New British Covers

Puffin Books will be reissuing the Percy Jackson series with a completely new look. Check out the covers. They may be tweaked slightly before they hit the bookstores, but you can get the general idea. I'd love to hear what you think. Send me an email in care of the website if you have feedback. (These new covers are only for the UK. The covers in the US will not be changed.)

In other news, Scholastic just updated the 39 Clues website with a promotional video. Check it out here.

Demigods invade Plano!

Thanks to everyone who came out on Monday night for my signing in Plano. It was quite a blowout event. The manager told me we had over 600 people, and judging from my sore signing hand, I believe him! They smuggled me in the side door, behind the bookcases, and I saw a crowd of about fifty kids sitting there waiting. I thought, "Oh, this is a nice intimate crowd." Then I realized that was only the small left wing of the crowd. I turned the corner saw the main crowd, which completely filled the rest of the store. Yikes!

I did a reading from Battle of the Labyrinth, took questions and gave out T-shirts, and then the signing began. Thanks to the people in the back, who waited so patiently, especially on a school night. We were all a little bleary-eyed toward the end of the third hour, but it was great to meet everyone.

The store staff did a super job with activities for the kids. Special kudos to Julie the community relations manager, who spearheaded the event and even dressed as Hera! She provided paper plates and markers to make Greek shields -- an easy, inexpensive craft project! We also had face-painting, and I met quite a few Cyclopes in the line, along with dozens of Annabeths and Percys and even a few Medusas.

I always get handed cool stuff as people come through the line. Thanks to Emilie, who made the Tyson picture above, and Kristena, for her portrait of Annabeth. Christopher R., in the third grade, also brought me a copy of his very first book report, which he did on the Lightning Thief.

I slept like a rock Monday night, and I hope I was coherent when I visited Greenhill School the following morning! Until next time, DFW demigods, stay alert for monsters and keep reading.

Next up for me: a return to very familiar territory. Tomorrow I'll do a public event at Saint Mary's Hall, where I used to teach, here in San Antonio. It's during the middle of the day, but it's free and open to everyone, so if you'd like to come by, please do!

Olympus in Orange County

One more event to report: I'll be visiting A Whale of a Tale Bookshoppe in Irvine, CA, on Monday, March 3 at 5 PM.  For more information, you can call the store at 949-854-8288. I look forward to visiting with the demigods of Orange County. I hope you'll come out and say hi if you're in the area! 

Demigod of the Week

Congrats to Cyber Kid 303 (the young man in the middle) who won a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt at the Heroes and Villains festival sponsored by Carl (left) and Bill (right) of the Boys Rule, Boys Read program! The festival looks like it was awesome fun. Look out for monsters, Cyber Kid 303. You are now an official demigod of the week! And thanks to the grown-up demigods Carl and Bill too. You guys do an amazing job.

The Battle of the Labyrinth: A Sneak Peak!

For each new Percy Jackson book, I've posted an audio reading from chapter one on my website a few months before publication. This year, I'm trying something new. You can now watch a short video of me doing an informal reading from The Battle of the Labyrinth, chapter one, on You Tube. It's nothing fancy -- just me at home reading the first few pages. The video was produced on my Mac. I hope you'll enjoy the sneak peak!

Raiders of the Lost ARCs

Many of my librarian friends recently returned from the ALA conference and gave me an earful. “I went by the Hyperion booth,” they told me, “and there were no ARCs for Battle of the Labyrinth! What’s up with that?”

An ARC, as any librarian or bookseller can tell you, is an advance reader copy. They are uncorrected proofs for books, printed months before the actual book is released, and typically distributed at conferences or by sales reps to book buyers, so these influential people can decide whether or not to purchase the book.

There are indeed no advance reader copies of Battle of the Labyrinth. None were printed. Why, you ask?

As a writer, I have a love/hate relationship with ARCs.

Now on the plus side, I completely get why ARCs are necessary and important. Book buyers need a chance to decide what they are going to order, and they need to make this decision months in advance. Without ARCs, it is very difficult to know whether a book is any good. This is especially true for new books and first-time authors. You can’t tell how good the product is unless you get a sample. ARCs can build buzz and word-of-mouth excitement. They are a critical marketing tool. When the Lightning Thief came out, it was my first children’s book, and it would have been crazy not to do an advance reader copy. We needed to do everything we could to get the word out. Likewise, there will be an ARC for The Maze of Bones, the first 39 Clues book, because it’s the beginning of a new series and it’s fair to let book buyers take a look in advance and decide if they think it will be a hit with their patrons.

But for Percy Jackson, as the series kept building, I found myself getting more and more annoyed about ARCs. I tried not to say anything, but as stacks of Titan’s Curse ARCs were distributed last spring, I would do school events and try to build up excitement and anticipation for the upcoming book’s release. Often I would hear: “Oh, we’ve already read it. Our librarian brought it back from ____ (xyz conference) three months ago and there’s a waiting list fifty kids long.” I really gritted my teeth every time I heard this, and I heard it a lot.

Now to be clear, it’s not that I think I was losing sales. It’s not a money thing at all. A lot of people who read the book in ARC format went right out and bought the book when it was published. The numbers made that clear. And I certainly don't blame librarians for wanting to share the book with their kids, because getting kids excited about reading is every librarian's goal.

What bothers me is giving away the story before it is time. Last spring at a publisher dinner, I was talking with Mo Willems, who said something that’s stuck with me ever since. He said when he does a school event, he always stays out of sight until the kids are seated and he is introduced – whether he has to stand behind a sheet curtain or out in the hallway or whatever – so he can make a big entrance. Presenting is theater, he said, whether it’s in a kindergarten classroom or a packed auditorium. If he was standing around as the kids came in, all the magic would go out of the show.

He’s so right. And books are theater, too. I love having a story full of secrets that will not be revealed until the book is published. I love keeping people in suspense. I am so looking forward to May 6, when Battle of the Labyrinth comes out, because that is my ‘big entrance.’ An ARC would take all the magic out of that. There would be nothing special about the book’s release if the plot was already known by thousands of kids and librarians months in advance. To me, it’s like preparing for a big play and having half the audience milling around backstage hours before the show starts. It’s like planning a party for your friends on Friday and having everyone show up to your house on Tuesday. I love seeing you guys – but not yet! It’s not time!

Besides, at this point, people know the series. We don’t need to do ARCs. If you liked the first three books, you have a fairly good idea what to expect with Battle of the Labyrinth. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll like it. We get more attention and build more excitement keeping people in suspense than we would by printing ARCs.

So no, there are no ARCs for Battle of the Labyrinth. You can blame me. Everyone will have to find out the answers about Percy’s next adventure at the same time! And I couldn’t be happier. That’s me standing behind the sheet curtain in the corner, waiting to jump out on May 6 and yell ta-da!

Demigod of the Week

Thanks to Thomas (9) from Plymouth, England for the nice letter! He also sent me the picture above showing him in his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Thomas asks if I have any hints about the fourth book. Well, Thomas, just for you, look up empousai from Greek mythology -- the Ancient Greek version of vampires. That's all I'll say for now, but in a week or two, I will post a reading from Battle of the Labyrinth on my website. In the meantime, you are demigod of the week!

A Shout-out to Utah

Late-breaking news: I've been invited to do a public signing in Utah while I'm there for a school visit. I'll be at Barnes & Noble, 330 East 1300 South, Orem, UT on Monday, February 4 at 7 PM. The festivities will start at 6 PM with Greek mythology fun. I'll do a sneak-peak reading from Battle of the Labyrinth at 7 PM, followed by quiz game craziness, T-shirt giveways, audience Q&A, and of course a book signing. For more information, you can contact the store at (801)-224-3526.

I get quite a few emails from kids in Utah asking if I'm ever going to come to their state. This is my first time, and I'm excited! I don't know when I'll get a chance to come back, so if you're anywhere close to Orem, please drop by and say hi!

From the Mailbag

With the holidays officially behind me, I sat down yesterday at my desk, determined to respond to the pile of fan letters that arrived just before Christmas. I was at it for a few hours and feeling very proud of myself, about to see light at the end of the tunnel,when the UPS man rang the doorbell. You can guess what he brought me: another huge pile of fan letters! Becky and I couldn't do much but laugh. What a wonderful problem to have, after all. And the letters are always so much fun to read.

Some of the highlights from the latest batch: Brayden from Kent, Washington sent me the above picture of Luke challenging Percy aboard the Princess Andromeda. Serena from San Diego, CA sent me three "horrible haiku for Apollo," including this beautiful specimen:

Chill, ax my just sis,

it's the truth, you're uptight, so

Come on and download your mind.

I'm sure Apollo would approve!

Ian, a musical virtuoso from Placitas, New Mexico, sent me a CD of an original composition he wrote. He imagines it as music for The Lightning Thief movie. Thanks, Ian! 

Ryan from Scottsdale, Arizona sent me a project he did for school. He wrote a whole collection of Greek-style epic poetry retelling the story of the Percy Jackson series. The poetry was excellent, though Ryan bemoaned the fact that he only got a B because his glossary didn't follow the teacher's guidelines. If it's any consolation, Ryan, that's exactly the sort of thing I would've done in school. My teacher's remarks were always along the lines of: "Great ideas. Did not follow directions." Don't feel too bad!

I got letters from every state, including Hawaii and Alaska. My international mail is starting to get so interesting Becky and the kids may start a stamp collection. Thanks to Talia from Hong Kong, Guy from Milan, Alexa from Abu Dhabi, and of course the many young readers from Great Britain and Canada who continue to write. It does take a while for mail to get to me. A lot of the letters that just got here yesterday are dated October! So if you wrote me and haven't heard back, don't despair yet. I can't promise, but I do try my best to respond to almost everyone. 

Thanks also to all the teachers, librarians and parent volunteers who contacted me just after New Year's about school visits for 08-09. The calendar filled up within twenty-four hours, which was even faster than I'd anticipated. Sorry if I wasn't able to book a visit to your school next year, but hopefully I'll do a public event somewhere near your area when Battle of the Labyrinth comes out. The details of the tour won't be available until probably March, but as soon as I know anything, I'll put it on the web calendar. 

And now, back to writing letters!

Demigod of the Week

So there I was, going through email from the webmaster, when I came across the subject line, "Percy Jackson word problems." My first reaction was to groan. No doubt this was an email from someone who wanted to nitpick grammatical mistakes in The Lightning Thief. I almost didn't read the email, but I opened it up, only to find the most wonderful fan letter from Bianca, a third-grader, who had made up some math word problems based on the Percy Jackson series with her mom. What a great idea to mix English and math! Bianca gave me permission to share these with other readers, so the word problems are posted here. Bianca also told me that The Battle of the Labyrinth comes out on her birthday, May 6. That's a good omen for sure. Thanks for your email, Bianca. You are the demigod of the week!