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 Spring 2013′s intro posts are here.

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Some worlds are larger than their creators.

Middle Earth is probably the classic example; the world Tolkien brought to life in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit carries on though Tolkien himself does not. On the necessarily finite details of the framework he provided has been hung years of thought and study, decades of imagining. Books, films. Millions of readers’ dreams.

Star Wars (despite episodes 1 through 3) is a more recent one of these. So is Harry Potter. …

» Continue Reading “Ender’s World”

Next Tuesday is the official pub date for Shadowhunters and Downworlders, our anthology of YA authors talking about Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series. (Though you can already get a print copy, or pre-order the e-book, online. Or order the audio book!) And while usually this pre-publication book “introduction” feature gives a little extra behind-the-scenes info on the content of our books, I wanted to break from tradition here and talk a little about the design—in particular, the cover.

The cover art is gorgeous, of course; it’s the work of Cliff Nielsen, the man responsible for a lot of my favorite YA covers the last few years (including the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices covers). But I also love what Cliff did …

» Continue Reading “Behind the Scenes of Shadowhunters and Downworlders”

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 2012′s intro posts are here.

For The Panem Companion, our latest companion book, on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy (from Mellark Bakery to Mockingjays), we’ve asked the book’s author, V. Arrow, to write the intro post. Read her thoughts on writing The Panem Companion below! And don’t forget, you can sign up on the book page to get a free excerpt.

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If I had known that staying up until 3 a.m. with a carton of ice cream to talk to my …

» Continue Reading “Return to Panem with author V. Arrow”

I admit to a few moments of trepidation when we first announced we were publishing a book about Fifty Shades of Grey.

“Dexter, or the Hunger Games, or James Bond—sure, okay,” I imagined you guys saying, seeing the tweet or Facebook post or monthly newsletter. “Plenty to talk about there. Lots of deep and interesting thoughts. But really, Smart Pop, seriously—Fifty Shades of Grey?”

But here’s the thing about Fifty Shades of Grey: It’s more than just a book, at this point. Fifty Shades became a lightning rod for issues like feminism, sexuality (BDSM/alternative and otherwise), domestic violence—even, given the book’s fanfiction roots, issues of authorship and ownership.

Plus, you could practically taste the confusion and conflicted feelings of …

» Continue Reading “Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey (Or, Why We Wanted to Publish a Book About Fifty Shades)”

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 Spring 2012′s intro posts are here.

For Beyond the Wall, our latest anthology, on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (from A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons), we’ve asked the book’s editor, James Lowder, to write the intro post. Read his take on the book, and putting together anthologies in general, below! And don’t forget, you can sign up on the book page to get a free excerpt: Lowder’s introduction from the book itself, plus an additional …

» Continue Reading “Go Beyond the Wall with editor James Lowder”

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. Spring 2012′s intro posts are here.

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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, …

» Continue Reading “In Pursuit of Spenser”

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. Fall 2011′s intro posts are here.

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There are many reasons why The Big Bang Theory is one of the most popular shows on TV right now: the friendships, wonderfully geeky references, and of course, Sheldon’s antics, all combine to create something we’ve never seen on TV before. A show about geeks that celebrates them instead of mocking them; a show that makes these nerdy guys the heroes that you root for while you’re watching; a show that makes being smart cool and funny, instead of something to be avoided. …

» Continue Reading “Unraveling the Mysteries of The Big Bang Theory Introduction and 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. Fall 2011′s intro posts are here.

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On December 21, 2012, the American film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo premieres. I confess: I haven’t seen the Swedish version. I hear it’s pretty incredible. But at least judging by the trailer, this new version looks pretty incredible too:

In the months since the film was first announced, most of the discussion has—as it did for the book—surrounded the Millennium trilogy’s heroine, Lisbeth Salander . . . the subject of the latest addition to our Psychology of series, …

» Continue Reading “Get inside Lisbeth Salander’s head: The Psychology of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

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. Fall 2011′s intro posts are here.

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There are a lot of people who are tired of hearing about Twilight. The feedback our sales folks got from a lot of independent bookstores when they were trying to sell in the book was that vampires aren’t really selling anymore– that, even with two Twilight films to go, the Twilight craze, too, had died down. It’s a totally fair point; neither vampires nor Twilight are the hot new thing anymore. But we don’t think that means they’re dead (or even undead) …

» Continue Reading “Introducing The Psychology of Twilight”

Last season, we did an official introduction post for our Fall 2010 books. This season, we’re trying something new: officially announcing our Spring 2011 titles individually, each in their own post. If you’ve missed any, you can check them all out here.

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Our books get started in different ways. Sometimes we have an idea: What if we get a lot of science fiction and fantasy writers together and have them write essays about Buffy the Vampire Slayer? (Though this was a few months before I started at BenBella, I’m told this is pretty much how Seven Seasons of Buffy came about.) Sometimes an agent brings us an idea, and an author ready to write it (see: The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook). …

» Continue Reading “The science and science fiction of Fringe: Fringe Science”