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.

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."

The Book Expo of America - (Adam)

For all of you that are going to BEA 2010, I am incredibly jealous. For one, I love books. Just the idea of being around all of those dust jackets and librarians makes my heart go a flutter. Two, I love sneak peeks. It really doesn't matter what I get to look at early but the fact that only a rarefied group of people have laid eyes on the object in question makes said item 10 times more interesting. (I have been known to keep the Entertainment Weekly Summer Preview issue for many years after the films within it have hit basic cable. I just walked by the 1998 Summer Preview sitting on a shelf in my garage.)

So, going to the BEA and getting sneak peeks at the novels that will be lining the shelves of my neighborhood bookstore would be a thrill any year. This year, however, it's different.

Harpercollins Children will be giving out free copies of "The Familiars" :)

In my head, it's all very exciting to witness. The civility of the convention completely breaks down when a young editorial assistant calls out from Booth 3341, "Get your Familiars ARCs here!" What follows is pandemonium akin to the stands of an English Soccer Stadium after a goal. Third grade teachers elbow bloggers in the chest to get their hands on the 368 pages of animals and magic. Maybe, even a eager mom gets trampled in the scrum. (By no means do I condone violence, far from it. But the spirit and the passion of the audience is what I'm trying to capture here.)

In reality, I'm sure the ARC distribution will be a much more peaceful affair. But I will be curious to get the real scoop on how it goes. So if you're there, blog, send me pictures, tweet, and get your copies of the book.

Just be careful... it could get dangerous.

The Familiars website goes live

http://www.thefamiliars.com/

Be the first to check it out! And please let us know what you think.

The Familiars Movie - Visual Development

For those of you following the Familiars blog, we thought you might be interested not only in the adventures of the book getting released, but also in the adaptation of the book into a movie. We have been writing the screenplay for the Familiars since last fall, working with producer/director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) and Sony Animation (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) to turn our novel into a 3D animated film. And recently, as the script continues to evolve, an amazing team of artists at Sony has begun the visual development of the movie. Visual Development starts with the script in exploring all the visual aspects of the film including the overall scale and canvas of the story, time and era of the film, mood of the settings, the look of the characters, right into the tone and drama of each scene. It assists all collaborators in the process in seeing and understanding the vision for the film. It also means walls and walls covered with paintings of locations, character designs, and scenes straight out of the script brought to mind-blowing life! We would love to share some of this artwork with you, but Sony Animation is keeping it guarded under lock and key. So you'll just have to take our word for it: it's freakin' awesome!

Please let us know what you would like us to focus on? What burning questions do you have about the process of turning a book into a film? An animated film?

Over the next few weeks and months, we'll take you inside the halls of Sony and share with you the ups, downs, twists, and turns as we experience them.

Big-Name Celebrity Blurbathon

Now that THE FAMILIARS is edited and ready to go to galleys, you'd think all that would be left for us to do is put the champagne on ice and start the countdown to hitting bookstores. But alas, our adventure has only just begun. Yes, it turns out writing the book is only a small part of being an author. There's also marketing, promoting, and selling your book! That means blogging, vlogging, tweeting, interviews, pre-sales conferences, and getting blurbs.

Yes, blurbs. The blurb, or endorsement, is a brief promotional statement found on the book jacket. Preferably, it is not written by the author's friends or parents. A fellow respected author who writes in your book's genre can be of great value. (Full disclosure: we already have two fantastic, wonderful author endorsements, from two of our personal favorite YA authors -- Michael Buckley, author of the exceedingly clever fairy tale detective series "The Sisters Grimm" and the new irreverent series "Nerds," and Roderick Gordon, co-author of the compellingly readable action-adventure series "Tunnels.")

But a Big-Name Celebrity blurb can, in the words of book marketing guru John Kremer, "Shoot Your Book To The Top Of The Best-Seller Lists & Sell More Copies Than You Ever Thought Possible!"

So we have decided to seek out a Big-Name Celebrity to endorse THE FAMILIARS. According to trusted on-line database ContactAnyCelebrity.com, "Always remember the 'Three Ps' for getting celebrity testimonial and endorsements for your books: Be Polite, Be Persistent, and Be Patient!"

Which brings us to the Big-Name Celebrity Blurbathon. We will be seeking a laudatory endorsement of a famous person. But not just any famous person. No, a famous person who loves animals.

Here are the 10 Big-Names will be pursuing:

10. Alyssa Milano, best known as Samantha on "Who's the Boss?" and more recently as Phoebe on "Charmed," is a vegetarian and supporter of PETA. Her dogs' names are Lucy, Ripely, Stella, and Hugo, and she has four cats named Simon, Lucy, Daisy and Miles.

9. Denise Richards, E reality star and former Bond girl, is involved with a charity called Much Love that rescues animals and finds them loving homes. She has three cats (Max, Billy, and Stan), 11 doggies (Tina, Hank, Wally, Luke, Scarlet, Lily, Emma, Olivia, Sugar, George, and Lucy), and two oinkers (Charlotte and Bert)!

8. Pink is a passionate campaigner for PETA, and once sent a letter to Prince William Windsor criticizing him for fox hunting and to Queen Elizabeth II protesting the use of real fur in bearskins of the Honourable Artillery Company and the Foot Guards.

7. Alicia Silverstone, voted sexiest female vegetarian in 2004, is an animal rights activist and PETA supporter. During the filming of Clueless (1995), she adopted a raggedy old mutt, whom she found wandering the streets of Los Angeles. She named him "Samson," and kept him on the set.

6. Paris Hilton, reality star and socialite, is not only an animal lover, but also an animal activist. When she viewed a video of an animal being brutally killed for fur, she promised to never wear real fur again.

5. Pamela Anderson, Baywatch babe and worldwide sex symbol, is a vegetarian, an advocate for animal rights, and an active member of PETA, taking part in several campaigns for animal rights. She has also campaigned against Kentucky Fried Chicken and seal hunting in Canada.

4. Jessica Simpson, singer and reality star, has a dog named Daisy.

3. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore. Dog lover Ashton famously once said, "I pee outside my house in my yard. I usually start my day off by taking my dogs out. While they go, I go."

2. Ellen DeGeneres has been praised by The Humane Society for her dedication to promoting key animal rights issues.

1. Oprah Winfrey is a dog owner and 2008 PETA Person of the Year. And she's Oprah.

THE FAMILIARS is an animal empowerment story. These celebrity animal rights activists and animal lovers seem like ideal candidates for our Big-Name Celebrity Blurb. We're going to chronicle our quest for a celebrity endorsement, but also call upon all of you out in the blogosphere and twitterverse for help as well. Please help with posts and tweets and any direct contact with these celebs that might aid our cause!

Today, we begin with Alyssa Milano. Wish us luck.

FamiliarMadness Champion - Shadowfax

It was an epic familiar showdown, with only two votes separating Shadowfax and Hedwig. But in the end, Shadowfax was the last animal companion standing, crowned champion. Now Gandalf's loyal steed will not only be known as the Lord of all Horses, but the Lord of all Familiars.

Congratulations.