Welcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs. We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

Dear Fellow Java-lovers,

YA Cafe will be taking a mini-break for the summer so that we can soak up some sunshine!  That’s right, it’s way too gorgeous out for us to stay indoors all day staring into our computer screens so we want you guys to go out and enjoy the summer.  (Of course, as I write this, it looks like it’s about to thunderstorm outside, but you know what I mean.)

Don’t worry: we will still post for our book club days.

On July 29th, we’ll be discussing TANGLED by Carolyn Mackler and on August 26 we’ll talk about SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr!

Just because we’re taking a break for the summer doesn’t mean Ghenet and I aren’t going to be thinking about and working on YA Cafe.  We’ve got some plans brewing and we’ll be back in the fall with more fun stuff like interviews!  Stay tuned.

We also wanted to open up the discussion to all of you reader friends.  We’re dying to know because we want to make YA Cafe super-awesome just for you!  Are there any topics you’d like to see us discuss in YA Cafe?  Any posts that were your favorites?  Please share!

Last, but certainly not least, I just wanted to send out a HUGE thank you to all you readers for your continued support of this project.  As Ghenet said on her post, when we first started YA Cafe, we thought it would only last through February and maybe March.  Now we’ve been going for several months and it’s only because of you guys and all your support, so THANK YOU!

Keep being awesome!

W elcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs. We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

In light of the holiday weekend, today we’re doing a short post to announce the winner of the Sweethearts giveaway.  Don’t worry, we’ll be back next week with more YA Cafe fun.

The signed copy of Sweethearts by Sara Zarr goes to…

Drum roll please… *clears throat*

*fumbles with envelope*

*opens envelope*

Lydia Kang!!!

*throws confetti*  Congratulations!

Lydia, you should be getting an email shortly, asking for your mailing address so we can send you the book.

To everyone who celebrates the holiday this weekend, have a safe and fun 4th of July.  Eat lots of BBQ and watch cool fireworks.  Most importantly, have fun!

When I heard about J.C. Martin was publishing an anthology of short stories to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I knew I was looking at something special.  Some of you may remember J.C. Martin as one of the DIY MFA TAs, and together with her co-editor Michelle Davidson Argyle, she’s put together a fabulous collection of stories.  To purchase your copy, go here.  For more information about STORIES FOR SENDAI, visit the website.

Today J.C. shares some insider secrets on how to get an editor’s attention.  She gives some great tips on how to increase your chances of getting your work noticed, all based on her experiences putting together this anthology.  Thank you J.C and Michelle for including iggi&gabi on your blog tour!  And now, without further ado, here’s J.C.

How to Up Your Submission’s Chances of Getting Accepted

We’re really excited to be here on Iggi & Gabi’s blog on the release day of our charity anthology, Stories for Sendai! We are hoping to raise as much as we can to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, so why not purchase a copy of the anthology today to help boost Stories for Sendai’s rankings in the Amazon charts, and to further increase our exposure?

Gabi suggested that people may be interested in learning about the editorial aspect of compiling the anthology, predominantly the process of selection: how did we pick our accepted entries? What did we look for? What didn’t we like? It occurred to us that this information might be useful for anyone considering submitting their work to magazines and anthologies, so we were more than happy to share what we know!

Selecting the entries was probably the hardest part of the whole project! We received so many fantastic stories and poems, we were forced to be ruthless with our choices, picking only the best of the best. What a challenge that was! But every entry that went straight into the ‘yes’ pile will have satisfied most (if not all) of the following criteria:

The story fits the required theme. Apart from the obvious aim: to raise money in aid of victims of the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we also wanted the stories in this anthology to be morally uplifting, to reflect the quiet strength and tenacity of the Japanese people in the face of overwhelming odds and adversity. As such, all selected entries for the anthology have one thing in common: apart from the fact that they are all awesome, each one is themed around hope, survival, and the strength of the human spirit.

That was a theme we stipulated in our submission guidelines: we wanted stories that left us with a warm fuzzy feeling, or a tear in our eye. However, you’d be surprised at how many entries we received that clearly did not fit the theme, or had the theme jackhammered into what is obviously not a piece of work written specifically for the anthology, but something that had been sitting in the writer’s drawer or computer folder for ages, that they decided to dust off and send in. It is annoying to receive entries like that, as it wastes both the editor’s time and yours.

The story is surprising. We’re big fans of the surprise ending. It’s a skill to be able to include a plot twist within the confines of a short story. Predictable storylines lull us into ‘skim-read’ mode—we already know the ending, so quit the preamble already! Endings with a “Woah, I didn’t see that coming!” factor will always grab the editor’s attention!

The story is unique. The beauty with short stories is that you can write just about anything, so go on—surprise us! Because of our stipulated theme, we received a load of entries about people living with terminal diseases—not only were they depressing, they’re cliché. Editors like it when writers think outside the conventional box. Wow us with something different!

If your story isn’t unique, you’ll need to pull out all the stops to impress us—beautiful prose, flawless writing, and something unexpected—yes, if you’re telling an old story, make sure you do it in a new and unique way!

The story is believable. Even fantasy stories about other realms must have a touch of realism to it. If we start thinking “That character wouldn’t do that!” or “Isn’t that a convenient coincidence!”, then there are inconsistencies in the story that has to be addressed.

The story is well written. Every writer will eventually develop their own writing style and voice. This can only come with practice. There is no use trying to write in the style of Ernest Hemingway when you’re a Stephen King; your prose will end up looking forced. Good writing, be it a lyrical piece of literary fiction, or short, simple prose in a commercial work, will flow well, effortlessly displaying the writer’s true voice.

Just remember: there is a fine line between amateurish writing and purple prose.

The story is proofread. Basic errors in SPG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) pees us off. A glaring typo jars us from the story, and awkward punctuation and sentence structures will prevent readers from completely immersing themselves into your story. Additionally, it smacks of unprofessionalism and laziness: if you can’t be bothered to make sure your work is as polished as it can be before submitting it, why should we give you the time of day?

The story is formatted according to our submission guidelines. We have been kinda lax with this, but it does rub some editors up the wrong way if they specifically asked for Times New Roman and you send in a piece of work entirely in Comic Sans. Correct formatting just makes life much easier for us in the publication stages, when we sort out the format and layout of the entire book. It may sound harsh that your work might be rejected just because it’s a bit too much work to format correctly, so play it safe and give the editors what they asked for.

And finally…

The story ‘feels right.’ If a story has satisfied all the above criteria, what really sells it for us is that feeling in our gut that tells us that this story is something special. It may be subjective, and sometimes entries can be like Marmite: you either hate it or love it, but we know we’re on to a winner when a story resonates with us!

Well, that’s it! We hope you found this information useful, and good luck with all your future submissions!

For an extra edge, why not try and win a critique of your short story, first chapter, query or synopsis? Just purchase a copy of Stories for Sendai and email us a copy of your receipt to be entered for the draw! Not only could you win a prize, you’ll get a lovely book of wonderful stories, and you’ll be helping the people of Sendai! Visit the Stories for Sendai website for more details of the contest!

Welcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs. We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

Today we’re kicking off our new summer book club by discussing The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, a book that really captures summer at the beach.  With romance and friendship, this book takes me back to the summers in high school that I spent at the beach in Florida with friends and family.  And boys.  But there’s so much more to this book than just romance at a beach house.  In fact, you don’t have to look very far to realize that this book is not just any summer beach read; all you have to do is look at the title.

The Summer I turned Pretty.  On the surface this seems like a fairly innocuous, almost superficial title.  It’s a story about a girl who wasn’t pretty before and now, during this particular summer she has become pretty and everything changes.  Or so we think.  The title makes us believe that this book is about one particular summer, but really it’s about a family and family can’t just be contained in one season.  Family spans a lifetime.

It’s in seeing flashbacks to previous summers that we grow to understand why this particular summer is different, unique.  When we get to the end of the book, we realize that nothing in Belly’s life will ever be the same again.  If we didn’t have the context of those other summers, we wouldn’t quite be able to understand why this one in particular is so important.

One thing that surprised me is that the title seems to imply that because she has turned pretty during this particular summer, things will be better.  As we discover in the story, things don’t necessarily become better or worse, they just get… complicated.  The title lulls us into thinking that this will be just a fun summer beach read, but really the book more complex than that.

Which leads me to the question: What makes a good title? Titles are just about the hardest part of the book to write.  While on one hand you want the title to hint at the overall story, you don’t want it to give away too much.  Some titles are so obscure and random, it’s almost as if the author is having a private joke with himself and the reader is left on the outside.  On the other hand, some titles are so long and contain so much information that it’s impossible for readers to remember the title in the first place (which, of course, is problematic if you’re trying to recommend the book to a friend).

Of course there are exceptions.  Some titles are long and convoluted for humor’s sake.  Other titles might seem random at first, but as you read the books they begin to make sense.  What makes a good title and what makes The Summer I Turned Pretty so effective as a title?

1) It’s memorable. It’s easy to remember this title.  If I needed to go to a bookstore or library and ask for this book, I would be able to do so easily.

2) It gives us a hint of what the book is about. As I mentioned above, this title implies that something about this particular summer is different, special.  We go into the book having a general idea of what to expect.

3) It doesn’t give it all away. While we do go into the story expecting a summer romance, what we discover is that there’s so much more to this book than just that.  There’s friendship, family dynamics and loss.  The title gives us a hint but it doesn’t reveal all.

You tell me now: Is The Summer I Turned Pretty an effective title?  What do you think makes a title effective or not?  And most importantly: how do you come up with titles for your work?

Fellow barista, Ghenet shares her thoughts about THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY on her blog: All About Them Words.  Check it out, then tell us what you think!