Author Blogs

The Book Design blog had a recent post about author blogs, and I really disagree with a lot of what they asserted, at least with YA authors. Maybe it's different for nonfiction writers.

"Author blogs and web sites are not so much for an author’s current readers but serve as a strategy for attracting new readers."
I don't know, maybe this is the authors' hope (not too sure about even that, though), but from what I have seen, it is the authors' fans who read their blogs. I do read Meg Cabot's blog even though I don't read her books, but otherwise, I don't read the blogs of any authors I haven't read. I read blogs for a myriad of reasons, from waiting breathlessly for news of upcoming books to getting insight on their writing process to enjoying the random and interesting comments.

"Most people are never very interested in blogs that are too personal. No one really cares about what you had for dinner last night or seeing photos of your cat. Blogs are not for writing about your interesting life."
Again, I really disagree. I find the personal stuff very interesting. I love hearing about Meg Cabot's ailments and favorite movies and love for cupcakes. I like to read about Sarah Dessen's new baby. The incestuous world of NYC YA authors fascinates me (Oh, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, and Maureen Johnson had dinner with Libba Bray? Fascinating!). All this lets me feel like I "know" them better. It personalizes them and makes me care about the success of their writing. Plus, these people are writers! They have clever turns-of-phrase and jokes and such that are entertaining.

Oh, and I am VERY interested in seeing pictures of authors' cats! Indeed, if any YA authors read this, post pictures of your cats! (I'll accept other animals as well, but they will not be as adorable to me as cats.) Maybe I should start a blog just posting pictures of YA author pets...

Get Ready for Lists

2007 is almost over, and I am already mentally preparing myself for my "best of" lists. Naturally, we will all want to do our favorite YA books of the year. But I think we should also do our favorite YA author blog, YA author website, and maybe our favorite My Space page. And maybe best YA news story of the year? Other "best ofs" you think we should do?

Holly, Cody, and anyone else who might read this blog, be thinking of your 2007 favorites!

Dumbledore Revelations

So Rowling has "revealed" that Dumbledore is gay. This brings up an interesting issue of what is "true" about book characters and plot if it's not in the book. I mean, sure, I understand that maybe this is how she has thought of him all this time when she was writing, but if you don't put it in the book, do you get to post facto make this part of the story by stating it at a reading? Are we to incorporate everything an author says or writes about a character into our understanding, even if it's not in the book(s)? I haven't totally fleshed this out in my mind yet, but I sort of think that if you want to make this part of the plot and/or character, it needs to be in the book. Otherwise, you are just leaving it up to reader interpretation, and while you may have your personal authorial take, it's not actual "fact." It kind of reminds me of Stephenie Meyer saying how she worries about "solidifying" plot and character elements on her website. In a way, I like the idea of authors clarifying their thoughts about characters and explaining things and having "extra" information on their websites to supplement stories, but on the other hand, I tend to think this as much less "official" if it's not in the book. Is everything not in the book up for grabs (a la fan fiction)? I'm torn right now.

Characters!

Okay, this is not about YA lit, but it is about authors and writing and stuff. J.R. Ward has a series of vampire romances centered around the males of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. Not terribly important, but anyway, she has this really cool page on her website where she "interviews" all of her main characters. It is just so freaking cool. What a great idea! You need to take a look at it because it's not like a plain interview; it's very creatively done. YA authors should do this, especially people like Stephenie Meyer who have series books that people are madly in love with. It would be a quick and easy way for the authors to explore/expose a little more of their characters and give fans a fun read. Or maybe just give a little follow-up without writing a whole novel or answer FAQs in a creative way. I love it.

On a related note about authors providing good supplementals for their readers, I also like to read deleted scenes. Ward has some on her website, and Scott Westerfeld posted one from Specials on his blog. I like how Westerfeld explained why he first wrote it and why he decided to delete it. Fascinating for those who can't get enough of the books and who like to understand the writing process.

Topic for future discussion: What YA authors have the best websites? What features do you most like to see on author websites?