Create Your Own Familiar

We've been traveling around the country visiting schools and at each one the students have created their own Familiar Story.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

ARCs on Ebay

I just got a google alert today for The Familiars. Excited, I clicked on the link, hoping to find a new press blurb in Publisher's Weekly or a favorable mention in someone's blog. To my dismay, I was directed to Ebay to find that someone had placed an ARC of The Familiars on the site for the low bargain price of $5. Selling a proof of a book that they no doubt received for free.

Click here to see the book on Ebay.

With a quick search I came to see that this is an ongoing issue for authors and the publishing community. Here is a great blog entry on sharonlovesbookandcats talking about how we can bust arc ebayers and a nice blog entry on wordforteens debating the problem.

What do you all think about people putting author's pre-published advanced reader copies of their books up for sale on Ebay? And what can we do to put a stop to this?

Friday, June 18, 2010

Familiars Giveaway - Enter to Win!

We're giving away 2 signed copies of THE FAMILIARS!!!

Enter to Win

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Kidlit Book Feud

Hatfields-McCoys. Yankees-Red Sox. Lauren Conrad-Spencer Pratt.



Blood feuds. Sports Feuds. Celebrity Feuds.



And now, the first ever kidlit book feud! The Familiars has called out Hilary Wagner's Nightshade City, coming in October. According to Rick Riordin, “Fans of Redwall and the Warriors series will love this heroic tale of good versus evil in a subterranean society of rats."

Well, I got news for you, rats of Nightshade City. The Familiars are coming for you. It's magical, spellcasting animal companions vs cheese-eating, dumpster-diving, disease-spreading rodents. We're throwing down the gauntlet. It's on!

Fantasy animal adventure series will have to make room on the bookshelves for two more titles.









What's your favorite animal book series?

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Photos from our Pre-Pub Tour

One of the highlights of our trip was meeting some of early readers of "The Familiars."

In Naperville, Andrew and I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with students, teachers and librarians. Becky Anderson was a wonderful host and we send her the biggest thanks!





As special as it may have been for these third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh graders to hang out with us, it was even more awesome for Andrew and I.




One of the sweetest parts of the whole experience was that Becky asked the children to sign the ARCS to us with messages about what "The Familars" meant to them.

We'll keep them on our shelves always!

The Familiars - Worldwide

Thought we'd share some other cool news about The Familiars! Even though the book will not be released until September 7, 2010, foreign countries are already scooping up international rights to the series.

So far, The Familiars will be translated for:

England
Germany
Holland
Japan
Portugal
Brazil
Czechoslovakia
Bulgaria

And we're in negotiations with many more.

Can't wait for the world tour.

Oh, and we'll be sharing an exclusive peek at the UK cover soon, so stay tuned.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

HarperCollins Author Video - Meet the Authors

Another clip is up on youtube! This one is a brief introduction of The Familiars by the authors (Adam and Andrew).

Clink here to watch

Friday, June 11, 2010

First Broadcast Interview

Unless you live in Naperville, Illinois, you most likely didn't catch our first network appearance promoting The Familiars. Here's a link to the video on Youtube for your viewing pleasure. Thank you Becky Anderson for the opportunity to join you on Author's Revealed.

Click here for the video!

This weekend, we'll have photos that we took during the pre-pub tour up on the blog.

And if you took pictures of our book tour, please send them to thefamiliarsbook@gmail.com. We love the memories!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Familiars Pre-Pub Tour: Day Three

So day three of the pre-pub tour has come to an end. We lost most of the day to travel, but still got in a terrific dinner with several independent Southern California booksellers. Here are a few of the highlights from our trip to LA.


Read All About It



La La Land



Taking Out The Competition



Well, thanks for stopping by the blog! Hope you enjoyed a look inside our very first book tour!

Special thanks to our awesome HarperCollins publicist, Elyse Marshall, for making the trip so smooth for us. And to all the great booksellers, thank you for being such fantastic hosts!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Familiars Pre-Pub Tour: Day Two

Hi again! Thanks for watching our Adventures in Booktouring. Here are some highlights of our journey from San Francisco to Naperville, Illinois.

On the Streets of San Francisco



The Familiars is finding any way to make it on the news



Expanding our Audience



We had a bumpy flight



An unforgettable experience at Anderson's Bookstore



We have just one more day of our pre-pub tour left, back in Los Angeles! Who knows what kind of mischief we'll be getting into there :) Hope this is helping you get a little more familiar with The Familiars (and us!).

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Familiars Pre-Pub Tour: Day One

Hey everyone!

Excited to share with you our adventures as we travel around the country meeting booksellers, librarians, and teachers talking about THE FAMILIARS before its September release. Check out footage from our first day on the road.

Andrew is confused about what exactly a pub tour is:



Coming to an airport bookstore near you:





All buckled in for the flight:




Adam makes a special in-flight announcement:




Leaving our mark at Hicklebees:

!


Be sure to check in all week as we continue on to San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

The Familiars named one of hottest children's titles for fall in Publisher's Weekly

Hey everybody! Just saw Publishers Weekly's Kids' Bookshelf's post-BEA roundup of the hottest children's and YA titles for fall. Click here to see the article!

Was psyched to see that The Familiars made the cut!

"HarperCollins has two big new projects in the works, both with film deals in place: first in a middle-grade series, The Familiars (Sept.) by screenwriters Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson is to be produced by Sam Raimi and Sony Animation; and I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (pseudonymously co-written by James Frey), which Michael Bay is producing for DreamWorks, with D.J. Caruso directing."