Sunday, January 1, 2012

2011 Wrap-Up, Anniversary, and 2012 Changes

Greetings, YAtopians!  And welcome to our One-Year Anniversary post! It’s hard to believe that a year’s gone by since the eight of us came together (thanks to Kelley Vitollo). At that time we were eight unpublished, mostly unrepresented writers full of hope and aspirations. Leigh Fallon and I both had “secret” contracts with HarperTeen at that point but were sworn to silence. None of us had any idea what 2011 would hold. It turned out to be quite eventful for our lot. Here are some of our contributors’ highlights:

Kelley York’s YA thriller, HUSHED, was picked up by Entangled Publishing and became available December 6th.  Reviews for her debut have been amazing!

Kelley Vitollo obtained representation with literary agent Ethan Ellenberg. Her YA contemporary romance is currently on sub, and I have very high hopes for her in 2012. J She also joined a new contemp blog called For the Love of Contemporary. I’ve got to brag on my bestie here for a minute. Kelley completed two YA novels in 2011, along with a collab novel, another novel completely rewritten, and two adult novellas!

Sarah Nicolas became an intern for Entangled Publishing, and she won a spot as a YA Rebel contributor. She’s rocking the cyber world, and I think she’s one to keep an eye on in 2012. I’m expecting huge stuff from this awesome girl!

Sharon Johnston’s short story, GROWTH, was published in THE BASICS OF LIFE. She took 2nd place in the Australian Literary Review’s YA short story competition, and has been invited to write alongside Michael White for THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CHESTER LEWIS anthology.

D.J. DeSmyter’s YA paranormal romance, HUNTED, was picked up by Pendrell Publishing and became available August 9th.

Leigh Fallon’s YA paranormal romance, CARRIER OF THE MARK, was a BEA Buzz Book, and became available October 4th, followed by releases in Italy, Poland, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand with deals signed for further releases in Turkey and Brazil in 2012. She signed a contract for the 2nd in the series, which will be available late 2012/early 2013. Leigh joined the Supernatural Underground blog, and signed to be part of a compilation of dark retellings of Mother Goose stories for 2012.

Chanelle Gray accepted representation with literary agent Victoria Marini in January, and sold her novel MY HEART BE DAMNED to Mitchell & Morris Publishers (kNight Romance imprint) in September, to be published October 2012.

Wendy Higgins’s urban fantasy romance, SWEET EVIL, was revealed for publication on May 1st, 2012. I (sorry, it’s weird to talk about myself in 3rd person) also completed two novels this year - the sequel to SWEET EVIL and a separate, stand alone book.

YAtopia has been a lucky charm for the eight of us this year! We can’t wait to see what treasures 2012 holds.  We’d love to hear about your 2011 successes and your hopes for the New Year!

2012 Changes/New Posting Schedule:

Due to the craziness of life, but our desire to stay together, we’ve decided to each post once a month instead of twice. There might be contests and special features to look out for between posts, but otherwise here is our new schedule:

Date - Blogger

1st - Wendy Higgins

4th - D.J. DeSmyter

8th - Leigh Fallon

12th - Kelley York

16th - Chanelle Gray

20th - Sharon Johnston

24th - Sarah Nicolas

28th - Kelley Vitollo

Hugs, Wendy

10 comments:

  1. 2011 was a pretty awesome year for all of us, wasn't it? ;) Here's to another year with all you awesome YAtopia readers and contributors!

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  2. What great things happened for you ladies in 2011! Hope similar things happen for me in 2012! Happy New year!

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  3. Wow, what a great year you've all had. I hope 2012 is even more awesome.

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  4. Awww, thanks, my bestie!! Love you!

    I am so glad to be a part of YAtopia. You guys are all great! I feel so very lucky for the other seven members, every follower, comment, interview, contest or anything else that goes down here.

    Here's to hoping 2012 will be even better!

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  5. Happy Anniversay and Happy New Year!
    Wishing you much continued success in 2012!

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  6. What a great year! Congrats on your blogiversary, and best wishes for many more years!

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  7. I adore every one of you! So happy for your success ;)

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  8. Congratulations on your blogoversary! I'm so glad to have met all you wonderful ladies. :)

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  9. :D I wish all of our followers great success in 2012.

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