Jennifer A. Nielsen's Blog, page 39
May 31, 2012
COVER AND TITLE REVEAL…IN HALF
Okay, so let’s acknowledge a quirky little fun fact about publishing. Which is this: publishers sometimes change their minds. Funny, right? Not ha-ha funny, I know, but “I left a comment, now where’s my prize” sort of funny.
No worries. I’m still doing the giveaway, but I have to change the terms a little. Because yesterday afternoon I got a note from my wonderful publicist and editor (seriously, I love them both) asking me to hold off for a little while. So unfortunately, I can’t release that yet. My sincere apologies to all of you.
I do have permission to still release the title though – so to celebrate that, all comments below are eligible to win, and as before, all Tweets and Facebook posts continue to count as extra entries.
And as before, this contest ends on Friday, so please Tweet and Facebook the title of Book 2 for further extra entries to win a signed copy of THE FALSE PRINCE, and a grand prize of a donated Skype visit to the group of your choice.
So, let’s get to the title reveal (drum roll sounds off in your head). The second book of the Ascendance trilogy will be called:
THE RUNAWAY KING
Feel free to speculate on plot, and on the further adventures of your favorite characters. I’m allowed to say one thing only about the plot, which is this: For Sage, it gets worse.
Finally, as a favor to those who have not yet read Book 1, I’m asking you to please check your comments, tweets, and status updates for spoilers. I LOVE hearing chatter and answering questions about this series, but it’s so easy to accidentally reveal crucial pieces of that plot. Out of respect to other readers, please be careful.
The cover reveal is coming soon – I promise, along with jacket copy and a firm release date (all I know now is sometime in spring 2013).
I will announce the winners tomorrow! Thank you for reading, and thank you for sharing.
May 26, 2012
BOOK 2 COVER ANNOUNCEMENT!
To all of you who have been so supportive and enthusiastic about The False Prince, you have my most sincere and warm thanks. I hope you will continue checking in with this blog for updates on the Ascendance series.
The most common question I’m asked about the second False Prince book is:A. When will it be released?B. What is the title?C. What will the cover look like?D. What is Book 2 about?Are you FINALLY ready for answers? For A, the answer is still sometime next year. A specific release date has not been set.
The answers to B and C will be revealed here on this blog on THURSDAY, MAY 31. I will show the cover and it will have the title (as covers often do, I’ve noticed)!
To celebrate, I am doing a giveaway of THREE signed copies of Book 1. That cover is on the right, in dark blue. To enter to win, leave a comment with your best guess of what the main color will be for Book 2. Additional entries will be given for anyone who posts this link on Twitter, Facebook, or blogs about it. I will give a grand prize of The False Prince + a free Skype visit to the class or group of their choice.I can't accept guesses on the cover (well yeah, obviously) once the cover goes live on Thursday, BUT I will accept Tweets, FB, and blog entries for 24 hours after I post the cover.
Oh, and the answer to D is….
I’m not telling. Not yet. Sorry.
But please enter the contest anyway.
May 13, 2012
If You're in the Chicago Area Next Week....
Then I'd love to see you at any of these locations!(School visits on Wednesday to Scullen Middle School and Hill Middle School)
* Anderson's Bookshop (Two Doors East location) at 123 West Jefferson, Naperville
Wednesday, May 16, at 7:00 pm
(School visits on Thursday to Marie Murphy School, Nichols Middle School, Chute Middle School)
* The Book Stall at 811 Elm Street, Winnetka on Thursday, May 17 at 4:30 pm
(School visits on Friday to Allendale Lake Villa Campus)
Signed copies can probably also be obtained from Lake Forest Bookstore, though I won't be appearing in store.
April 23, 2012
Spanish and Catalan Covers!
This first cover is for the Spanish version, titled El falso príncipe. The publisher is Alfaguara, and should be available on May 23, 2012! The Goodreads link is here, or you can see just the cover below.
The second cover is for the Catalán version (Catalán is a language spoken in regions of France, Italy, and Spain, and is the official language of the country of Andorra, a small country bordered by Spain and France - thank you Wikipedia!), and I think this is released in the same week as the Spanish version. I don't have a Goodreads link, but did find this article here talking about it. This cover sort of blends the original US with the Spanish version.
If you have Spanish or Catalán speaking friends, please feel feel free to share with them this link! It all works toward my secret (well, admittedly, less secret now) master plan to sell well enough that a trip overseas becomes mandatory!
April 16, 2012
Houston TLA 2012 Schedule!
If you’re in the Houston area – or want to find yourself in the Houston area this week, then I’d love to meet you in any of these places.* Katy Budget Books (2450 Fry Road, Houston) on Tuesday, Apr 17, from 6:00-8:00. I’ll be reading from THE FALSE PRINCE and signing copies.
* Hilton Americas (1600 Lamar Street, Houston) on Wednesday, April 18 from 12:00 – 1:40. I’ll be doing “speed dating” with Texas librarians, and donating two signed books for a raffle giveaway.
* George Brown Convention Center (1001 Avenida de las Americas, Houston) on Wednesday, April 18 from 4:00 – 5:00 pm. I’ll be signing copies of THE FALSE PRINCE in the Scholastic Booth (#1518).
* Blue Willow Bookshop (14532 Memorial Drive, Houston) on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00 pm. I’ll be signing with the amazing Sarah Mylonowski, Chris D’Lacey, Augusta Scattergood, and Michael Northrop.
* George Brown Convention Center (1001 Avenida de las Americas, Houston) on Thursday, April 19 from 9:00 – 10:00 am, I’ll be signing ELLIOT AND THE LAST UNDERWORLD WAR in the Sourcebooks Booth (#1902).
* Hilton Americas (1600 Lamar Street, Houston) on Thursday April 19 from 10:30 – 11:00 am, it’s Teen Day.
So I’ll be a little bit of everywhere over the next few days. Send me a tweet (@nielsenwriter) if you’re coming to say hello, or if you’re an author with a signing of your own. Or just look for me wandering the floor of TLA. There’s a few ARCs I’m dying to pick up for myself…
March 29, 2012
The UK Cover is Here
I love to see what publishers abroad do with book covers that are meant to appeal to their readers. So this is the cover for Scholastic UK, where this paperback version of THE FALSE PRINCE will officially launch on June 7, 2012.
I love the way this cover plays with light and shadow, and I think so much of the story is perfectly communicated in the artwork.
If you want to see the Amazon UK description of the book (same as the U.S. version except for one added line), click here. Or if your best reading buddy lives somewhere in the UK, feel free to share the link with them through this tiny url: http://tinyurl.com/7heldao
I'll share other covers when I get them! Until then, enjoy!
March 23, 2012
The First Chapter of THE FALSE PRINCE!
I also want to thank the LA Times for a fabulous review of TFP this week.
And I received a notice from Amazon that books should begin shipping within a couple of days (eek!). Which means it'll also start showing up in bookstores soon. If you can take a picture of the books in the wild and send it to me (jen@jennielsen.com), I would much appreciate it for a future blog post!
Finally, I am very, very grateful to those of you who blog about the book or post reviews, but please, PLEASE be careful about spoilers. There are some events in the book that are so strongly hinted to in some reviews that they might as well just give the ending away. So please be careful, so future readers can have the same opportunity to enjoy the book.
March 21, 2012
Shamelessness Unplugged
Okay, I'm going to say it up front – yes, I know. This post is going to be wildly self-serving. So if you're not up for that, then click here for a much humbler post. But I do have some good reasons for today's post. One is that a lot of wonderful people have taken the trouble to write some very kind things about THE FALSE PRINCE, and I wish to acknowledge their efforts on this book's behalf. The second is that I want fans of the book to have a more complete picture of what is happening with the book. And the third is so if you're reading this, and you are on the fence about whether you want to buy this book, that maybe about halfway through you'll throw up your hands and say, "Fine, I'll buy the book. Enough already!"
So here goes:
Official Reviews
* THE FALSE PRINCE received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, who called it "an impressive, promising story with some expertly executed twists."
* Describing it as "a twisted, dangerous, and all-consuming journey," the American Booksellers Association named THE FALSE PRINCE as #5 on their Indie Next Top Ten Books for spring,
* The very well-respected BookPage publication has chosen THE FALSE PRINCE as its Children's Top Pick for April. They call it "a terrific story that carries readers along to the very (surprising) end and will leave them clamoring for the next book in her trilogy.
* Kirkus states, "Ruthless ambition, fierce action and plotting, complex characters, and lots of sword play and hidden passages keep pages flipping."
* The Trades e-zine gives THE FALSE PRINCE an A rating and says it is a "fast-paced, thrill-packed YA novel filled with believable characters, and layers upon layers of intrigue."
* Booklist states, "Sage is a likable hero full of smart-alecky snakiness. Especially appealing are the friendships he forges..."
* The Horn Book writes, "This book should appeal to fans of Megan Whalen Turner and Suzanne Collins as well as to readers not quite ready for those authors yet."
Blogger Reviews That Made My Day
*One of the most influential librarians, Betsy Bird, wrote in her Fuse #8 blog, that "With enough twists and turns to keep a well-oiled brain humming, Nielsen trusts in the intelligence of her readers to follow along her delightfully complicated path. Their reward is a truly enjoyable book, start to finish."
* The lovely PJ Hoover blogged here about 5 reasons you should read THE FALSE PRINCE, saying, "As far as middle grade goes, it doesn't get much better than this!"
* David Levithan, the editor of HUNGER GAMES and amazing author of a number of books, says in this interview that when THE FALSE PRINCE came to Scholastic, "we were blown away to a degree that hadn't been seen in these halls since The Hunger Games had first appeared - and I don't say that lightly."
* The Bring on the Books blog said THE FALSE PRINCE "could easily be my 'best book of 2012.' It will be a hard one to beat."
* Pages Unbound wrote that "Nielsen has created a very real suspense that is infrequently found in most YA literature...At the end, readers will find themselves rethinking the book, watching events fold in a completely new light as all the tiny pieces fall together."
* A teen reviewer for Arlington Public Library described THE FALSE PRINCE as "complete awesomeness. Once I finished reading it, I immediately started reading it again."
* Alamosa Bookstore wrote, "Fantasy lovers, if you crave a good adventure, it just doesn't get any better."
* A reviewer on Wattpad says "it's a book that you can't get enough of."
* Another young reviewer on Reading Tween calls the book "probably my favorite book ever...If you like fantasy and adventure and excitement, or if you have a kid, or know a kid, or like kids, or don't like kids and wish they'd shut up and read, you should buy this book!!"
Other Goodies
* Jonathan Hunt from School Library Journal listed THE FALSE PRINCE as one of several promising candidates for the 2013 Newberry medal.
* So far, THE FALSE PRINCE has been picked up for foreign rights translations in the following areas/languages: United Kingdom (Scholastic UK), Polish (Egmont), French (Bayard), Catalan (La Galera), Russian (AST Astrel), Spanish (Santillana).
* And if you want to see the book trailer created by the amazing folks at Scholastic, you can watch it here.
Now, if you made it all the way to the end and you are just dripping with enthusiasm to buy the book, please support your indie first, but you should be able to find it most places where books are sold.
March 15, 2012
INFINITY RING Cover Reveal
But it only gets better. Because it's not only James' twisted and brilliant mind at work. Subsequent books will be written by Carrie Ryan, Lisa McMann, Matt De LaPena, Matthew Kirby, and in some amazing bit of luck, I'll be writing book 6 (my fingers are itching to start on it, by the way - it's going to be an exciting adventure). Then James returns for book 7 to wrap things up in the way only he can.
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The PW announcement is here, and you can see it on Amazon here. Here's a description of the series:
History is broken, and three kids must travel back in time to set it right!
When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel -- a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring -- they're swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course.
Now it's up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak's missing parents while they're at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny!
I'm telling you right now, if you have middle grade readers, they will love it. Just trust me. And you may as well go pre-order the book right now. Just sayin'...
March 5, 2012
Launch Party Invite!
If you are in the northern Utah area (or feel like getting yourself to the northern Utah area), then please come to a launch party for the highly anticipated release of THE FALSE PRINCE.
It will be held at Wasatch Fencing 353 Market StreetKaysville, UT
Monday March 26 at 7 pm
There will be food, giveaways for Hunger Games movie items, and some fun fencing demonstrations. Then if you want, you can try your own hand at fencing too! And of course, if you feel like picking up a copy of either the final Elliot book, ELLIOT AND THE LAST UNDERWORLD WAR, or the first book in the Ascendance trilogy, THE FALSE PRINCE, then that's great too!
If you plan to fence, please wear tennis shoes and sweats (easier to move in, and sweat pants don't have belt hooks or pockets that can snag the swords). Minors need a signed parent consent form.
This is a free event, and I would love it if you shared this invitation with friends and family!THE FALSE PRINCE is the story of a defiant orphan named Sage, who becomes caught up in a contest where he must either impersonate the missing prince or be killed. This book has received great reviews and is already receiving comparisons to Megan Whalen Turner's Queens' Thief series and Hunger Games!
ELLIOT AND THE LAST UNDERWORLD WAR is the final battle between Elliot and the good creatures of the Underworld versus Kovol the Demon and the creatures who are out for revenge, and who plan to destroy planet earth. Rude, huh?
If you'd like signed copies of these books but cannot make it to the launch, please click on the link above and King's English Bookstore will send you out a personalized autographed copy.
