Of Shakespeare, Rayguns, and Independent Bookstores

In 2007, I learned an important lesson about independent bookstores.

My second novel, Something Rotten, a contemporary young adult mystery based on Shakespeare's Hamlet, came out that year from Penguin. I expected that it, like my first novel, would be carried everywhere—by independents and chains and online. But a few months away from the publication date, my editor e-mailed to tell me the bad news: Barnes & Noble wouldn't be carrying my new book. The one person who chose what books all six hundred-plus Barnes & Noble stores would carry had decided that mine wouldn't be one of them. “We don't do well with Shakespeare adaptations,” Barnes & Noble's book buyer said. And that was it.

My second book was saved by independent bookstores like Malaprop's. With separate book buyers at each bookstore across the country, they each made the decision about whether or not to carry my book. And most did. Independent booksellers made Something Rotten a success, and for that and everything they've done for the five books that followed, I'm eternally grateful. As thanks, and to help make sure that every book and author and reader get a chance to connect, my family and I have committed to buying our books only from independent booksellers like Malaprop's, our local indie.

So when the time came to promote my eighth book, the first in a middle-grade steampunk fantasy trilogy called The League of Seven, I wanted to find a way to not only sell books, but sell books through Malaprop's. I'd seen online retailers offer digital short stories that download free with the purchase of ebooks, and thought, why can't Malaprop's and I do the same thing with my good-old-fashioned print book and a specially-printed short story? So that's just what we're doing.

The League of Seven is the story of seven super-powered kids who use rayguns and airships and steam-powered machine men to battle giant monsters called the Mangleborn. (If your kids like Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books, or the Justice League and the Avengers, this is right up their alley.) The trilogy is set in an alternate 1870s America where all contact with Europe was lost in 1770, forcing New England's European population to join the Iroquois League, becoming the seventh “tribe” in what becomes the United Nations of America. One of the architects of that union, Benjamin Franklin, is the star of the prequel short story I've written, called “Join, or Die.” In “Join, or Die,” Franklin battles sea serpents with the help of a young monster expert and a group of Mohawk warriors during a (greatly) re-imagined Boston Tea Party. It's lots of fun.

Malaprop's is printing up “Join, or Die” as a limited-edition chapbook that will be given away for free to anyone who pre-orders The League of Seven from Malaprop's between now and August 19th, the book's publication date. I'm really excited about this chapbook—it's being specially-printed and numbered, the binding is being hand-sewn, and it will be available exclusively through Malaprop's. And the story's pretty great too, if I do say so myself. :-)

I'll also be signing and personalizing all the pre-orders and chapbooks, which can be picked up at the store or shipped to you at home. You can pre-order your copy of The League of Seven in person at Malaprop's, online here, or by calling Malaprop's at 1-800-441-9829. I hope you'll pre-order a copy of The League of Seven and the limited-edition chapbook “Join, or Die” for a young reader in your life, and continue shopping at your local independent bookstore to ensure that every good book has a chance to find its readers!

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Interview: Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire

Check out my interview over at Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire, in which we discuss Horatio Wilkes, comedy, fear, and social media, among other things.

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Something Rotten in German!

How cool is this!? My first novel in translation--Something Rotten in German. Eine Lüge ist nicht genug, which Wendi says can either mean "A Lie Is Not Enough" or "One Lie Is Not Enough." (Wendi has a Masters degree in German.)

I'm so excited about this! I hope it becomes a bestseller in Germany so I can go there and do a tour and see some German soccer games. I actually follow the Bundesliga and know something about German soccer, believe it or not...

For you German-speakers out there, here's the summary:

Das Leben endet tödlich, auch für reiche Industrielle.
Das Leben geht weiter, auch für die Witwe des Firmenchefs der Papierfabrik.
Das Leben ist ein abgekartetes Spiel, findet Hamilton, den die Hochzeit seiner Mutter mit dem Bruder seines Vaters anwidert.
Das Leben auf dem Planeten ist in Gefahr, findet die Umweltaktivistin Olivia, wenn niemand etwas dagegen unternimmt, dass die Abwässer der Papierfabrik weiterhin den Copenhagen River verseuchen.

Das Leben will gelebt werden, rät Horatio seinem Freund Hamilton.

Es ist was faul in dieser US-amerikanischen Kleinstadt, deren Einwohner von der Papierfabrik Elsinore Papers abhängig sind. Die vermeintliche Alternative »Arbeitsplatzabbau oder Ökologie« stimmt nicht mehr. Auf Dauer wird das Unternehmen nur überleben können, wenn es umweltverträglich produziert. Und auf Dauer wird das Leben nur dann wieder lebenswert, wenn sich eine böse große Frage beantworten lässt: Ist der alte Firmenchef Rex Prince ermordet worden, und wenn ja, wer steckt dahinter?

I'd love to know what changes, if any, they had to make to the story to make it work for a German audience!

You can see the book page for Eine Lüge ist nicht genug at the German publisher's website here. Thanks, Boje, and thanks to my translators, Gerold Anrich and Martina Instinsky-Anrich!

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Google Alerts Round-up

Time for some last-gasp winter Google Alerts from the interweb!

Southwest Middle School won the Gaston County, NC Battle of the Books competition. They had to answer questions about 27 different books--including The Brooklyn Nine! Congrats, guys!

And The Brooklyn Nine has made another state list! B9 was selected for the 2012 Oklahoma Sequoyah Master List! Thanks, Oklahoma. You're OK with me! (Yes, that's a postal abbreviation joke.)

I recently did a Skype visit with students at Upper Dauphin Area High School in Elizabethville, PA, and the local paper wrote up a great article about it. You can read it here.

And I'm starting to get alerts on Fantasy Baseball!

Mr. H at the SMS Guys Read blog loves the Fantasy Baseball poster I sent him...

Zoe posted a great summary/review of Fantasy Baseball at NextHub.com...

...and Ms. Certo at Hope Middle School recommends Fantasy Baseball as an independent reading selection for classrooms.

Thanks, everyone!

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The Face Front Club

Dad sends along this camera phone shot of Something Rotten, still stocked and sold at Books-a-Million! He kept his card-carrying-member status in the Face Front Club by turning it face out on the shelf, too...

Have you faced out a book by an author friend today? :-)

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Google Alerts Round-up

Gather around for a Google Alerts Round-up, troops!

Team Banzai member Janet send in this link to the Learning Through History newsletter, which recommends The Brooklyn Nine as a resource for historical studies centered around baseball, which is kind of a big deal this time of year. Thanks, Janet, and thanks Learning Through History!

Challenging the Bookworm likes The Brooklyn Nine because you don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy it...

Tyler B. at Otto-Eldred Junior-Senior High School writes on BookHooks that he "didn't dislike anything" about The Brooklyn Nine, and is sure "history nerds will like this book." :-)

Donna Woody at Print Matters picked up The Brooklyn Nine expecting a sports story, but feels like she got so much more...

"Like one of those cereals advertised as too tasty to be nutritious," says Doug Smith of the Lockport, New York Union-Sun & Journal, "'Brooklyn Nine' informs in an entertaining style."

And I'm a little late with the news (I was in Japan!), but Something Rotten got a great mention by Regina Brooks at the Huffington Post in an article about adapting classics for modern generations.

 Thanks, everyone!

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Awesome Something Rotten Book Trailer

Check out this terrific book trailer for my young adult murder mystery Something Rotten, created by Suzanne Severns, the librarian at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas! How great is that!? It even makes ME want to go back and read the book. :-)

Suzanne has lots more trailers for lots more great books, all of which can be found here. Thanks again, Suzanne!

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All about Something Rotten and my name at TeachingBooks.net

TeachingBooks.net, an online multimedia resource for libraries and schools, recently interviewed me over the phone for a series of audio recordings they offer for free in addition to their other subscription content. I had a lot of fun talking about the origins of Horatio and Something Rotten, but even better was the chance to talk about my name--how to pronounce "Gratz," and how I escaped being named "Bubba."

Original reading and introduction to SOMETHING ROTTEN

Alan Gratz Name Pronunciation

TeachingBooks.net offers all of their author name pronunciations for free, and many of them are a lot of fun to hear. Click here if you've ever wondered where Avi got that name, or how to pronounce Jon Scieszka.

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Google Alerts Round-up

It's time for round of my semi-regular ego-boost. It's been a while, so I've got a bit of a backlog. Here we go!

Editor Liz reports that The Brooklyn Nine was named to the 2010 Kansas State Reading Circle Catalog with a starred rating. "The lists are distributed and promoted throughout the state of Kansas during the current year." (Thanks, Kansas!)

The Brooklyn Nine is also now for sale in Scholastic Book Fairs. Here's a brief booktalk they put together for it. (Opens as a PDF.) And here's the featured book page.

Media center coordinator Beth Martin writes a lovely appreciation of The Brooklyn Nine in the Wausau Daily Herald.

Stephanie Dethlefs, writing the Children's Book Corner for the Neighborhood-Kids blog, calls The Brooklyn Nine a championship-level book. 

The Semicolon blog names The Brooklyn Nine as one of the two best sports books of the year.

Angela Craft at Bookish Blather wishes The Brooklyn Nine had at least been a Newbery Honor book.

Doret at The Happy Nappy Bookseller had The Brooklyn Nine picked as a Newbery sleeper candidate...

...as did DaNae at Literate Lives...

...and the Arapahoe Library District...

...and Sarah at The Reading Zone. (Thanks, guys! That would have been incredible!)

O.W.L. (Outrageously Wonderful Literature from the Middle Grade) has The Brooklyn Nine in their mailbox...

...as does Mallory at Grammar Girl.

While Valerie at the I Should Be Writing Blog has Something Wicked in her mailbox.

Something Wicked has been nominated for the 2010-2011 South Carolina Children's Book Awards. (Thanks, South Carolina!)

Serious about Series plugs Something Rotten and Something Wicked.

Someone at Books for Sale would include Something Rotten and Something Wicked in a YA starter library if he/she was given $1,000 and carte blanche.

Mer at the Harris County Public Library recommends Something Rotten as a great mystery.

A Baltimore English teacher is going to use Samurai Shortstop in a Lit Circle Unit this year (and it's in very good company!)

And the American School in Japan mentions my upcoming visit in their write-up in the 2010 International Schools Special from the Tokyo Weekender.  I can't wait, guys!


And I've joined the Children's Literature Author and Illustrator Booking Service. Here's my author page, including info on how to book me.

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Google Alerts Round-up

It's time for my semi-monthly ego trip! I was busy in the run-up to the holidays, so I have a lot of them stored up. Throw out that first pitch, Chewie*, and let's play ball!

GTC at the BooksForKidsBlog likes that baseball's story is the tie that binds the nine generations of Sniders/Flints together in The Brooklyn Nine...

...and one of Mrs. DeRap's middle school students thinks The Brooklyn Nine was "a perfect amount of pages."

Meanwhile, The Brooklyn Nine appealed to the inner history buff in Sarah at The Reading Zone...

...and was a nominee for the 2009 Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Award. (Even though it wasn't a finalist.)

Karen and Stephanie at Fabulous Reads list The Brooklyn Nine among their Top 100 Books Ever (!) ...

...and Marjorie Ingall at Tablet Magazine: A New Read on Jewish Life thinks baseball fans will plotz over The Brooklyn Nine, and names it one of the best Jewish chapter books of 2009.

BookKids Blog recommended Something Rotten and Something Wicked as great gifts for teens who love mysteries...

...and the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library in Midland, Michigan puts Something Rotten at number 19 on their Tab Fab 50.

Senior Year English teacher Jenny W. plans to use Something Rotten in her classroom study of Hamlet...

...while The Garden Pear thinks Something Rotten is one of the best books ever (!)

Editor Liz e-mails with the news that Something Rotten was named one of YALSA's 2010 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults: Twists on the Tale...

...and word that The Brooklyn Nine has been chosen as one of the Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books of 2009! (opens as a PDF)

The Allen County Public Library named The Brooklyn Nine to its 2009 Mock Newbery list... (opens as a PDF)

...while B9 is a nominee for the 2010 Grand Canyon Reader Award! (opens as a PDF)

Jessica at I Read to Relax! listed Samurai Shortstop among her favorite books read in 2009...

...while Kristine at Best Book I Have Not Read has The Brooklyn Nine in her Middle Grade 2010 To Be Read pile.

Doret at The Happy Nappy Bookseller lists The Brooklyn Nine as one of the 15 best sports books she read last year...

...and finally, Elizabeth Bird of the Brooklyn Public Library and the Fuse #8 blog includes The Brooklyn Nine in her last 2009 One-Sentence Reviews post of the year, saying, "Since I'm not a baseball person I didn't hope to be impressed by this nine generation tale of Brooklyn and baseball, but Gratz makes fine use of the characters and time periods in this oddly compelling little book."

I'll take "oddly compelling" any day of the week! Thanks, everyone, for all the kind mentions and inclusions on your lists. Here's to what's to come in 2010!




*(Did anyone notice Chewbacca is a south paw? Get that Wookiee a contract!)

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Google Alerts Round-up

It's time for my semi-monthly ego check!

country_gal from Decatur, Georgia, was prepared to be bored by Something Rotten, but was won over by Horatio's sarcasm.

Something Rotten also makes the Bookworms Carnival of delights at A Bibliophile's Bookshelf, thanks to this glowing review at Barney's Book Blog.

The North Carolina Literary Festival (of which I am a part) is getting some press.

KL Knight at Knight Reader thinks Something Wicked has a great hook to get kids interested in Macbeth.

And Sarah over at The Reading Zone has a really terrific post about perfect games, The Brooklyn Nine, and building schema.

Thanks everyone! Your affiliate checks will be mailed when you reach $100.

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Google Alerts Round-up

Just a couple of ego checks today:

East Hampton Public Library makes The Brooklyn Nine a Cool Pick for Hot Summer Days...

And Jess at Barney's Book Blog (no, not that Barney) thinks Something Rotten is one of the best young adult novels she's read in a long time.

Thanks, guys!

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Something Rotten nominated for NC school library award

Something Rotten is one of ten titles nominated for the North Carolina School Library Media Association Young Adult Book Award for 2009-2010! Students from across the state will read Rotten along with the other nominated books next school year, and then in March or April of 2010 they'll vote on their favorite. Last year's winner was Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. At least she's not among the nominees this year! But the competition is just as tough:

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal	Michael Scott
Chosen	P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
City of Bones	Cassandra Clare
Eon: Dragoneye Reborn	Alison Goodman
Impulse	Ellen Hopkins
The Juvie Three	Gordon Korman
Lock and Key	Sarah Dessen
Paper Towns	John Green
Something Rotten	Alan Gratz
Thirteen Reasons Why	Jay Asher

Hrm. Tough competition indeed. Well, at least it's an honor to be nominated! Thanks to all the NC school librarians who've been so supportive of me and my books.

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Google Alerts Round-up

I hate to post the same day Wendi's put up a good one, but I've had my nose to the writing grindstone of late. I've met my daily quota though, so it's time to catch up with the blogging. I have a lot of Google Alerts/good e-mail news to post, beginning with the above pics, sent in from Penguin Field Reps. The first is of The Brooklyn Nine on a baseball book display at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington. The second was taken in Dolly's Bookstore in Park City, Utah. That's some good company there--two Newbery winners, and The Brooklyn Nine! From their table display to the committee's ears...

Now, on with the news!

Bill over at Literate Lives wishes The Brooklyn Nine went to extra innings, Susan Harkins at BookPleasures.com thinks B9 knocks it out of the ballpark, and The Reading Zone can't wait to read it.

Meanwhile, despite believing baseball on TV to be a cure for insomnia, the resident bibliovore at Confessions of a Bibliovore thinks The Brooklyn Nine is a cracking good yarn...

...and her great review of The Brooklyn Nine has talked Jen Robinson into checking it out!

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Teen Services recommends reading Something Rotten for Earth Day...

...while Maire at Books, Books, and Books appreciates Something Rotten's comparatively low body count.

BookAdvice.net likes Something Wicked even more than Something Rotten, even though it's darker...

...while the North Carolina School Library Media Association has nominated Something Rotten for the 2009-2010 North Carolina Young Adult Book Award! (Pretty stiff competition though--but at least there's no Stephenie Meyer book on the list this year!)

E. Lockhart, Printz Honor winner, National Book Award Finalist, and all-around swell gal likes my video blogs.

And finally, perhaps the best news of all: Editor Liz reports that Dial has already gone to a second printing of The Brooklyn Nine! Woohoo! That's just two months out of the gate!

That's it for me. Back to the new book!

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Google Alerts Round-up

It's time for my regular vanity check from the internets:





















Something Wicked is a SIBA award nominee.

Professor Nana's been reading more books based on Hamlet.

LJ at 75 o'clock is looking forward to the next Horatio Wilkes mystery.

Mr. Muldowney's class can choose to read Something Rotten for their 9th grade book project, but they have to discuss symbolism and irony in the book by April 21st.

School Library Journal featured Samurai Shortstop in a recent article on books for kids set in the days of the samurai.

Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, Maine, thinks The Brooklyn Nine would make a great classroom book.

Susan Harkins at BookPleasures.com thinks Something Wicked is a treasure.

And Linda Sue Park, author of the Newbery Award-winning A Single Shard, writes about both The Brooklyn Nine and Something Rotten on her Amazon blog!

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I Should Be Writing - 002

In this installment, I travel to my hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, to take part in the Knoxville Public Library Teen ShakesFest. Includes sword-fighting, harp-playing, and an octopus.

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I can haz book report hlp?

If only someone out there had read Something Rotten!

Sorry, dude.

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Forsooth! Or something like that.

Just a quick note to let my East Tennesee peeps know that I'm going to be in town tomorrow for the Knoxville Public Library's "ShakesFest," a celebration of Shakespeare, YA lit, and prancing about with swords.

The event is from 1-4 p.m. at the East Tennessee History Center downtown on Gay Street, and admission is free.

Members of the Tennessee Stage Company's Shakespeare on the Square troupe will be performing scenes from Hamlet, and I'll be reading my take on the same scenes from Something Rotten before selling and signing books. Then, there will be fencing.

Hope to see you there!

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Something Interesting at Book People Bookstore

Editor Liz sends me this report from a field rep: Something Rotten and Something Wicked are in good company on the staff recommended shelf at Book People Bookstore in Austin, Texas! (I love the plaid on the shelf talker, by the way...)

Thanks, Book People! Give me a holler--I'd love to come visit.

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Something Rotten in paperback

Something Rotten is now officially out in a $6.99 paperback edition from Puffin/Sleuth! If you've been waiting for months while the library copy was on hold (ha) you now have an inexpensive alternative...

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