Answer day! (part 1)

Wow.  Just…wow.  I knew I’d get a lot of good questions, but I didn’t expect quite that many quite that fast.

Thanks, everyone, for playing along.

Now, as you might imagine, I won’t be able to answer every one,  but I’m going to do my best to answer the questions that..

A. haven’t already been asked and answered many times (like how many books will there be, why can’t I come to a certain city on tour, etc.).

and B.  aren’t major spoilers for future books (like what happened to Cammie’s dad, who betrays Cammie in book 4, etc.)

So, with that being said, let’s start with some of the questions that seemed to be especially popular!

.

.

..

What does (insert character name) look like?  How do you decide what a character looks like?

This is something that people ask and worry about all the time, but I have to say it’s something about which I never really think.

Whether I’m reading or writing I feel the same way.  It just doesn’t matter to me if Hale’s hair is light or dark or his eyes are blue or brown.  Sometimes strong character features occur to me (like how Liz is blond or Kat’s a brunette or how Cammie’s eyes change color) but beyond the things I specifically mention I don’t really know.  If it matters to you then feel free to make one up and use that in your imagination.  You have my blessing.

.

.

I live in a country other than the United States or Canada—when will your books be available here?

According to the most recent list I have, the Gallagher Girls books (or, at least LYKY) have been sold to the following publishers in the following territories:

UK Rights: Hachette UK                                                  

Brazilian Portuguese Rights: Editora RCP

Australian Rights: Hachette ANZ

Turkish Rights: Tudem Publishers

Russian Rights: AST Publishers

Japanese Rights: Rironsha Ltd

Polish Rights: Wydawnictwo Amber

Complex Chinese Rights: Meowbus Publishing

Hungarian Rights: Kelly Kiado

Thai Rights: Nokhook Publishing

Italian Rights: De Agostini

Indonesian Rights: PT Gramedia

.

Heist Society will be coming (or is already available) from the following publishers:

.

UK Rights: Hachette UK

Australian Rights: Hachette ANZ

German Rights: Fischer Verlag

Japanese Rights: Rironsha

Indonesian Rights: PT Gramedia

A few important things to note:  foreign publishers buy rights to books—not to series.  So just because they’ve published LYKY, for example, doesn’t mean they will have to publish Cross My Heart.

If you want to know when—or if—a book will be on shelves where you live, I suggest you visit the websites for the local publisher or bookstores because, honestly, I really don’t know when a foreign edition is available until I get a copy in the mail (and that is sometimes months or years after the books hit shelves.)

I should also point out that these lists are a few weeks old and they really do change all the time, (for example, right now I have contracts sitting on my desk for Heist Society to be published in France) so if you don’t see your country don’t despair—there may be a deal in the works.

.

.

Why do foreign covers usually look different from US covers?

There are many reasons, the biggest of which is that different covers appeal to different markets.  That’s why Coke bottles in the US look different than the Coke bottles I saw in Italy.  When it comes to foreign book covers, most authors trust foreign publishers to know what will work best on their shelves.  (And, by the way, authors don’t really get a say in covers anyway—even the US ones.)

.

.

Why do books almost always come out later overseas than in the US?

For books that must be translated, that obviously takes a lot of time.  But even for foreign English language editions (like UK and Australia), we’re still talking about different publishers with different lists and business models and ideas for when the books will best perform.  That’s always their call to make.

.

.

Do you have any good books to recommend?

Since the first of the year I have read two totally amazing books: Hunger Games and White Cat by Holly Black (available May 4th.)

.

.

Will you be posting mini excerpts, deleted scenes, sample chapters, etc. from GG4?

There are already a few mini excerpts here and on Twitter.  And, yes, as we get closer to publication I’m sure there will be more.

Deleted scenes is a tougher call, since it’s important that the scene not spoil anything about the book (and at this point, I doubt there any that won’t.)  So, no probably no deleted scenes right now.  Or maybe ever.

Sample chapters?  Maybe.  (But I REALLY don’t want to spoil ANYTHING in the book!)

.

.

Okay, gang, I think that’s enough for today.  Stay tuned because this weekend sometime I hope to tackle some of the more interesting individual questions!

.

.

Thanks again!

Ally

.

l