Our Divergent anthology, Divergent Thinking: YA Authors on Veronica Roth’s Divergent Trilogy, is officially launching next week. In fact, our introductory post about the book is already up. We’re pretty excited around Smart Pop Headquarters because we’re all big fans of the books and we’re eagerly awaiting the release of the movie in a few weeks. (Seriously, a Veronica Mars movie and a Divergent movie in the same month? March 2014, you’re not too shabby.)

Not only are we excited about the movie and about the release of Divergent Thinking, we’re extra excited about the week-long event we have planned around the release in partnership with the Divergent fansite community. Next week is officially:

We hope you’ll visit each of the below sites …

» Continue Reading “Divergent Thinking Book Launch + Giveaways!”

Each season we announce our new titles individually, each in their own post, to give you a little extra background behind the book. If you’ve missed any, you can check them all out here.

***

» Continue Reading “A Little More Information on Divergent Thinking”

Our giveaway has closed (scroll down for winners’ information!), but you can still win a copy of Neptune Noir from Neptune Rising through March 13! Visit here for details.

***

Thanks to 91,585 tried-and-true Veronica Mars fans, we’re finally getting the much-wanted next chapter in the lives of our favorite Neptune kids (well, favorite late twenty-somethings by now). The Veronica Mars movie release is just a couple weeks away!

You may remember that Smart Pop Books donated proceeds from Neptune Noir‘s ebook sales toward the movie’s Kickstarter fund. In return, we received some Kickstarter swag. But since we received those rewards from donating the money raised by our community of readers . . . it only makes sense that we give those rewards back to our …

» Continue Reading “An Epic Veronica Mars Giveaway”

Each season we announce our new titles individually, each in their own post, to give you a little extra background behind the book. If you’ve missed any, you can check them all out here. All of Fall 2013′s intro posts are here.

***

When Anne Jamison’s book proposal for Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World showed up in my inbox, it wasn’t the first time we’d thought about publishing a book on fanfiction. It wasn’t the first fanfiction book proposal we’d considered. It was just the first one it made sense to us to publish.

One reason is that nebulous thing, the marketing climate. The word “fanfiction”—thanks in part to, yes, Fifty Shades of Grey, but not Fifty Shades alone—is …

» Continue Reading “Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World – now available!”

Get the geeks in your lives something they really want this year.

Here are our ideas for all of the Shadowhunters, Potterheads, and Demigods on your shopping list—and more.

Percy Jackson

1. Demigods and Monsters [shameless self-promotion]. Spend a little more time at Camp Half-Blood with this anthology of your favorite authors discussing the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Edited by Rick Riordan, it also contains a glossary of Greek mythology.
2. Camp Half-Blood Gym Bag. Don’t forget to pack your sword!
3. Anaklusmos T-Shirt. Don’t feel bad about drawing your pen in this tee. Your foe has been warned.
4. Demigod Copper Bracelet. This bracelet is just the thing for your favorite Demigod.
5. The Lightening Thief Mini Book Locket. Take your favorite

…

» Continue Reading “2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Assorted Geekery”

Each season we announce our new titles individually, each in their own post, to give you a little extra background behind the book. If you’ve missed any, you can check them all out here. All of Fall 2013′s intro posts are here.

***

Something about starting a new book or tv show always reminds me of visiting a city for the first time. There’s a landscape to explore. Pacing to settle into. People to meet and little details to take in. The most satisfying stories are usually ones where the setting feels alive, like it could really exist.

Sometimes, of course, that’s because it does—because the story takes place in a city like New York, or Chicago, or Paris, that exist in the …

» Continue Reading “A Guide to the New York of HBO’s Girls”

All we want for Christmas is for our favorite Joss Whedon shows to stop getting cancelled.

Clearly Santa isn’t listening. Here are our suggestions for consoling all of your still-broken-hearted Browncoats.

1. The Psychology of Joss Whedon [shameless self-promotion]. Revisit the worlds of Joss Whedon with trained psychologists at your side in this unauthorized exploration of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. Looking for other reading material on Joss properties? Check out these other Smart Pop titles: Seven Seasons of Buffy, Five Seasons of Angel, Finding Serenity, Serenity Found, and Inside Joss’ Dollhouse.
2. Buffy Cup Set. The perfect vessels from which to spread the Buffy Kool-Aid.
3. Iron Man Cufflinks. For the Iron Man or

…

» Continue Reading “2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Joss Whedon”

In Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern universe, we like to imagine Santa’s reindeer battling Threads right alongside dragons between making holiday gift deliveries. 

If going to the mall this time of year makes you wish you could go Between just to get some breathing room, fear not. All of these gift ideas can be delivered right to your doorstep (maybe a dragon will even make the drop off).

1. Dragonwriter. Our recently released tribute volume to Anne McCaffrey and Pern is edited by Anne’s son, Todd McCaffrey, and includes pieces from Anne’s friends, family, and colleagues, and an insert of Pern color illustrations by Michael Whelan. A must-have on any Pern collector’s shelf.
2. Sky Dragons. Catch up on the Pern series with this latest

…

» Continue Reading “2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Anne McCaffrey and Pern”

If you wish you lived in an AU where the holidays don’t exist, well, we can’t help you there.

But we can least make the gifting portion of the season as painless as possible. Just think of us as your shopping beta.

1. Fic [shameless self-promotion]. Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, by Anne Jamison and with a foreword by Lev Grossman, is a brand-new Smart Pop release that explores the misunderstood world(s) of fanfiction. Get it for the significant other or parent who doesn’t really get your fic habit, but wants to—or for the fic reader or writer who’d appreciate the excuse to fall in love with fanfiction all over again.
2. Excuse Me While I Fangirl Out Keychain. We do

…

» Continue Reading “2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Fanfiction and Fandom”

Between that white beard and a name like “Snow,” the citizens of Panem probably thought they were getting a Santa figure for president.

Little did they know his favorite celebration is the Hunger Games. Bring some much-needed holiday cheer to your favorite Panem-ites with these goodie ideas.

1. Mockingjay Knee-High Socks. Fashionable and practical for wearing to archery training.
2. The Hunger Games Miniature Book Necklace. Take your favorite book wherever you go. (If you prefer Catching Fire or Mockingjay to the first book, they’re also available.)
3. Victor Earrings. Show your District 12 pride.
4. Peeta’s Pearl Necklace. Take a page form Peeta’s playbook and give your Katniss this keepsake locket.
5. Spinning Quote Ring. Featuring the quote, “Every revolution begins with a spark,”

…

» Continue Reading “2013 Holiday Gift Guide: Hunger Games”