Ask Liz & Lisa-How do we book authors?

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Ask Liz & Lisa! Want some blogging advice?  In a twit over a tweet?  Have some mama drama you need to hug out? We're here for you, girlfrin'! Just send us an email and ask us anything!  And because we know y'all love to win things, if we feature your Q, we'll send you a book!  So what are you waiting for? Email asklizandlisa@chicklitisnotdead.com.  Operators are standing by. No, not really.  But Liz keeps glancing down at her Blackberry.  So please put her out-oh-her misery and send an email already!

We've already received some fab Qs from you guys-so thank you!  Our first is from Shannon and we selected it because it's one of the questions we're most frequently asked when we meet new people.  And because we chose Shannon's Q, she'll be receiving Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen- the first author booked EVEH on Chick Lit is Not Dead.  Your question didn't get chosen?  No worries-this will be a regular feature here so look for it next time!

And leave a comment today and we'll enter you to win a book too! How about another copy of Cindy Jones' My Jane Austen Summer:A Season in Mansfield Park?  We'll choose the winners Wednesday April 13th after 6pm PST.

Dear Liz & Lisa,

I want to know how you come up with all these great authors for the blogs? Ask and they volunteer or how does it work? There are just so many great authors and books and I have no idea how any of it works- just love to read the blog!!!

Thanks,

Shannon

*blushes* Thanks so much, Shannon!

There are a few ways we book authors for the site.

1. The publicist or author pitches us via email. We receive pitches daily from authors and/or publicists requesting to be interviewed for the site.  We request the books that pique our interest and put them into our (freakishly huge) TBR pile.  After we read them, we discuss each one and request interviews and giveaways from the ones we think you'll love!  We usually agree-although everyone once in a while we'll have a girlfight lively discussion about which ones to feature.  But we really try to bring you books and authors we think you'll love as much as we do.

2. We stalk contact authors via email and Facebook. We're always looking for the next great author for the site so we are constantly searching online and in bookstores to find that gem that we may have missed.  Or maybe it's someone that we'd pretty much do anything (well, almost anything- we draw the line at anything involving a stripper pole!)  to get our hot little hands on her (or his) 5 Do's and a Do-Over. (Judy Blume-we're talking to you!) Facebook is a great way to connect with our favorite authors and we've booked many of them this way!

3. Crystal Patriarche, publicist extraordinaire and the entire BookSparksPR team. We're incredibly lucky to work with Crystal and she books many of our authors- like the fabulous Lauren Weisberger, Jen Lancaster and Emily Giffin, as well as celebrity-turned-authors like Tori Spelling and Jessica Seinfeld.  She's also incredibly creative and helps us brainstorm our new features and huge giveaways as well as provides PR for the site. We would NOT be where we are without her!

That pretty much sums it up.  And we're appreciative that y'all keep coming to the site to read about authors, books, bucket lists, 5 things you didn't know lists, 5 Do's and a Do-over lists and more! Thanks for continuing to support us with your comments and majuh Facebook page love.  YOU make our job fun!

xoxo, L&L

What's on Lauren Weisberger's Bucket List?

We've been huge fans of Lauren Weisberger since The Devil Wears Prada. In fact, it's one of Lisa's all-time favorite books (and movies- LOVE Meryl Streep!). And when we got our hot little hands on the advanced reader copy of Lauren Weisberger's latest novel, Last Night At Chateau Marmont (out tomorrow- Tuesday, August 17th- order here) we devoured it quickly, comparing notes along the way about how much we were loving on it. (We think it's her best since Prada.) The premise is juicy and intriguing. Married for 5 years, Brooke and Julian Alter live a busy, albeit private life. Brooke works two jobs to support Julian's dream of making it in the music business. When he finally hits it big and goes from no one to someone literally overnight, they go from spending quiet nights on the couch in their sweatpants to becoming regulars in the gossip pages of the rag mag, Last Night. While Julian catapults to fame, his album tops the charts, he appears on The Today Show and the cover of Vanity Fair and hangs out with Jon Bon Jovi, Brooke starts to question it all. Especially when Julian's schedule prevents him from being home more than one night here and there. Even the rag mags publish reports that there's trouble in paradise. You know the saying, be careful what you wish for? Well this is what Brooke worked two jobs for and this is what Julian's been waiting for, but is it the right thing?

And three of you will be the lucky winners of Lauren's fourth novel, Last Night At Chateau Marmont! Just leave a comment and be entered to win (US and Canada only- sorry- please don't hate us) and we'll randomly select the winners on Wednesday!

And now here's Lauren W's BUCKET LIST...

(In no particular order)

1.  Dye my hair red. Not strawberry blonde, not brunette with “amber” highlights—RED.  I bring it up every time I visit the salon, and every single time my colorist reminds me red hair needs to be touched up every three weeks.  At which point I gasp, sigh, and say “maybe someday.”

2.  Learn another language. Actually, scratch that.  How about “magically wake up one day just knowing another language?”  The actual learning part is the bummer, but I’d give anything to step off the plane and just understand what was happening around me.  Top contenders are Hebrew and Italian because Israel and Italy are my two favorite countries.

3.  Own a Bernese mountain dog. This is not to say that I don’t worship my two nine-pound Maltese, because I do (Mitzy and Stella, if you’re reading this, you’re my favorite girls in the whole wide world).  But every time I see one of those hulking, furry, friendly beasts, I literally drop to my knees and make out it.

4.  Visit Antarctica, Ethiopia, and Mali for the penguins, food, and music festival, respectively. These are my top three destinations, but anywhere far-flung and nearly impossible to reach would do the trick.

5.  Get a four-handed massage. I stare at this on every spa menu in every hotel I visit.  Can you even imagine anything more blissful than not one but two therapists rubbing your back in unison?  I’m dozing off just thinking about it….

To read more about the fabulous Lauren Weisberger, you can follow her blog or catch up with her on Facebook.

Thanks, Lauren!

xoxo,

L&L