So you know how sometimes you meet someone and you just instantly click? That’s how it was with me and Maya, my teen guide for the morning. We had breakfast together and talked about everything from middle school to books. I loved hanging out with her, and we could have talked all day except it was time for the keynote address from Libba Bray.

I hate when people say, “You had to be there.” So sorry, but you really had to be there, because I’m afraid I just can’t give over to you how fantastic this keynote was.

Libba talked about lots of things but what really got me was when she talked about what she was like as a teen and how teens are perceived by the world: frightening due to their excellent ability to call out any inauthenticity (more…)

The following is a powerful and important email written by Roy Blount, President of the Authors Guild. It is reprinted with permission:

I’ve been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren’t known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don’t lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn’t in the cards.

We don’t want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let’s mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that’s just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!

There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they’re easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children’s books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they’ll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: “Got to move on, folks. Got some books to write now. You see…we’re the Authors Guild.”

Enjoy the holidays.

Roy Blount Jr.
President
Authors Guild

And now that we’ve all got the holiday spirit, please check out this blog post from Austin’s acclaimed independent bookseller, BookPeople. It catalogs the fabulous books for young readers written by Austin’s awesome authors!