To celebrate Fringe being renewed for another season, we’re giving away a copy of Fringe Science to one lucky fan. Without further ado, the winner (chosen courtesy of Random.org) is . . . Courtney! Congratulations! We’ll be in touch via email so we can get your prize sent out.

Thanks to everyone who entered. If you didn’t win but would like to learn more about Fringe Science, you can sign up below to read a free excerpt; we’ll also let you know about any future giveaways!

» Continue Reading “Fringe Science giveaway winner!”

V. Arrow’s unofficial map of Panem puts Philadelphia in District 13 . . . which makes it a not inappropriate spot to hold some Hunger Games presentations, wouldn’t you say?

On May 17, The Center for Media and Destiny and The Center of Media and Information Literacy are co-sponsoring Hunger Games symposium “Are the Odds in Our Favor?: The Hunger Games on Fame, Fashion, and the Fate of Humanity.” The symposium will be held on the campus of Temple University, and admission is free. Get all the details here.

I’ll be there, giving a talk on the differences between the book and film, the film advertising, and the affect of both on where we readers/viewers stand in relationship to the Games, …

» Continue Reading “Upcoming Hunger Games Symposium in Philadelphia”

Heard the good news? We’re getting 13 more episodes of Fringe!

To celebrate, we’re giving away a copy of Fringe Science. Leave a comment on this post (say, with your favorite thing about season 4, or what you’re most looking forward to—spoiler free—about season 5) before midnight Central time on Sunday, April 29 to enter!

(And remember: If you haven’t yet, you can sign up for the book mailing list here—scroll down to where it says “Sign up for free chapters & book updates”—and get a free download of Kevin Grazier’s introduction and one of our favorite essays from the book.)

Happy Friday!…

» Continue Reading “More Fringe!”

1) Will you be living in the Boston area this summer?

2) Are you looking for an unpaid part-time internship that will give you a great overview of book publishing (plus a legitimate excuse to watch more tv/read more sf and fantasy)?

We have the internship for you!

The Internship

We’re looking for two part-time editorial and marketing interns for this summer. Our interns will work directly with Heather and I on our current and upcoming Smart Pop titles (like Beyond the Wall, The Panem Companion, and Ender’s World) and gain experience in traditional editorial and marketing tasks as well as the fast-growing field of online marketing.

Responsibilities may include:

• Putting together editorial feedback on manuscripts 
• Copyediting and proofreading
• Drafting back cover copy

…

» Continue Reading “Smart Pop internships for summer 2012”

It’s my favorite time of year again: time to announce a new season of Smart Pop titles.

I’ve included the book-specific sign-up form for each title below, so if any of these pique your interest and you want to get a head’s up when we post advance excerpts or do giveaways (along with, of course, a reminder email on pub date!), just enter your email and hit the submit button.

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First up, in December 2012, is The Panem Companion:

The Panem Companion is a new unofficial Hunger Games guide that delves into Panem itself: how it could have come to be; it’s culture, socioeconomics, and ideas of race, ethnicity, and gender; and the effects on the characters we know and love. Plus, it …

» Continue Reading “Announcing the Smart Pop Fall 2012 season”

Last week, the Hunger Games film was released. And after a full week of work by our contributors and our e-book team, we are very pleased to announce that we have officially released The Girl Who Was on Fire – Movie Edition‘s extra movie content: our authors’ reactions to the film, from added scenes (like the behind-the-scenes Gamemaking) and missing details (like District 11′s gift of bread!) to the experience of seeing Panem on the big screen.

We left things pretty free-form for our writers: we suggested they tie their pieces into their original essays in some way, but we didn’t require it. And I admit to being a little nervous leading up to the film. Would we end up with a dozen* essays …

» Continue Reading “The Girl Who Was on Fire – Movie Edition extra movie content now available!”

Suffering from Hunger Games withdrawal now that you’ve seen the movie? Well, we’re here to sponsor your silver parachute—and you don’t even have to kiss Peeta for it.

We’re giving away prizes to two lucky winners.

The grand prize winner will receive:

• a print copy of The Girl Who Was on Fire – Movie Edition, PLUS a copy of the extra e-book-only movie content: our authors’ thoughts on the film
• an authentic Comic-Con mockingjay pin, which we picked up in San Diego last year
• an authentic Hunger Games movie poster, also from 2011′s San Diego Comic-Con

One runner-up winner will receive: 

• a print copy of The Girl Who Was on Fire – Movie Edition and the extra e-book-only content
• The Hunger Games movie

…

» Continue Reading “A Silver Parachute to Cure Your Hunger Games Withdrawal”

On Sunday, March 18, The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook authors, Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin, hosted a virtual dinner party on Twitter to celebrate the upcoming season five premiere of Mad Men. Food bloggers from all over the United States and Canada joined us to talk canapés, cookies, and cocktails, and to share photos and experiences. All of the bloggers made at least one recipe from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, and we all had lots of fun talking about two of our favorite topics: food and Mad Men. (Photo on left: courtesy of She’s Cookin’.)

Judy and Peter wrote about the party on their blog here, and you can see pictures of all the fabulous food in our Facebook …

» Continue Reading “#PartyLikeaMadMan”

It’s only a matter of days until The Hunger Games premieres, and we can’t wait to see Katniss, Gale, and Peeta on the big screen. To celebrate the movie’s release, Leah and I are going to be giving away five copies of The Girl Who Was on Fire – Movie Edition and pins to the folks in line for the midnight showing at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Massachusetts. (It’s just northwest of Boston; here’s a map.) Come hang out in line with us on Thursday night and answer some trivia questions for a chance to nab a copy!

Tickets are on sale for the Somerville Theatre showing here, and you can read more about it on their website here. Can’t …

» Continue Reading “Join us for the midnight showing of The Hunger Games ”

One of our upcoming titles is not entirely like the others. I mean, vampires, girls on fire, Mad Men, zombies, Starks—all of that seems pretty squarely up Smart Pop’s alley. Private detective Spenser? Not our usual fare.

I have to admit: I came in to this project not knowing anything about Spenser. When our publisher, Glenn (a huge Spenser fan), brought up the idea, I had only a vague sense of who Robert B. Parker was, much less of the series for which he’s best known—the series that’s sometimes credited as saving the PI genre.

So Glenn sent me a few books. And it was impossible not to get a little hooked.

Spenser is an appealing tough guy, with a …

» Continue Reading “In Pursuit of Spenser”