THIS FREE-TIQUE ROUND IS NOW CLOSED.
Here it is: an opportunity of a lifetime—win a critique from Josh Berk and a chance to name a real book coming out from Knopf. But first you ask …
Who is Josh? Josh Berk is a librarian and author from Allentown, PA who signed a two-book Young Adult deal with Knopf. The first book comes out in early 2010 and he needs a title! And he promises he will deliver a brutally honest critique of the first three chapters of your children’s or teen novel (25 pages max). Josh is particularly qualified because a) he and Snoop get along and b) he knows that Snoop’s fans can take the heat!
What is the book that needs a title? It is a YA “boy book” that mixes humor with mystery. The tale is about an overweight, deaf, and very sardonic teenaged boy whose school is obsessed with a rich boy’s upcoming fancy birthday party. There’s lots of humorous school shenanigans and the halls are buzzing with talk over who will get invited. Then the rich kid gets thrown down a coal shaft. The deaf boy, named Will Halpin, gets pulled into solving the murder with his tech-savvy, detective-fiction-loving friend Devon Smiley. It all takes place in the coal-mining region of Pennsylvania and there is some family drama mixed in with the wacky school stuff.
A note from Josh: I’m trying to avoid predictable coal mining or deafness puns and go for something funny and catchy like KING DORK or FAT KID RULES THE WORLD. I promise to pick a winner from this group and make good on the critique, but just because I choose your title as the winner of this contest, it is not guaranteed that your suggestion will be the book’s actual title. (There are editors, marketing people, etc. to appease and they might not agree with me on what is best for the book.) If two people happen to suggest the same title & that’s the favorite, I’ll flip a coin to choose a winner and a consolation prize of a signed book will be given instead of the critique. If three or people suggest the winner, I’ll flip some sort of crazy three-sided coin (or a similar random method of choosing). Thanks so much for playing!
Now here are the rules: You have 72 hours (until 11:59 PM Friday CST) to e-mail winning titles to JOSH, not Snoop. Josh will choose his favorite, based solely on his personal taste. Here’s how to enter. Break any one of these rules and face the wrath of Snoop (and Josh!).
1. Format your email subject in this fashion: NAME THAT BOOK: INSERT TITLE SUGGESTION HERE
e.g. NAME THAT BOOK: IT AIN’T OVER UNTIL THE FAT BOY SINGS
2. You may enter as many DIFFERENT titles as you want, but only ONE title per email. So if you have ten title suggestions, email Josh TEN times. Yes, you heard that right. And again, the title MUST BE IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL. This helps Josh easily scan the emails in his inbox for winning titles without having to click into every single email. Got it?
3. Email your titles to josh berk AT gmail dot com.
Josh will announce the winning title here at http://www.writingforchildrenandteens.com no sooner than Saturday, Nov. 15th and no later than Monday, Nov 17th.
Good luck and happy titling,
Cynthea and Snoop!