One of our favorite, almost local (he’s in San Antonio, BookPeople is in Austin) authors has a new book releasing today. That’s right, Rick Riordanof Percy Jackson & the Olympians fame debuts the first book in a new multi-author series today.
Actually, the whole concept is pretty cool. Rick wrote the first book and the overall story arc, but each of the next nine books will be written by a different author. There also are card packs and an online game at Scholastic website with all sorts of big prizes. Between the books, the cards, and the video game aspect, 39 Clues is truly an interactive experience.
It’s also a bit of an experiment. No one has tried this kind of interactivity with a book before. There have been books that have included clues to physical treasure hunts or that allowed kids to enter drawings. However, this is the first book I’ve ever heard of to also include a roll playing card game AND an online video game. The fact that Scholastic chose to have a bunch of authors be involved instead of just safely staying with one well-known author is also a bit of a risk. I am curious to see how all of this turns out in terms of book sales here at the store.
And, of course, since we love Rick, we’ll be having a huge party for him next Friday (Sept. 19) at 4 PM in the BookPeople parking lot. If your in the area and have never come to a book signing with Rick, you should hop on over to the store that Friday. The man is great. Rick talks to every kid that comes up and happily answers any and all questions. He’ll pose for pictures with the kids while he signs books, and in the past at least, has been willing to sign more than one book. He is truly a fantastic author, both in person and between the pages of his books.
If you would like a line ticket for the signing line on Sept. 19, come on into the store and pick up the new 39 Clues book. We’re handing out the line tickets with the purchase of one of the books.
If your curious about the book itself, check out Scholastic’s commercial for the 39 Clues series here.
