This:
On Friday we hosted six Hofstra University Honors College students at the office--my assistant Bethany and I showed them a video introducing Hachette Book Group, gave them a quick tour around the office, and then came back to a conference room when we talked about our submissions and acquisitions process, and went through the basic steps of how books are made. The students were all so eager and passionate about books--exactly what were looking for when we hire interns and assistants! Perhaps there were future editors, agents, and authors in that room.
That:
Did anyone watch the Celebrity Apprentice last night? I watched because I knew that Margery Cuyler, publisher of Marshall Cavendish, was going to be a judge. And the task? Write and produce a children's book, and then give a live performance of the book to a group of four- and five-year-olds. If you're curious, you can watch the show on the NBC site, although I'm not quite sure if I'd recommend wasting your time. The books produced were not as horrible as I feared they would be, and granted, writing a book in a committee in a day or two is a pretty tough challenge. But my biggest takeaway? Who knew that Star Jones and Dionne Warwick were such egomaniac, bullying jerks? I'll never hear the song "That's What Friends Are For" the same way again. Also, I feel certain that Margery Cuyler is going to be inundated with rhyming picture books and stories about animals very soon. Oh wait, she probably already is.
The other:
Remember that photo shoot I posted about here and here? Check out Laini Taylor's blog post here to see the cover revealed! The book is Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the first in a new trilogy, coming out this October. The book is absolutely magical, but more on that later.
P.S. We're looking for more Hip Scouts--teen readers who would be excited to receive free advance reading copies in exchange for reviews. I posted about them a while ago, and the info still holds, so see this post for more info.
