her storytelling is very special. Even with her tremendous success, we believe her growth potential is enormous, and we look forward to bringing her forthcoming fiction to an even larger readership.”

Read more

Former teacher and self-published author Ruth Cardello has landed on the New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 60,000 copies of her self-published romance novels and reportedly turned down a 7-figure book deal from a publishing house.

In an interview with GalleyCat contributor Jeff Rivera, Cardello (pictured, via) talked about why she said “no” to the book deal offer:

“All sorts of offers came in from places I never dreamt would be interested in my writing. Even though one of the offers was seven figures, I haven’t accepted any of them yet. So far self-publishing is the route that makes the most sense for me to continue on.”

What do you think? Follow this link to read the rest of Cardello’s interview.

Read more

We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending July 01, 2012–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #3 in Children’s Interest) Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer: “Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah. And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.” (June 2012)

(Debuted at #4 in Hardcover Fiction) The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker: “On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray.” (June 2012)

Read more

Simon & Schuster has launched a book club site on Facebook called “Something to Read About.” The club will open on October 12th with a discussion on Jaycee Dugard‘s memoir, A Stolen Life. Readers can join in from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

Follow this link to browse the site. Here’s more: “This new page is designed to enhance readers experience with books and authors by featuring a variety of activities and events including a spotlight ‘Book-of-the-Month’ title, moderated conversations about favorite books, a listing of authors from all Simon & Schuster’s imprints who are available to call into reading groups, favorite book club selections, and daily updates. Fans of the page will also have direct access to videos, photos, a book-specific discussion forum, and excerpts as well as opportunities to interact with some authors and enter contests for free books.”

October’s book-of-the-month title will be Alice Hoffman‘s The Dovekeepers. Jodi Picoult‘s Sing You Home will follow in November and Kathleen Grissom‘s The Kitchen House in December. The site also has two book club samplers available with excerpts from popular authors including Phillipa Gregory, Chris Cleave and Samuel Park.  What do you think?

Novelist Jodi Picoult has finished editing Between the Lines, a YA novel she co-wrote with her daughter. Publication has been set for June 2012.

Here’s more from Picoult’s Facebook announcement: “Color me happy! My daughter Sammy and I JUST finished editing the young teen chapter book we co-wrote, BETWEEN THE LINES … it’s about a prince who wants to break free from his fairytale existence … and the girl who falls for him while she’s reading. It’s sweet and romantic and funny — and to celebrate, we’re going out for ribs!!”

According to The Book Case, the mother-daughter duo will tour to promote the title. Picoult is not the first writer to partner with her daughter on a writing project.

Read more

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has used her own money to option Jodi Picoult‘s latest novel, Sing You Home.

According to Deadline, DeGeneres regards this as a “passion project.” She enlisted Storyline partners Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to produce a feature film version with her.

Sing You Home, a novel about gay rights, was released earlier this month. The video embedded above features Ellen Wilber‘s performance of Sing You Home which can be found in the book’s companion soundtrack.

Editor Emily Bestler will helm a brand new imprint at Atria Books–Emily Bestler Books. The imprint will publish both fiction and nonfiction. The new imprint will open in the spring.

During her 16 years at Simon and Schuster, Bestler has worked with a range of authors (counting 79 NYT bestsellers): John Connolly, Jodi Picoult, Sister Souljah, and Liza Marklund. Atria Books will hire a new editor for the imprint as well.

Atria Books publisher Judith Curr had this statement: “Emily has an eye for discovering talented authors, nurturing their careers and growing their sales to bestselling levels.  An Emily Bestler Book will signal to both the reader and the bookselling community that between the covers they can expect to find many hours of entertaining reading … I’m delighted to launch her new endeavor here at Atria, to salute her past accomplishments and look to many more future bestsellers from her.”

Jodi Picoult, Darin Strauss & Ron Rosenbaum lead the pack of writers producing Kindle Singles–short works priced between 99-cents and $2.99. Will you buy these little books?

In October, Amazon unveiled a new eBook format, calling on “serious writers, thinkers, scientists, business leaders, historians, politicians and publishers” to contribute “singles” between 10,000 and 30,000-words (about 30-90 pages).

Here’s more about the Kindle Single from Picoult: “Leaving Home brings together three, previously published short pieces, each dealing with a variation on the theme of leaving home. The first, ‘Weights and Measures,’ deals with the tragic loss of a child; the second is a non-fiction letter Picoult wrote to her eldest son as he left for college; and, ‘Ritz’ tells the story of a mother who takes the vacation all mothers need sometime.”

Looking at the comments section for our Should Authors Dance? post, it seemed like plenty of GalleyCat readers want to see their favorite writer appear on Dancing with the Stars. Now it’s time to do something about it.

Reader Michelle Gilstrap suggested Lotus Eaters author Tatjana Soli and proposed: “[Soli] is coming to Los Angeles for a special event on October 16th, I will ask her if she would like to do it. We should start a Facebook page for her, if she says yes. This is how they got Betty White on [Saturday Night Live].”

It’s a great idea. We’ll start by letting our readers pick the best writer to appear on Dancing with the Stars–we’ve collected ten suggestions from GalleyCat readers below.  Go to this Facebook link to vote for your favorite author. We’ll count the votes and build a special Facebook page to advocate for the winning author. The ten suggestions follow below…

Read more