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| SMART PIGGY'S NEWSLETTER By Audrey Wood Compiled by Heath Uliasz August 2000 Issue #17 Dear Friends, JUBAL ON ICE You can tell the publicity rush for our new book, JUBAL’S WISH, has begun. We just missed our first newsletter in 18 months. Publicity requires a lot of writing (press releases, blurbs, ads, questions and answers), a lot of talking (presentations, interviews) and a lot of travel. In June and July we were in Chicago twice, five days each time. This is extremely rough work. We have to stay in fancy hotels (literally the "Ritz"), eat in fancy restaurants every night, and people line up for our books and provide a steady stream of compliments. Occasionally, we have to stand up and speak for a few minutes. The first trip to Chicago was for Book Expo America, the national convention of booksellers. The booksellers have a rule that you can’t sell books at Book Expo. Booksellers don’t want to buy books. If you want your book to have a presence at Book Expo, you have to give it away. This works out well for the booksellers. It is, of course, amazing how quickly books can be distributed when they are free. We signed 300 JUBAL’S WISH in one hour. We also signed numerous JUBAL’S WISH posters, which are the best posters of our careers. Gorgeous! (Perhaps we will receive a sufficient supply to make these available to newsletter subscribers.) Our second trip to Chicago was to attend the American Library Association’s national convention. Since the librarians do not have a rule against selling books, they have to pay wholesale. The benefit, as any beginning student of economics could predict, is that librarians have many more opportunities to get their hands on new books. We held several signings, both at Scholastic and Harcourt. On the first night of the librarian convention, Scholastic threw their "late night" party. They rented all three floors of the huge Chicago FAO Schwartz toy store, stocked it with all manners of treats and drinks, and threw in a jazz band. The place was crammed, and the effect was dream-like. Conversations were being held amidst the Day-Glo colors of the Barbie Doll pit, serious literary types were debating the future of children’s’ literature surrounded by racks of bright tutus, and dignified publishers held court among life-sized stuffed animals. Bonnie Verberg, our editor, intercepted us on the first floor, and, with a secretive smile, said she wanted to show us something. We took the long escalator, crowded three abreast with librarians, up to the second floor. There, next to the main course vittles, and a happening jazz band, was one of the most impressive sights of our career. A scene from JUBAL’S WISH, meticulously carved out of ice, stood glistening in the lights and color. Mounted on a table, the five-foot tall sculpture of a wizard wearing a peaked hat covered with moons and stars, and holding the small frog in his hand, towered above us. Audrey and I were incredulous. The impact of the sculpture was heightened by the fact that I had used Audrey’s father as the model for the wizard, and the artist had made such an accurate reproduction that there was Audrey’s dad, his face three feet long, staring down at us. As the party heated up, the wizard began to melt. An embarrassing drip formed on the end of his prominent nose, and began to drip-drop steadily. However, the wizard’s presence was so strong that he was easily able to maintain his dignity, despite this all too realistic problem. We are now planning our tours and presentations for the fall. East, Mid-West, and the West -- it promises to be an interesting season since we will be visiting all regions. Don Wood ****************************************************************** THE CLUBHOUSE GOT AN INTERFACE-LIFT! We gave our web site’s homepage a little digital surgery to create a new and improved look. The new interface makes navigating through The Audrey Wood Clubhouse even easier than before. You’ll still find all your favorite areas and some new additions as well. Please stop by and visit, and let us know what you think by e-mailing us at info@audreywood.com. ****************************************************************** A CLASSES COMMENTS! Dear Ms. Wood: We are a 2nd and 3rd grade summer reading class at Hubbard Elementary School in Noble, Oklahoma. You were our author of the day. We read Elbert's Bad Word, King Bidgood's In the Bathtub, The Bunyans, and Heckedy Peg. Here are some of our favorite things in the story: Brett: I liked it when they each got stuff that their mom got from the market. Zach: My favorite part was when they liked to get their presents. And when the witch turned them into food and when the mother had to take off her shoes, socks and feet. When she put them underneath her dress. Ana: When the witch turned the kids into food. Courtney: I liked the part when the witch turned the kids into food and when the witch told her to take off her shoes, socks, feet and hid them under her skirt. And then, I liked the whole story. Rachel: My favorite part was when the witch turned the kids into food and when the witch told her to take off her shoes, socks, feet and hid them under her skirt. And when she went into the witch's house and told her to find who as who. Tony: When the witch turned them into food. Sarah: My favorite part was when the witch turned the kids into food and when the witch told her to take off her shoes, socks, feet and hid them under her skirt. And when she went into the witch's house and told her to find who as who. Ariel: I liked the part where the witch went to the house and said she had a broken leg. I liked the part when the mother had to take off her shoes, socks and hid her feet under the skirt. We have really enjoyed learning about you. Sincerely, Mrs. Fox's Class ------------------------ Hi Mrs. Fox's Class, Thank you all for your wonderful comments about our books. Most of you seemed to really like the part in HECKEDY PEG when the witch turns the children into food. This is also one of our favorite parts too. As a matter of fact, we enjoyed your comments so much, that we are going to add your letter to our monthly newsletter, called Smart Piggy's Newsletter. Thank you again, Audrey Wood ****************************************************************** AND THE WINNER IS... Congratulations to Margaret Britton of Huntington Station, NY! She won a free autographed copy of ELBERT’S BAD WORD from Audrey and Don Wood! THE JUNE CONTEST QUESTION WAS: In Audrey Wood’s book, ELBERT’S , what landed with a thud on Elbert’s great toe?" ANSWER: The croquet mallet! Thanks for all of your entries! ****************************************************************** AUGUST CONTEST!!!!!!!!! DON'T MISS OUT! This month one lucky person will win an autographed copy of Don & Audrey Wood’s New book, JUBAL’S WISH. To enter the contest go to the CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Contest" banner. If you answer the question correctly you will be entered into a random drawing. The winner will be drawn at the end of the month. Good Luck! ****************************************************************** NEW SUBSCRIBERS! Check out our past Smart Piggy's Newsletters! Enter THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link, then click on "Smart Piggy's Newsletter Past Issues" link. ****************************************************************** Keep your questions and suggestions coming! Warmest Regards, Audrey Wood Info@audreywood.com http://www.audreywood.com |
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