Qs and As!

It’s been a while since I’ve answered from Frequently Asked Questions, so here goes:

1. Do you read all of the blog comments?
–Yes. Every single one.

2. Why don’t you reply to blog comments?
–I do sometimes but only very rarely. This is mainly because of time and also because 90% of the questions that are asked in comments are already answered elsewhere on the website (how many books will there be? When will the new book be out? What is the Kat/Heist book? etc). The answers to these questions are available once you look. I’m a big proponent of looking.

Probably 5% don’t have answers yet and possibly never will. (Where are you going on tour? Who will Cammie end up with? When will the movie be out?)

Three percent are questions that are too personal in nature to answer in such a public forum.

One percent I try to answer and then probably don’t get around to it.

And that leaves the 1% I do answer, I guess.

3. Will there be any more contests soon?
–Um…probably not. I might do something to reveal the title of the heist/kat book, but I’ve learned my lesson about prizes. It will be a long time until I do another contest with prizes.

4. Why can’t you make DON’T JUDGE A GIRL BY HER COVER come out sooner?!?!?!?!?
–Even though my part in bringing you GG3 has been over for a few months now, it takes A LOT of people to make a book happen and many of those people still have to do their jobs.

Like the people who print the books. And the people who deliver the books to stores. And the people who work at the stores to make room for and shelve new books. Those wonderful people are on deck now and it’s in everybody’s best interest if we give them room (and time) to work.

5. What are you reading right now?
DULL BOY by the lovely and adorable debut author Sarah Cross.

6. Are you sure you can’t come to my city on tour?
–I would honestly love to, but again, that’s really out of my hands. My publisher is working on the tour details right now and hopefully within the next couple of weeks I will have dates, places, etc. to share.

7. Do you really have an intern? How can I get that job?
–Yes, for the next week or so I will have an intern who will be working with me part-time. His name is Denny and he is a senior at a local high school. Denny wants to be a writer when he grows up so he’s helping me out for the internship requirement at his school. Hopefully Denny himself will weigh in on the subject in the near future.

8. I want to be a writer, how do I do it?
–You start by reading a lot and writing a lot. Oh, and you can go read the extensive list of “for writers” things available on the blog (under the “Tips for Writers” label) and on the website (under FOR WRITERS in the Ally section).

9. Can I send you my book to autograph? Or can you send me autographed bookplates?
–I’m afraid I’m not really set up to accommodate those requests at this time. I’m sorry.

10. Is George Clooney still your fictional boyfriend?
–Yes! Of course he is! (Why? What have you heard?)

11. Any movie news?
–Nope.

12. Why don’t some blog comments ever show up on the site?
–Not all blog comments get approved. This can happen for a wide variety of reasons.

Sometimes we get comments that are inappropriate or offensive, so those get rejected. Other comments might contain spoilers for future books (if someone has read an ARC of GG3 for example) and those get rejected because…well…not everyone has read GG3.

Blog comments that contain personal information (like your name, your email, your MySpace, etc) aren’t approved because I don’t think that’s wise or safe in this day and age.

Sometimes I hit the wrong button. (And, sadly, this has happened on more than one occasion.)

But probably the most frequent reason that comments get rejected is because they contain incorrect information. For example, if someone submits a comment that says “I’m so excited Brad Pitt is going to play Mr. Solomon in the movie!” well, then that’s just a rumor waiting to happen. Because 1. as I’ve said many times they aren’t casting people for the movie at this time. And 2. They certainly haven’t cast Brad Pitt. (Not for a lack of praying and daydreaming on my part.)

Sure, I could approve the Brad Pitt comment and then take the time to comment directly after that person and share the facts, but this has two downsides as well:

1. usually the incorrect comment originated because someone misread or misunderstood something, so there is no guarantee that my correction would be read and understood either, leaving the rumor out there to swell.

And 2. honestly this happens so frequently that I would spend far more time writing blog comments than I spend writing books.

And I think you guys are more partial to the books.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

-Ally