If you're a Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan in the East Coast/Midwest area, be sure to check out Amulet Books' second annual ice-cream-truck promo tour. According to Publishers Weekly, the tour...
"[...Begins] August 15 and runs through August 28. Each truck will have 26 events, with stops that take them up and down the East Coast and into the Midwest. One truck will visit bookstores in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois; the second will stop in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, and Vermont. Purple ice cream treats (to match the cover of the new book) will be given away at each event; for every treat, Abrams will donate one children’s book to nonprofit organization First Book."
Um, that sounds great and all, but I like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and I like ice cream (even purple ice cream). I, however, live on the West Coast. Why is Amulet stiffing us like this?
If you've never read Wendelin Van Draanen's adorable 2001 novel Flipped, Random House is releasing an "enhanced" e-book edition of the book featuring a bunch of tie-ins from the upcoming movie adaptation: 8 video clips of scenes and 16 full-color photos from the film, as well as 4 video interviews with Van Draanen and a excerpt from her (inferior, sadly) second romantic comedy, Confessions of a Serial Kisser. At $14.99, it's a little pricey, but they're also offering a standard e-book and a new trade paperback, both of which retail for $8.99. Personally, I'd stick with the original edition—the cover is cuter, and until I see some very good reasons for transferring the story to the 1950s I'm reserving judgement about this movie adaptation.
Sears is currently offering an unusual deal via its website: if you buy any of these featured titles on Sears.com, Walmart.com, Amazon.com, or Target.com, you can receive a store credit for the purchase price (up to $9) that you can use immediately on your next purchase of $45 or more from the Sears website.
This promotion is part of the Sears program "Keep America Reading". I'm not sure how often the featured titles will change (they're currently the top 10 pre-selling books) or how long the promotion will run, but this might be a great way to kick off your holiday shopping!
True Blood geeks better start digging through their couch cushions, because HBO has bottles of Tru-Blood available for pre-order, and they cost a whopping $4 apiece. Also, this is a "uniquely carbonated, slightly tart, lightly sweet blood orange drink", rather than the blood substitute drunk by the show's vampire cast, but whatever: it looks cool!
Although I do wonder what "uniquely carbonated" means...
Want to see the Alice in Wonderland teaser trailer a day early?
I'm not sure it's worth signing up for Facebook just to see a teaser trailer one day before the rest of us, but hardcore Alice fanatics with Facebook pages might want to check this out: MTV is reporting that Disney is running a Facebook promotion for Tim Burton's upcoming movie adaptation. According to their article,
"A trio of fan pages have been created, one each for Anne Hathaway's White Queen, Helena Bonham Carter's Red Queen and Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter. The fan page with the most followers at 4pm (Pacific) on July 23 gets first crack at the debut teaser trailer for the movie."
Bestselling YA author Sarah Mlynowski is kicking off the publicity for her latest book in the Magic in Manhattan series (the just-released Parties and Potions) with a virtual book party. The event will be held at There.com this evening, from seven to eight PM, Eastern Time. Fans who attend—visit? chat? whatever—will have a chance to win virtual gifts, display avatars and costumes, and chat with the author.
"San Francisco, CA, May 15, 2008 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that it will partner with music and pop culture retailer Hot Topic Inc. to promote the upcoming North American film debut of the live-action film, DEATH NOTE, which is based on the popular animated and manga (graphic novel) properties that have swept North America by storm. As part of the special promotion, customers who purchase a DEATH NOTE t-shirt or DVD in select Hot Topic stores will receive a free ticket to attend the film event, while supplies last. More information on the premiere of DEATH NOTE is available at Deathnotefilms.com."
Here's the shirt:
I'd go for the DVD, as the t-shirt is definitely not my style. On the other hand, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would wear it with pride, and I'm always a fan of the two-for-one idea. Maybe you could keep the ticket for yourself, and give the shirt as a present to an anime- or manga-loving friend?
Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi are awesome, but their Spiderwick Chronicles books are way overpriced. The novels cost a hefty $10.99 apiece--not bad for a conventional hardcover, but these books are under 200 pages and the first one took me slightly less than a half hour to read. Happily, there's currently a more budget-friendly option for book two:
"This month, look for Special Edition Spiderwick Chronicles books inside specially marked boxes of General Mills' cereals, including Lucky Charms, Reese's Puffs, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cookie Crisp and Cocoa Puffs. Three separate, 62-page Special Edition books make up "The Seeing Stone," Book 2 of the acclaimed Spiderwick Chronicles series. Available only in General Mills cereals, each Special Edition book contains exclusive, never-before released "lost chapters" your kids will want to read!
Look through the "window" in each box to see which of the three Special Edition books is inside, and collect all three to complete the tale of "The Seeing Stone." On the side of each box you’ll also find a collectible cut-out bookmark featuring different characters from the movie." [Source]
My local Target is currently selling three boxes of General Mills cereal for seven bucks, which means that I'll get the book for less money than I'd pay retail, plus three whole boxes of deliciously sugary cereal!
If you're a Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan in the East Coast/Midwest area, be sure to check out Amulet Books' second annual ice-cream-truck promo tour. According to Publishers Weekly, the tour...
