Monday, May 2, 2011

Elana's Answer Awesomeness



Remember my 500 followers contest? Well, Natalie Aguirre came up with the winning question for Elana:

After seeing the debuts of your friends in the Class of 2011, what have you learned about creative ways to market your book and what are you using from what you learned?

Here’s her VIDEO ANSWER!



I was impressed with many of the questions, so here’s an interview with my commenters and Elana. Enjoy!


Question from Nicki Elson : At what point did Possession possess here---what was the moment you KNEW you had to write it?

Well, I drafted it very fast, so there weren’t very many moments to contemplate. It was my third book, and I left it alone for almost a year before I decided it would be the next book I queried. At that point, I’d written quite a few novels, and I was wondering which one I should clean up and query.

I chose Possession.


Question from Lydia Kang : At some point in writing Possession, did you just know, "This is it!"?

No, definitely not. Not during the writing phase. See, I’m a pantser, and when I wrote Possession, I was the worst kind of pantser. Meaning, I had a lot of revising and rewriting to do.

The “This is it!” moment came much later, when I was querying. I really thought Possession was good, and that it should be published. Thankfully, I found people who thought the same way I did.


Question from A. Rick : How did you pick the name Zenn?

My names just come to me. I don’t labor over them, and I don’t use a website or baby name finder. I just know. Lame answer, I know.


Question from Nicole Zoltack : You can tell a lot about a person by the clothes they wear. Can you tell us about the clothes of your main characters in Possession?

Well, I’m not sure if that’s true in Possession, because someone else dictates what the people wear. There is no free choice in that department. So Vi wears—and has always worn—jeans and a beige, long-sleeved shirt.

There’s actually a scene in the book where Vi examines her appearance in clothes she’s not used to wearing. She sees a stranger looking back at her.


Taffy's Question : If you spent the day with Vi, what would the two of you do?


Oh, I’m sure we’d spend most of the morning dishing about Jag. After that, I think we’d just do whatever. I like to think I’d do the same things I do with my sister: sit on the couch and talk about bad TV (in this case, projections), eat Oreo pie, talk about our parents (especially Vi’s), and hug when it’s time to go home.


Question from Nicole M. White : I know what you like about Vi, what author doesn't love their MC, but if you were her friend (not creator) what one trait about Vi would annoy you?

Actually, there’s several things that bother me about Vi. I do love her, but she’s not perfect in any sense of the word.

The thing that annoys me most about her is her complete and utter lack of ability to make choices. It’s not really her fault because someone else has always chosen for her, but sometimes I just want to yell at her, “Just choose already!”


Jess's question : If you COULD live the life of any YA character, who would it be?

Hermione. She’s a wicked-talented witch, gets to go to Hogwarts, and hang out with Harry Potter. How cool would that be?


Karen Lange's question : What are you going to do to celebrate the release of your book?

Uh, hide? No, but I sort of feel like it. I’ll probably go out to breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Tuesday, June 7.

The next day, June 8, I have a launch party at the indie bookstore in Salt Lake City, and on June 11, I’m signing at my local Barnes & Noble. I’m counting all of that as the official celebration of the release of Possession.


Most pressing question Lola Sharp : How many times a week do you eat bacon?

Oh, it’s not even a weekly activity, sadly. Although, I did eat a BLT for lunch today, because I had leftover bacon from breakfast-for-dinner last night. I know, I know, you’re thinking: “Leftover bacon?? Impossible!”


Thanks again, Elana Johnson , author of Possession coming out in 36 DAYS!

And thank you commenters. Because of you, I didn’t have to think of my own questions. (They wouldn’t have been as good anyway.)

63 comments:

  1. I'm so excited to have my question answered. Once I can hear it. Oh well, I'll have to have my husband help me with it tonight. I loved the other questions and answers.

    I'm so excited for Elana's debut. Can't wait to watch it and I'll be interviewing her on June 6th and doing an awesome giveaway to celebrate her debut.

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  2. That's a great interview! Really looking forward to Possession!

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  3. Awesome interview!!!!!Sosososososososo excited for you, ElanaJ!

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  4. great questions here, and loved that video answer! Elana ROCKS! I can't wait to read Possession!

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  5. I can't wait to read Possession. I've already pre-ordered the book, but now I can't wait to read it even more after reading this interview. :D

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  6. Great interview. I can't wait to read Possession. Like Stina, I've already pre-ordered it :)

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  7. I am really excited to read possession. I've been following Elana since I started blogging and she is just too fabulous for words.

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  8. Loved this. Great job on the interview and the video. :)

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  9. I'm so excited for this book and I LOVE how you let everyone ask their own questions and let Elana go crazy!!! What a great start to what I know will be one amazing blog tour!!!

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  10. This was such a cool interview! It was neat to be able to "interview" Elana by leaving a comment, so thanks so much! I'm so happy for her~ such a sweet person and so deserving of success~ GO ELANA!!

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  11. Those were awesome questions and great answers! Can't wait for my copy to arrive in the mail.

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  12. Great idea. I love the video response.

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  13. All the best to Elana and her amazing debut novel!!!!! Fab Q&A and congrats to the winning question too! What a fun way of answering!! yay! take care
    x

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  14. I really can't wait for this book to come out. Thanks for the interview - those were some seriously good questions! (Esp the one about bacon - LOL!)

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  15. Awesome interview and great questions! I can't wait for Elana's book to come out. I hope she sells tons. =o)

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  16. Theresa and Elana, this was such a great idea! I love the questions and answers (and was thrilled to see mine included, thanks! :) Between Elana's answers and the video, I feel like I've actually met Elana in person. Which, btw, is awesomely fun. Congrats and thanks, ladies, for a great post!

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  17. Great interview! I'm a new follower who will be visiting regularly now. And Elana, if you're listening...I'm so excited to be one of the winners in your contest and I can hardly wait to read my chapter and your comments *big smile*

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  18. Thanks, everyone! Glad my high voice can amuse at times.

    And yay, Gail! Glad you got the tags to work. :) :) :)

    Many thanks to Theresa for her efforts on this as well! *hugs*

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  19. Elana--thanks for all the cool insight!! I loved seeing you in action. I would have loved for you to have read some of the book to us. Jeez Louise, how many more days do I have to wait??? 38????

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  20. Loved the Q&A and the vlog answer too! Great advice, Elana! So looking forward to her book!

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  21. Hehe. Elana is such a doll. Love the questions and answers!!

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  22. great questions and answers. Thanks for sharing more about the road to 'Possession' Elana! looking forward to your other blog stops this week!

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  23. Loved this! Elana, you nailed Vi's most annoying trait--not that that's surprising! :-)

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  24. Great interview! I liked her answer to Jess's question! I am with her there!

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  25. Wow! This was awesome!! She always has such great answers to everything!

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  26. Superb!

    Elana - I just love you.

    Theresa - Thanks for kicking off the tour and setting the bar soooo high! :P

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  27. Excellent, original questions (and answers!).

    You've hyped me up for the debut!!!

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  28. Great answers, Elana! And Theresa, I love how you polled your readers for the questions--I may have to steal that idea down the road.

    Leftover bacon. *tsk* Not in this house, lol!

    Elana, very happy for you, and can't wait to read your book. Enjoy every moment leading up to the big event. You've worked so hard and I can't wait to see you enjoy the fruits of it!

    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  29. Great advice in that video! You could do a spin off of the I want to be like... question with something like "what's your most important POSSESSION?"

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  30. Awesome interview. I can't wait for Possession to come out. So excited for you Elana! :)

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  31. I pre-ordered Possession from Amazon, can't wait to get it! Great questions for Elana!

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  32. Great answers, Elana. Thank you!

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  33. I love hearing about how authors market themselves without coming across ME ME ME buy MY BOOK. Great suggestions. Can't wait for Elana's book to come out.

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  34. oh, this was very cool! I loved the video response--totally agree. That Mandarin promo was brilliant. And *snort* bacon... :D

    can't wait to get Possessed~ <3

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  35. Thanks, everyone. Jon, you know I love you moar.

    And I like the: "What's your greatest POSSESSION?" I think I've thought of this before... I just need to figure out execution and tying it back to my book...

    And no one has said anything about my high voice! You're just all being nice, aren't you?

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  36. Thanks for the introduction to Elana, T. The readers provided some interesting questions. :)
    Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

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  37. After reading your blog about writing Possession, it was great to hear a little bit about the characters. I'm so excited for your book launch!

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  38. Elana, I thought you sounded lovely.

    Look at all this blog love! I'll launch the Part II interview with another set commenters' questions after your tour is officially over.

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  39. Great interview! Elana is so awesome, I've been using From the Query to the Call and it's sooo helpful!

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  40. I think that's so awesome that you used our questions to interview Elana! Great interview, I really enjoyed it.

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  41. This was really a neat idea! Kinda cool that she's a panster and had to do so much revising. Makes me feel better :))

    And I do think you'd have done as well, tsk, tsk.

    Great and fun post!

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  42. Awesome! Hermione is a great choice!!

    Marketing is such a tough thing - I agree with Elana on the vlog - it's so much easier to promote someone else! :)

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  43. I finally got the volume to work so I could hear the answer to my question. It was such an awesome answer.

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  44. It was fun to actually hear Elana's voice! She sounds just as nice in person as she does through her words.

    Elana, if you're reading this...I have a "Like Mandarin" idea for you. How about something along the lines of "What's your favorite possession?" or something like that. Just a thought!

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  45. Thanks Elana for answering my question! What a great interview. I hope all your book signings go great!

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  46. Terrific interview...

    What a great start to your tour, Elana!

    I can't wait to get my hands on it...

    Michael

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  47. what a very neat idea!! love it..can't wait to read the next and learn more about your book and meet new blogs!

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  48. I love these questions and answers!
    Almost as much as I adore Elana and Theresa. :)

    Also, I love breakfast-for-dinner dinners!
    And BLTs are my favorite sandwich. (must be toasted white bread and use Hellman's Mayo...and a fresh, ripe summer tomato...with a little s & P on it) (and now I'm hungry!)

    I'm very excited for Elana and I hope Possession hit the NYT best seller list!

    Love,
    Lola

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  49. Gorgeous video! And I love the other questions too. What a great way of doing an interview (especially since you don't have to come up with the questions yourself!)

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  50. Loved the questions and the answers. Hurray for another great pantser!

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  51. Wonderful interview, loving the Q&A. And I like Hermoine from HP, she's fab. ;-)

    Theresa, I also wanted to congratulate you on your short story for the 100 for Queensland. It's on my list to read!! Well done lady! ;-)

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  52. Wonderful Q and A, Ladies! I just finished reading Elana's book...and let me say, it's an awesome dystopian novel! The book is beautiful and the writing is great! WTG, Elana!!!

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  53. Interesting way to do an interview, Theresa.

    It's always interesting to see how other writers do their thing.

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  54. Great interview! I like how she talks about her characters as if they're real people. I think that's something a lot of us can relate to; we become invested in our stories and our characters seemingly come to life and do things that surprise us.

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  55. Great interview. I learned so much about Elana. :) I can't wait to get my copy of Possession.

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  56. Great questions. I love the question about which of her character's traits annoys her.

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  57. Hey, that was fun! Thanks for giving us all a chance to ask Elena a question---and thanks, Elena, for answering them. :) I loved getting to see Elena on the video!

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  58. Hi Theresa .. great interview with Elana .. fun - and she's so down to earth and practical - with such sensible suggestions.

    Well done - cheers Hilary

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