Today I am pleased to let everyone know about a brand new website that is launching today called The Contemps. Who are The Contemps you ask? They are a group of 21 authors who write contemporary fiction – that’s realistic fiction set in modern day with no sparkly emo vampires or firey werewolves or magic users found in their pages. While I haven’t read all the books that these authors have written, the ones I have read have kept me up to the wee hours of the night because I’ve been unable to put them down.

What will you find on The Contemps website? They’ll be doing feature posts every week on Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday, including*:

– Hot Topic Tuesdays, where they will discuss an important topic or issue relevant to teens and often portrayed in YA literature. Some topics will be fun, others will be heavy, but they will never be boring!
– Spotlight Wednesdays, where they will discuss a current contemp read.
– Teen Thursdays, where they share stories from their own (mostly embarrassing) high school years and invite readers to submit guest posts and questions for future Teen Thursday posts.

They’ll also be chatting with other contemp YA authors, bloggers, librarians, and generally blabbing about how much they love YA. And check in for contests and giveaways as they get into the groove over the coming weeks!

*The write up taken from an email sent by Contemp member, Sarah Ockler.

Speaking of contests, The Contemps are starting off with a bang giving visitors the opportunity to win a copy of all 21 books that will be released over the coming year!! To enter all you have to do is participate in the Contemps Challenge by promising to read at least 18 of The Contemps’ books over the course of the next year, which enters you for a chance to win all of those books. Winners will be announced in November, so you’ll know in advance whether you can skip the bookstore or library on your 18 picks. 🙂

To find more about how to sign up for the Challenge on the “Get Involved” page that goes live today and if you think you might sign up, you can post the Challenge participant graphic on your blog. I don’t know about you but I think this sounds like a fun challenge so I’ll definitely be participating! Heck, just looking at the authors who are part of The Contemps I know that I’d be reading most, if not all, of their books anyway – so really its a win-win. 🙂

Doesn’t that sound like fun? I can’t wait to see what The Contemps come up with as their site goes live.