See Brandon Sandersin, James Dashner and Christopher Paolini talk in NYC - or online

If you're in New York City, there's an awesome YA author event coming up this Saturday.  Here are the details from the email I got:

Random House Children’s Books is pleased to announce that three of the biggest name authors in science fiction and fantasy are coming together for an afternoon panel hosted by the 92nd Street Y in New York City on November 16th. James Dashner (The Eye of Minds), Christopher Paolini (Eragon: 10th Anniversary Edition), and Brandon Sanderson (Steelheart) will entertain their fans via an interactive panel discussion moderated by Alexander Zalben of MTV News. One of the first YA events that the 92nd Street Y has hosted, the panel will be livestreamed to viewers across the globe who won’t be able to make it to the New York area to see the event in person. The link for the livestream will be found here: http://92yondemand.org/livecast/

Dashner, Paolini, and Sanderson are all forces to be reckoned with in the children’s literature world. Dashner, best known for his Maze Runner series, has sold over 2.4 million copies of his books in North America alone. Fall 2014 will see the feature film debut of The Maze Runner (20th Century Fox). With a loyal fanbase that has dubbed itself the “Dashner Army” (#DashnerArmy) as well as the publication of The Eye of Minds, the first book in his new Mortality Doctrine series, Dashner continues to gain in popularity amongst both teenagers and adults.
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To purchase tickets to this one-of-a-kind event, visit http://www.92y.org/Event/Paolini-Dashner-Sanderson.aspx. A discounted ticket price is offered to attendees under 35 years of age. The authors’ newest titles—Eragon: 10th Anniversary Edition, Steelheart, and The Eye of Minds—will be available for purchase, and to be signed by the authors, at the event.

Here are all the important details for those who wish to attend in person:

Date: Sat, Nov 16, 2013, 3 pm
Location: Lexington Avenue at 92nd St
Venue: Buttenwieser Hall
Price: from $22.00

And remember, the free live webcast will be available here.

Paolini's Inheritance Series gets Enhanced Ebook Treatment

With ebooks becoming more popular, publishers seem to be playing more with the idea of enhanced ebooks, with added content (videos, music, pictures, etc.).  October will see the release of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Series (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance) in a deluxe enhanced ebook edition with videos.  Details from their press release below:

The INHERITANCE DELUXE Enhanced Ebook with Video (On sale October 23, 2012 / $13.99) includes all the features of the hardcover Deluxe, plus 17 exclusive videos that take readers behind the scenes with Christopher Paolini for a unique reading experience, as he shares stories and secrets about Inheritance. Videos are embedded throughout the text, allowing readers to watch Paolini’s commentary on scenes as they unfold. He touches on topics and characters ranging from the Capture of Nasuada, the Siege of Urû’baen, the Fall of Galbatorix, Angela the Herbalist, and his thoughts on returning to the world of Alagaësia in the future.

In addition to the full text of Inheritance, the Deluxe Edition includes never-before-seen artwork by Christopher Paolini, a letter from Paolini to fans reflecting on the series, and a new scene within the text.

The all-new Enhanced Ebook with Video follows the June announcement of the Inheritance Deluxe (available in print and ebook). The new releases follow the November 8, 2011, publication of Inheritance, the fourth and final installment of the #1 bestselling Inheritance cycle, which achieved the highest first-day sale in 2011 of any fiction or nonfiction, adult or children’s title published in the U.S. and Canada, selling a staggering 489,500 copies in print, digital, and audio formats.

Watch Paolini’s introduction for a sneak peek of the exclusive videos here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AEDcs2IZ1Q&feature=youtu.be

For more information, check out the author's website.

Genre News

Here are some tidbits of news that I've been notified of and haven't had time to post until now.

Angry Robot Books announces its new YA imprint Strange Chemistry!

Angry Robot, the award-winning publisher of SF, F and WTF are pleased to announce their newest venture – a sister imprint, Strange Chemistry, which will publish Young Adult genre fiction.

The imprint will launch in September 2012, with five titles appearing before the end of that year, before settling down to one book each month. Strange Chemistry will follow AR’s strategy of co-publishing its books simultaneously in the US and UK, in both eBook and paperback formats. Subject matter will include fantasy, science fiction, supernatural and horror, and as with Angry Robot the lines between those genres are likely to be very blurry at times.

Running the imprint will be Amanda Rutter, until recently best known as the tireless blogger behind genre review site, Floor-to-Ceiling Books. She takes up her position in Angry Robot’s headquarters in Nottingham on December 12th.

I'm stoked.  Angry Robot's been publishing some great stuff, so I'm glad to see them turn their sights on YA.

Need a gift for a bibliophile?  Gone Reading has a fun line of products (t-shirts, mugs, aprons, bags, etc.) and "has pledged 100% of company profits in perpetuity to fund reading libraries and other literacy projects in the developing world".  They've got a number of cute images with text, like these:

 

From a press release that's a bit old now, but still interesting:

Max Brooks’ novel, WORLD WAR Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, published by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, has now sold more than 1 million copies in print and digital formats combined. The milestone was announced today by Tina Pohlman, VP, Publisher, Trade Paperbacks, Crown Publishing Group.

Paramount Pictures will be releasing the film WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt on December 21, 2012.

I'm not really a fan of zombie books, but I thought WORLD WAR Z was fabulous.  If you haven't read it yet, you should.  :)

Speaking of top sales, 

INHERITANCE, the fourth and final installment in Christopher Paolini’s #1 bestselling Inheritance cycle, has achieved the highest first-day sale in 2011 of any fiction or non-fiction, adult or children’s  title published this year in the U.S. and Canada, it was announced today by Chip Gibson, President & Publisher, Random House Children’s Books. The conclusion to Paolini’s epic saga went on sale in North America on Tuesday, November 8th, and sold a staggering 489,500 copies in print, digital, and audio formats.  Hardcovers dominated the opening-day sell-through for INHERITANCE, with an 83/17% print to digital split.

 

“This is both a thrilling and gratifying end to a wonderful journey that began more than a decade ago,” said Paolini. “I could have never imagined that the Inheritance cycle would become what it has, and I’m grateful to the fans for their continued support and enthusiasm. I look forward to seeing them in person on my tour this month, but most of all, I hope they enjoy the book!”

Paolini has started his tour for the book, so if you're in the states, check out his tour schedule.