Peek Inside the Fierce Reads Tour AND Pre-Order Giveaway from YA author Emmy Laybourne

Today I'm welcoming YA author Emmy Laybourne to the blog. Emmy is the author of  Monument 14 and Sky on Fire. In May, the next book in this post-apocalyptic trilogy, Savage Drift, will be released.

I was part of the official Sky on Fire blog tour, and when Emmy asked me if I wanted to be part of this one, I was happy to say yes. Take it away, Emmy!

Hitting the List

Hi everyone, I'm Emmy Laybourne, author of the MONUMENT 14 trilogy and I'd like to tell you a little story.

On the first Fierce Reads tour, I was in a van with Marissa Meyer, Leigh Bardugo, Anna Banks and Jennifer Bosworth. We were somewhere outside Seattle, I believe, when Leigh started making funny, sort of strangling sounds while checking her email in the seat behind me. I turned around. She was hiding her face in her hands.

“Leigh, what happened?!” I asked.

“I hit the list!” she said. “Shadow and Bones is a New York Times Bestseller!” *

We cheered! But to tell you the truth, before that moment, things hadn’t been going so smoothly for us in terms of group dynamics. We were four debut novelists, with Marissa along to try to show us the ropes, each anxious about her performance on her first tour, and somehow we hadn’t quite gelled. Well, baby, we gelled when Leigh hit the list. Somehow, being with Leigh at that precious, sensitive moment put us all squarely on her side. We popped the cork on a large bottle of bubbly that night and crowed about her achievement at all the tour stops.

On the second Fierce Reads tour, about half-way through, we were all checking into the magnificent Wynn hotel in Las Vegas. Jessica Brody was ahead of me, with a reception clerk. Leigh was behind me in line, I think, and Anna was ahead of me, too. Only when I looked at Anna, I saw she had burst into tears. The reception clerk was trying to give her an awkward hug across the marble counter. I dropped my bag and hustled over.

“Oh my god, Anna! Are you okay?” I asked.

“I hit the list!” she told me through her tears.**

Again – joy from her tour-mates and a big, frosty bottle of champagne! Of course, by this time, on our second tour, we were all pretty much soul-sisters.

Now… this will be the third year I go on tour. And it’s for the last book in the MONUMENT 14 series. Friends, wouldn’t it be a good story if I was out on tour with my sweet tour-mates and I got the word?! It would be a nice story. That’s all I’m saying. Rule of threes, people. I know, I know in my heart of hearts, that they would be as happy for me as I was for them.

The thing about hitting the list is that I’ll only have one chance - the first week the book comes out. Why’s this? It’s because the New York Times Book Review enters all the pre-orders as sales for that first week. This is why so many of us authors and publishers are eager for you to pre-order titles in your favorite series. If I can pre-sell, oh, say 15,000 copies of the book (zoinks!) I might have a shot. So – there’s the backstory on the pre-order campaign I'm running.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a little peek behind the curtains of the Fierce Reads tours. And hey, whether I hit the list with this book or not, I remain endlessly thankful to have the chance to write for a living!

 * Note: this is my loosey-goosey memory of what she said!

** Another Note: also loosey-goosey.

 Thanks again to YA Romantics for having me over!

Monument 14: Savage Drift
by Emmy Laybourne
To be published by Feiwel and Friends
on May 6, 2014

The stunningly fierce conclusion to Emmy Laybourne's Monument 14 trilogy. The survivors of the Monument 14 have finally made it to the safety of a Canadian refugee camp. Dean and Alex are cautiously starting to hope that a happy ending might be possible. But for Josie, separated from the group and trapped in a brutal prison camp for exposed Type Os, things have gone from bad to worse. Traumatized by her experiences, she has given up all hope of rescue or safety. Meanwhile, scared by the government's unusual interest in her pregnancy, Astrid (with her two protectors, Dean and Jake in tow) joins Niko on his desperate quest to be reunited with his lost love Josie. Author Emmy Laybourne reaches new heights of tension and romance in this action-packed conclusion to the Monument 14 trilogy.