We're getting geared up for ALA Annual in Anaheim and it's about time we shared all of our exciting plans with you!
See our full schedule below:
5:30 PM
Macmillan booth 2544
Mignon Fogarty (a.k.a. Grammar Girl) will be signing copies of her Quick & Dirty Tips books and Deb Coonts will be signing copies of SO DAMN LUCKY in our booth.
10:30-12 PM
Convention Center Rm 202A
Gail Tsukiyama, author of A HUNDRED FLOWERS, and Jeri Westerson, author of TROUBLED BONES, will be speaking on ALTAFF’s "Historical Fiction" panel.
11:00 AM
Macmillan booth 2544
Kelli Stanley will be signing copies of CITY OF SECRETS in our booth.
1:30 PM
Exhibit Hall, Aisle 2200
Gail Tsukiyama, author of A HUNDRED FLOWERS, will be speaking at ALA’s LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage.
1:30-3:30 pm
Convention Center Rm 209A
Deb Coonts, author of SO DAMN LUCKY, will be speaking on ALTAFF’s “Isn’t It Romantic?” panel.
ALL DAY
Pop Top Stage
A number of excellent Macmillan authors will be speaking on the Popular Topics Stage for Mystery Day! Read all about the Macmillan authors here! And see the full Pop Top Stage schedule here.
ALL DAY
Unshelved Day @ ALA!
Our buddies over at Unshelved are celebrating TEN YEARS (say whaaaat?!) of comic strip goodness and they're encouraging you to show off your Unshelved pride on Saturday at ALA. Details on their blog!
9:00-10:00 am
Convention Center Rm 210A/B
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the event you've all been waiting for... #BOOKBATTLE2: The Sequel! In one corner we have Talia "The Tiger" Sherer. In the other corner we have Chris "The Cutie" Vaccari. These two champs will duke it out to claim the title of Best Book Buzzer Ever! They'll be buzzing about books for both adults and teens! There will be galleys! There will be prizes! There will be A BATTLE TO THE DEATH!!

9:00-10:00 am
Hyatt, Royal Ballroom
YA Author Coffee Klatch with Alex Award-winner Rachel DeWoskin.
Enjoy coffee and meet with a number of great YA authors! Librarians will sit at a table and every 3 or 4 minutes, a new author will arrive at your table to chat.
10:30-12:00 pm
Convention Center Rm 204A
The Alex Award is given to the top 10 books that appeal to young adults, and is administered by YALSA and sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust. The 2012 Alex Award winning authors including Rachel DeWoskin, author of BIG GIRL SMALL, will speak about their books and the award on this panel.
10:30-12:00 pm
Convention Center Rm 204C
The Great Non-Fiction Read-Alike: If You Like This, You’ll LOVE That! with Trivia!
As the popularity of non-fiction reading for pleasure continues to grow, librarians have a great opportunity to grow their reader’s advisory skills. All-star panelists Alene Moroni (Manager, Selection & Order, King County), Anna Mickelsen (Reference Librarian, Springfield City), Kaite Stover (Manager, Readers’ Services, Kansas City), Robin Nesbitt (Technical Services Director, Columbus Metropolitan), and Stephanie Chase (Head, Reference, Adult Services, & Programming, Multnomah County) will cover major trends in popular non-fiction and recommend upcoming titles with pre-publication buzz as well as titles from your backlist will satisfy your patrons while the best-selling titles are on hold.
2:30 PM
Macmillan booth 2544
Joel Engel will be signing copies of L.A. '56 in our booth.
4:00 PM
Macmillan booth 2544
Francesca Lia Block will be signing copies of THE ELEMENTALS in our booth.
10:00 AM
Macmillan booth 2544
Eleanor Kuhns will be signing copies of A SIMPLE MURDER in our booth.
2:00 PM-4:00 PM
Anaheim Marriott, Grand Salon E
Read moreJane Green, author of ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART, will be speaking at the ALTAFF "Gala Author Tea." Tickets required.
We're in full-on PLA mode here at Macmillan Castle, but we're pumping the breaks for a minute to bring you news of this year's fantastic line up for Mystery Day at the Pop Top Stage at ALA Annual!
Here's an early glance at the schedule:
11:00am - 12:00pm
Laugh, or I'll Kill You: A conversation between Chuck Greaves* and Deb Coonts
12:15pm - 1:30pm
Mystery Chicks and Private Dicks: A conversation between Jeri Westerson and Kelli Stanley
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Location, Location, Location: How a Mystery's Setting Impacts the Story - featuring Brian Freeman, Caroline Todd, Charlie Newton, Chuck Greaves, Kelli Stanley, and Mike Lawson
Moderated by: Kelli Stanley
3:15pm - 4:00pm
Attention to Detail: How Research Adds to the Mystery OR How to do Research and Avoid Arrest OR What is #ResearchFail? Featuring Brian Freeman, Caroline Todd, Charlie Newton, and Mike Lawson
Moderated by: Jason Pinter
See the full Mystery Day schedule here. And make sure you add these events to your calendar for ALA Annual!
*Check Greaves wrote a great blog post about his love for librarians. Check it out here.
Read moreIf you missed the EarlyWord Galley Chat on Twitter yesterday, I highly recommend you go back and take a look at the conversation (just search hashtag #ewgc).
What's that you say? You're not on Twitter? BIG MISTAKE! These monthly chats are an exceptional way to hear about which galleys other librarians are reading, have read, or plan to read and what made them pick up those books. It's the perfect first look at forthcoming titles.
A few excellent, upcoming Macmillan titles were discussed yesterday. I'll highlight a few for you here:
GRANDDAD, THERE'S A HEAD ON THE BEACH by Colin Cotterill
SO DAMN LUCKY by Deborah Coonts
GLAMOUR IN GLASS by Mary Robinette Kowal
MIDNIGHT IN AUSTENLAND by Shannon Hale
The next EarlyWord Galley Chat is on February 7th. And if you're looking for news on teen titles, you're in luck! The folks at EarlyWord are adding an EarlyWord YA Galley Chat starting February 14th (hashtag #ewYAgc).
Read more
We're ecstatic to see that the Romance Writers of America have selected some really fantastic nominees for their 2011 RITA® Awards! A huge congrats to all of the amazing authors!
Below is a list of our super sultry nominees:
Finalist for Best First Book and(!) Finalist for Regency Historical Romance:
WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY by Kieran Kramer



