Ally Condie's Blog, page 14

paperback cover, t-shirts, writing conference

The paperback cover for MATCHED is now online and it is lovely:

I wondered what the awesome Penguin designers would do with the paperback cover because the original is so beautiful. But, as always, they are amazing–they managed to do something that keeps the wonderful feel of the hardcover but also feels fresh with the additional green. It's just lovely. The paperback will be released on September 20, 2011–just a little over a month before CROSSED comes out!

The Utah Festival of Books this weekend was fantastic. A HUGE thank-you to all of you who came out and waited in line. Trust me, I have had years of signings with no line and one or two people total coming through, so this made my day! And I even had my first (to my knowledge) fan-made MATCHED t-shirts! If you cute gals are reading this post, will you e-mail me a picture? I forgot my camera (as always!) and would love to post a pic with you in it.

Wednesday is the last day to sign up for the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference. I've been to this conference the last two years and this year I get to give the keynote address. It's such a wonderful conference. Please come!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a summer update and a giveaway. See you soon!

a few answers about crossed

First, a reminder about the signing this Saturday! Hope to see you there!

I've also responded to all the comments in the last post. I know I don't do this every time, and I wish I could, but I do try to pop in and respond on posts every now and then.

And now, on to the questions–I am so thrilled that people are excited about the book. Hopefully this will help with some of the e-mails I haven't yet had a chance to answer individually. There have been some common themes running through them lately so I thought this might be easier/faster…

What is the release date for CROSSED?

November 1, 2011. I can't wait!

Why so long? Can't you write any faster?

No, I really can't. A book a year is the right pace for me. It takes me time to get the story right. I am just wired that way. And it's also pretty common for books in a series to come out a year apart.

Will you be touring to promote CROSSED?

I believe so. I don't yet know where I'll be going. But I will update the Events page as soon as I know more. And, speaking of the Events page, I just added the info about the Smart Chicks 2011 Tour. I get to be part of it this year–I'll be at the stop in Portland, Oregon on September 29th! I can't wait.

What are the songs on the CROSSED playlist?

I'll reveal more as the time gets closer, but so far I've mentioned that Empty by Ray La Montagne, Dustland Fairytale by The Killers, and In for the Kill by La Roux are songs that I listened to a lot while writing CROSSED. And another one I listened to over and over and OVER again while writing this book was a beautiful song called Edwin's Tale-1862, which is sung by Peter Breinholt.

Is the girl in the bubble on this book the same model as the first book?

Yes, she is. And can I just say again how much I love the cover?

So far, the books have been the colors of the tablets (green, blue). Is this intentional?

Yes, it is.

The banner/site has been updated to blue! Is it to match the cover of CROSSED?

Yes! The designer who put together the green banner did the update. Her name is Rachel Coleman and everything she does is beautiful.

How can I get an ARC?

An ARC (Advance Reading Copy) is an early reading copy of the book, one that the publisher sends out to generate buzz. They usually send these books to reviewers and others who have forums to talk about books. If you write reviews for a newspaper or magazine, you are a librarian or teacher, etc., you are more likely to receive an ARC because you'll be at some of the conferences where publishers promote books (BEA, ALA, etc.).The publisher makes the call as to who receives early copies of books. Remember, demanding ARCs is never the way to go. Politeness and professionalism are key when trying to establish yourself as someone the publisher wants to work with!

Can't you send me an ARC?

I wish I could! The truth is that I will receive a very small number of ARCs. By the time I keep one and give a few to those who helped me write the book, I don't have any more to send. But. Guess what. I do have two ARCs right now. One I am selfishly keeping for myself. And the other I will be giving away on the blog next week. So stay tuned…

adventures at BEA

This is a list of great things that happened at BEA 2011, in no particular order, because they were all awesome:



1. I met Sarah Dessen (I stole this photo from her). You guys, she was SO nice, and so pretty, and also so homesick for her little girl but so happy to be at BEA (a feeling to which I could completely relate). I was very thrilled to have the chance to talk with her and completely forgot to tell her that my favorite book of hers (so far!) was JUST LISTEN. I hope I get to see her again, but I feel pretty darn lucky to have seen her once!

2. I had my first glimpse of the ARCs of CROSSED. I got teary. It's a real book. A real book that is dear to me for so many reasons. Oh, how I hope you all love it.

3. There was a crazy long line for the ARCs at BEA. We even got a mention in this article in Publishers Weekly. And Penguin managed the line so well and kept people moving through so that we didn't have people stuck waiting for hours and missing other things. It is thrilling to me that people are invested in Cassia's journey and wanting to know what's next.

4. My lovely, lovely editor took me to lunch at Serendipity, the most adorable place, and then we had frozen hot chocolate. And it was so, so nice to talk with someone so kind and intelligent over lunch like adults. I am really lucky to work with my editor. More proof? We also went to Dylan's Candy Bar where I was able to get lots of extremely exciting gummy items for my kids–like gummy army men and gummy penguins–so that they weren't mad at me anymore for leaving them. Do I look like a girl who has died and gone to heaven or what?

5. I got to be on an awesome panel with Scott Westerfeld, James Dashner, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Kate, and Ellen Hopkins. They were each just as cool as you'd hope they would be. And also just as funny and fun as you would expect.

6. I slept through the night for three straight nights. I don't know how to overestimate the wonderfulness of this.

It's good to be back, though. And there are many excellent bookish events going on in Utah this summer. This Saturday (June 4th) I'll be signing from 2-4 p.m. at BYU in Provo for the Utah Book Festival (click on the Events page for more information). And, if you haven't signed up yet for Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers, you can still register for the afternoon sessions! I'll be giving the keynote address on Thursday, June 16th, and I'm very excited.

Okay. Back to work. I'll see you here on Thursday–and I'll answer some of the FAQ I'm getting about CROSSED.

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

bea 2011

photo (c) Julie Strauss-Gabel Photography

Don't these books look happy together? I think they do. Many thanks to my editor for sending me this picture.

I'm at BEA in New York City this week, promoting CROSSED. While I'm here, I'm doing two awesome events on Wednesday, the 25th. The first is a signing in the Penguin booth, where we'll have copies of CROSSED from 10-11 a.m. only. The second event is a YA Panel at the Mulberry Library in Soho. My fellow panelists will be Maureen Johnson, Scott Westerfeld, James Dashner, Lauren Kate, and Ellen Hopkins. This seems too good to be true but I've been assured by reliable sources that, in fact, it is actually true. Click on the Events page for more details.

CROSSED is an ARC* now. Which feels so wonderful. I am so happy about this book. I've talked about my dad's favorite thing I've ever written (Being Sixteen) and my husband's (the short story in ENTHRALLED). And CROSSED–this book is my favorite thing I've ever written. This story was very, very important to me to get right, and thanks to my editor and agent and awesome longtime readers, I feel that I did. That's a good feeling. I feel like writing this book has been like running a marathon (you knew a running comparison was inevitable) and that we've crossed (pun intended!) the finish line completely spent and happy because we've given it all. No regrets.

Now I'm working on Book 3, and I'm so excited about it too. This writing gig really is a wonderful thing.

And, last but not least, the winner of the ARC of ENTHRALLED is commenter melissa @ 1lbr! Congrats, Melissa! And many thanks to all of you who entered. You all had very awesome reasons and I wish I had enough copies to send to everyone.

* ARC stands for Advance Reading Copy, which are the copies of books that publishers print up before the "real" hardcover book. The ARC gets sent out to book reviewers, etc. a few months early to generate buzz. Before anyone asks, I actually don't have any ARCs of CROSSED yet to distribute myself. But if I do get any extras, I will be sure to have a giveaway here on the blog. So stay tuned.

enthralled giveaway!

I know I'm not posting on my usual T/Th schedule but…I had to post today because I received a few lovely ARCs of ENTHRALLED (the short story anthology of which I am honored to be a part). I was supposed to be saving my copy to read on my trip to BEA/NYC next week. But I couldn't help myself. I read the stories by Carrie Ryan, Melissa Marr, Kelley Armstrong, Kami Garcia, and Margaret Stohl. And I can't wait to read the ones by Mary Pearson, Jeri Smith-Ready, Rachel Caine, and everyone else. And I can't wait to give my husband my copy when I'm finished because it has my short story printed up and shiny, and it's his favorite thing that I've ever written.

I'm still giddy that I have the chance to be part of this anthology, and also that I have the opportunity to be a part of the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour 2.0 with many of these amazing authors. I'll be on the Portland, Oregon stop of the tour on September 29th, and I can't wait. Can't. Wait.

So, to share the excitement, I'm giving a copy away! The rules are simple. You can enter by being a follower (I'll enter you automatically) and by leaving a comment here. Only one comment per person, please, and I need you to leave me a way to contact you. And, in the comment, I need you to tell my why YOU need this copy of ENTHRALLED. You can enter until midnight MST Saturday, May 22, and I'll announce the winner next Tuesday, the 25th. Sound good?

Go!

guest post on mtv.com's hollywood crush blog

I know I said I was taking a blog break, but I couldn't resist the chance to be part of Dystopian Week over at the Hollywood Crush blog at MTV.com. My post is on "Why Dystopian Novels Rock" and you can find it here.

Many thanks to Hollywood Crush for having me!

blog break

Hi all! Just wanted to let you know I'm taking a bit of a blog break for the next week or two. All is well but all is busy.

Hope you are all having a wonderful spring so far! And reading/writing lots of good books!

the winner is…

Stephanie, who suggested Ice Ice Baby and Can't Touch This for road trip songs!

Congrats, Stephanie! E-mail me your mailing address and I will send you this copy of Back When You Were Easier to Love ASAP!

And happy release day one more time to Emily Wing Smith. I so wish I could have been at the launch party but I was in LA at the YA Smackdown. I hear the Barely Manilows performance at the party was amazing…

ya smackdown: team dystopia

TEAM DYSTOPIA.

Party like it's 1984.

You may have heard a little about the YA Smackdown Event taking place TOMORROW in California.

You may have read Gayle Forman (Team Contemporary)'s blog post on the subject here.

Or Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl (Team Paranormal's) post here.

And, after reading both their posts, I have come to several conclusions.*

First, we'll begin with Team Contemporary, since Gayle was the first to issue the smackdown. Gayle called me out on, among other things, taking the easy way out by not setting my novel in Detroit and having my Society be too dreamy (food delivered right to the people, etc.). She also asked why I had to have the Society to keep Ky and Cassia apart–wouldn't a case of bad acne suffice to create drama?

This, from the author of If I Stay and Where She Went, both of which starred a hot boy who did not have a single zit. And she did not hesitate to rip out our hearts and throw them against the wall and then, like her characters, she wove music throughout the entire experience (with her gorgeous, poetic writing) so that we came back for more in the second book. Really, Gayle? I could take your point about keeping it real but how real is Adam? (Never mind that nice guys are everywhere in the world; let's pretend that's not true). My challenge to you is: Write a Book Three that keeps it super real. Have Adam have crazy acne and also be a nose picker. Are you woman enough?

And Gayle and Margie, on their blog, accused me of not figuring out that paranormal is the place to be. Not only did they do this, they also said I did not go to BYU. Home of the Jimmer.

Jimmer is mad at you, Kami and Margie. Very, very mad. Please do not come back to this state unless you are indeed prepared to make restitution in the form of funeral potatoes.

Not only did I go to BYU, I am firmly from Utah, born and raised. (Except for those five years living in upstate NY, where I first became aware of Jimmer, and a brief stint in London, which was amazing but had very little basketball.) So there, Margie and Kami!

And how dare you challenge me, you who took a certain Utah small town and turned it into Gatlin? I know your roots. They are dangling all over the place. I am on to you–you take scenes and characters and make them so achingly real and lovable and hateable that we recognize them even when swirled in the drama of paranormal-ness. And you do it all with a magical spell of dark, beautiful writing pierced with shafts of light, like golden raisins in one of those carrot salads also served at funerals.

So, it is ON, ladies. I will see you tomorrow, Thursday, at Diesel Books in Brentwood, California. At high noon. Or, actually, 7 p.m.

*Conclusions not scientific, or really even relevant. It should also be noted that the smackdown is all firmly tongue-in-cheek, as I love contemporary and paranormal novels just as much as I love dystopian novels. Heck, I even wrote contemporary novels for years! Although, I did just use the word "heck," so perhaps that is why my career doing so has come to a temporary halt.

giveaway: back when you were easier to love

Happy Tuesday! I've responded to all the comments in the last two posts–many thanks for all your feedback. And that Logan event last week was crazy (over 1,000 people came!). I'm so grateful to all who came and to my fellow authors for including me in such an awesome event.

And…remember this book? This clever, fun, bittersweet, thoughtful novel that I posted about earlier this month?

Here is how you can win Back When You Were Easier to Love, written by the wonderful and lovely Emily Wing Smith:

You leave a comment with your favorite road trip song of all time (there is a fantastic road trip in Emily's book and I won't say any more for fear of being too spoilery). Also, please leave a way for me to contact you.

I will pick the winner at midnight, MST, on Emily's release date (April 28th). That means you have less than two days to enter! (Since it's kind of Wednesday night/Thursday morning…you know what I mean.)

Can't wait to get all of your song suggestions, and CONGRATULATIONS again to Emily!!