Z stuff

Captain’s Log, Stardate 08.11.2006

Blog book giveaway:
My Monday book giveaway is MY SO-CALLED LOVE LIFE by Allie Pleiter.
My Thursday book giveaway is RELUCTANT BURGLAR by Jill Elizabeth Nelson.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for MY SO-CALLED LOVE LIFE and post the title for another book I'm giving away.

Of not much interest to anyone else except writers...
While I was at RWA, I got the back cover copy and bio that will be on my books. I apparently had to approve them. They were written by Z’s marketing staff, I guess. Have a gander:

[Brief summary]

Lex Sakai never had time for dating until her crafty grandmother insists she bring a date to her cousin’s wedding. The always-in-control Lex uses Ephesians to compile a huge list of traits for the Perfect Man … but God seems to have a much more unlikely candidate in mind.

[Back ad]

Will Lex Sakai be able to surrender her “perfect man” list and give Mr. All Wrong a chance?

Lex Sakai’s family is big, nosy, and marriage-minded. When her cousin Mariko gets married, Lex will become the oldest single cousin in the clan. And that makes her a moving target for Grandma Sakai, who insists that Lex bring a date to her cousin’s wedding.

Of course, Grandma Sakai has some perfect candidates for Lex. Too bad they don’t speak English! And Lex herself has used her Bible study class on Ephesians to compile a huge list of traits for the perfect man. But the one man she keeps running into doesn’t seem to have a single quality on her list. Aiden Young is not her type. He’s not a jock, he’s not employed, he’s not a Christian, and he was just dumped by Lex’s cousin, Trish. It’s only when the always-in-control Lex starts to let God take over that all the pieces of this hilarious romance finally fall into place.

CAMY TANG grew up in Hawaii, and worked for years as a biologist/researcher until she felt God’s call to return to the writing that she had loved as a student. She now writes “romance with a kick of wasabi” and, with her husband, is a staff worker at the youth group of the Santa Clara Valley Japanese Christian Church. Solo Sashimi is her first in a series of four romance novels about the single cousins in the Sakai family.

US $.99/UK £.99/CAN $.99
FICTION / ROMANCE / HUMOR
ISBN 0-310-

Camy here: Like how it’s priced at 99 cents? :)

They seem to be marketing it more as romance, which is fine with me. However, I’m realizing that it hopefully won’t look too romancy on the cover or else it might not appeal to my main demographic—20- and 30-something singles, chick-lit lovers.

I also recently received a “writer’s welcome package” of sorts from Z. “The materials accompanying this leter are designed to give you an overview of the editorial, marketing, and sales efforst that will go into successfully publishing your title.”

Cooooooool.

I have an Author Information Form to fill out and send back, and I also have to include a headshot AND the photographer’s written permission to use it. Hmm. Since I don’t have that for my current headshot, I guess that means I have to get another photo done.

They gave me a copy of THE CHRISTIAN WRITER’S MANUAL OF STYLE, which I know is a standard used in most publishing houses alongside THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE. I think I got a copy of THE CHRISTIAN WRITER’S MANUAL OF STYLE because it’s published by Z.

I also got this nifty handbook that tells about Zondervan and a few of their departments like Marketing and Sales. It also talks a bit about their Bibles, Zonderkidz, and Inspirio.

There’s an FAQ section that has mostly stuff I already know—no-brainers like “Will you be giving my manuscript a new title?” (Hell, yes, because the I absolutely suck at titles), “Will every bookstore carry my title?” (Dream on, babe), and “How long will my title be kept in print?” (As long as a certain number of people keep buying it each month, duh.)

I also got a really neat Royalty Reference Guide that shows a sample statement and deciphers the Greek. However, I still can’t keep straight in my head whether “net” or “gross” is retail price and which is wholesale price.

In all, a nice package to get, but also more things for me to do. Gotta find a photographer who will give Z written permission to use the photo.

TMI:

Diet: I exercised five times this week so far! The past few days I mixed things up a bit—I did only one Denise Austin program and then the Power Yoga program. The yoga was quite challenging but also very relaxing with all the stretching.

However, I have apologize to my husband, Captain Caffeine, because I did yoga on Thursday, which was abs and back, and I overdid it. My back was a little sore for the rest of Thursday, but it was fine on Friday.

So I can’t say anything about him complaining his back and then not doing yoga with me. He might have been doing himself a favor.