Just saw this on a listserv and thought the authors reading who have first books for children or young adults out in 2008 will be interested in hearing this:

Starting Sunday, the Class of 2k8 will be open for business.

The Class of 2k8 is a group of first-time middle grade and young adult fiction authors with debut novels to be published in 2008. This class will mostly follow the model of the successful and original Class of 2k7 (www.ClassOf2k7.com), and is sanctioned by that group.

The Class of 2k8 will be involved in a cross-publisher marketing campaign geared to put our books on the radar screen of booksellers, librarians, teachers and readers.

To join:
*You must be a first-time middle grade or young adult author
*With a novel to debut in 2008
*From an established publishing house listed in CWIM.
*You will also be required to make both a financial and time commitment.

If you're interested in joining or in finding out more about the group, send an email request to authors@Classof2k8.com . On Sunday, April 15, we will start sending out the application forms along with a preliminary set of expectations.

Thanks,
Marissa Doyle
Jody Feldman

If you're familiar at all with the Class of 2k7--of which Hallowmere author Tiffany Trent/tltrent is a member (look for In the Serpent's Coils this September!), then you'll know the idea. The Class of 2k7 has been a successful experiment in cooperative publicity, I think, but that's not the only thing: it's a community of writers going through the same experience. That's powerful on a personal level, too.

So if you have a book coming out in 2008 that meets their above-cited criteria, let them know.