Blockbuster books = blockbuster movies

Saoirse Ronan in How I Live Now. Photo by Magnolia Pictures.

Meg Rosoff’s acclaimed How I Live Now (Random, 2004) is about a NYC girl who spends an idyllic summer with her cousins in England right before an unnamed aggressor invades the UK and threatens the world’s existence. Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald is at the helm and Saoirse Ronan and George MacKay star. The film debuts this fall.

The movie adaptation of 2006 bestseller The Book Thief (Random) by Markus Zusak is already building Oscar buzz and will be in theaters on November 15. This World War II drama is directed by Brian Percival, and stars Sophie Nelisse as the titular heroine Liesel, and Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson as her adoptive parents.

Seventh Son is based on the first installment in Joseph Delaney’s “The Last Apprentice” series (HarperCollins). In this dark fantasy, 14-year-old Tom Ward, a seventh son of a seventh son, goes on adventures as the Spook’s apprentice. Sergei Bodrov directs and Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, and Julianne Moore star. It features music composed by Tuomas Kantelinen. Originally scheduled to release on October 18, 2013, it will be out in theaters in 3-D and IMAX 3D on January 17, 2014.

Richelle Mead’s NYT-bestselling Vampire Academy (Penguin, 2007) is getting the film treatment in time for Valentine’s Day, 2014. Written by Daniel Waters of Heathers fame, and directed by his brother Mark Waters of Mean Girls fame, the story of best friends Rose, half-human/half-vampire, and Lissa, a mortal vampire princess who wreak havoc and fall in love at St. Vladimir’s Academy, is in capable hands. Starring Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, and Danila Kozlovsky, the movie is due out on February 14, 2014.

Positioned to be the next “Hunger Games” franchise, the movie adaptation of Veronica Roth’s Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011), featuring Hollywood’s latest sweetheart, Shailene Woodley, will be in theaters on March 21, 2014.

John Green’s chair on the set of In the Fault of Our Stars

One of the most celebrated YA novels of 2012, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton), also starring Shailene Woodley (Hazel), began filming last week in Pittsburgh, and the acclaimed author has been excitedly tweeting and Tumbling from the set with updates. He will be making a cameo appearance in the book-to-film about two teen cancer patients who fall in love. Ansel Elgort plays the male lead, Auggie, Nat Wolff is cast as Isaac, his best friend, and it was recently revealed that Laura Dern will play Hazel’s mother. No film release date yet.

Fans of Gayle Forman’s If I Stay (Dutton, 2009) can breathe a sigh of relief. The film, starring Chloë Moretz, was dropped by Summit earlier this year, but it has since been picked up by MGM. The tearjerker—about a girl who has an out-of-body experience following a car accident that puts her in a coma and kills the rest of her family—will be produced by Denise DiNovi and Alison Greenspan of DiNovi Pictures. No release date yet.

And while Samantha Shannon’s The Bone Season, just published this month, the first in a projected seven-book fantasy series by 21-year-old recent college graduate, is already building buzz for adult and teen audiences. It was recently chosen as the first Today Show book club selection, and the film rights have been acquired by Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish, founders of The Imaginarium production company.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Sequels and more sequels
There’s been lots of casting news for Lionsgate’s final “Hunger Games” installments, based on Suzanne Collins’s books (Scholastic). The studio is currently eyeing Julianne Moore to play President Coin in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Natalie Dormer has been cast in the role of Cressida, while Evan Ross is set to play Messalla, Cressida’s cameraman, and Stef Dawson will step in as Finnick Odair’s love interest, Annie Cresta. In the meantime, fans still have Catching Fire to look forward to, in theaters on November 22, 2013.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes is slated to begin production in the fall with Harald Zwart returning to direct, along with stars Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell. A taste of the sequel was to premiere in Cannes, but general consensus on The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones is still pending.

Already banking on Divergent’s future success as a film, Brian Duffield been commissioned to begin working on the sequel, Insurgent (HarperCollins, 2012).

A dystopian horizon

Directed by Wes Ball, the movie version of James Dashner’s NYT-bestselling The Maze Runner (Delacorte, 2009), about a group of teens trying to survive in an enclosed environment called “The Glade,” is set to premiere in theaters on February 14, 2014. Patricia Clarkson has joined Dylan O’Brien (Thomas) and Kaya Scodelario (Teresa) in the cast as Chancellor Ava Paige.

A film based on Andy Mulligan’s Trash (Random, 2010), seems to be on its way to theaters soon. Rooney Mara (NGO worker named Olivia), Martin Sheen (Father Julliard), and Wagner Moura are now on board. Three street kids—Raphael (Rickson Tevez), Gardo (Eduardo Luis), and Rat (Gabriel Weinstein) live in an unnamed third-world country picking trash, and discover a mysterious bag that triggers a life-changing chain of events. Stephen Daldry is attached as director and Richard Curtis will write the script. Production starts in Rio de Janeiro and it’s already slated for a May 2014 release from Universal.

Many kidlit fans can attest that Lois Lowry’s Newbery-winning The Giver (Houghton, 1993) is the precursor to many of today’s dystopian YAs. Finally, the wheels for a film adaption have been set in motion. Brenton Thwaites will play an aged-up Jonas (the Receiver of memories) and Jeff Bridges is cast as the title character. Meryl Streep is in talks to play the society’s Chief Elder, tasked with assigning roles to the young denizens of a seemingly perfect world. Philip Noyce is attached as director and no release date has been yet announced.

Another pre-Hunger Games may be coming to a theater near you. Scott Westerfeld’s “Uglies” series (S & S) is possibly in the pipeline again. The Australian author revealed via Twitter in July that Davis Entertainment and Lola VFX are in talks to team up and produce his NYT-best-selling trilogy, which chronicles the adventures of Tally Youngblood, a teen who unravels her “pretty” world’s ugly secrets.

SLJ Best Adult Book for Teens The Age of Miracles (Random, 2012) by Karen Thompson Walker, finally has a director lined up for its highly anticipated movie adaptation: Catherine Hardwicke, of Twilight-fame. River Road Entertainment’s Bill Pohlad will produce and Seth Lochhead is writing the screenplay based on the novel about a teen’s coming of age while the Earth’s rotation has begun to slow down.

Rick Yancey’s The 5^th Wave (Putnam, 2013) is inching closer to the big screen. Tobey Maguire’s production company has acquired the rights, and Oscar-nominated Susannah Grant is adapting the dark novel about Cassie’s struggle to survive on an Earth that is slowly being destroyed by aliens.

Paramount Pictures has acquired rights to Joelle Charbonneau’s The Testing (Houghton Harcourt 2013), a YA novel in which a teen is selected for a United Commonwealth program that selects the best and brightest to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization. Very few survive The Testing.

Classic kidlit on screen

Photo by Disney.

Maleficent, the Robert Stromberg-directed Disney film that stars Angelina Jolie as the title character, Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora, and Brenton Thwaites as the prince, will tell the story of Sleeping Beauty from the Queen’s point of view. It is set to release on July 2, 2014.

Jennifer Garner, Steve Carell, Ed Oxenbould, and Bella Thorne have been filming Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, based on the award-winning picture book by Judith Viorst that follows young Alexander through the trials of one very bad day. Coming to theaters on October 10, 2014, the live-action movie is directed Miguel Arteta, and was adapted by Rob Lieber.

The Cinderella fairy tale is also getting another treatment in a film directed by Kenneth Branagh. The star-studded cast includes Lily James as the title character, Richard Madden as Prince Charming, Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother Lady Tremaine, Helena Bonham Carter as Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, Hayley Atwell as Cinderella’s biological mother, and Stellan Skarsgard as the Grand Duke. It’s due in theaters on March 13, 2015.

The classic French novella The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery will get a star-studded cast for its future film animated adaptation.  Marion Cotillard, James Franco, Rachel McAdams, Jeff Bridges, Benicio Del Toro, Mackenzie Foy and Paul Giamatti are already on board to voice characters in sweet story about a pilot who crash-lands in the desert and meets a boy who claims to have fallen to Earth from his home on an asteroid. Bridges will voice the pilot and Cotillard is in talks to take on the part of a rose. Mark Osborne is attached to direct.

Warner Bros. is making a movie based on the Archie comics series. The long-running comic about a teen and his friends set in the fictional Riverdale will be adapted by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by Jason Moore. It will feature the comics’ first openly gay character, Kevin Keller, and rivals for Archie’s heart, Betty and Veronica, among other Riverdale residents.

Warner Bros. is also in final negotiations to pick up the movie rights to the iconic “Encyclopedia Brown” (Penguin) children’s book series for an adaptation to be produced by Roy Lee and Howard David Deutsch. Donald J. Sobol wrote 28 books, from 1963 until his death in 2012, about the intrepid young detective and his friends.

For middle grade moviegoers

Laika Entertainment has scheduled a release date for The Boxtrolls on September 26, 2014, a stop-motion animated film based on Alan Snow’s graphic novel series “The Ratbridge Chronicles” (S & S). Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi have teamed up to direct this project about a boy who allies himself with boxtrolls, cabbageheads, pirates, rats, a retired lawyer, and other silly characters to save the town of Ratbridge from villainous kidnappers. The cast of voice actors includes Elle Fanning, Simon Pegg, Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Nick Frost, and Jared Harris.

Disney has teamed up with the Weinstein Co. to develop a book-to-film adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl (Disney, 2001). The movie will be based on the first two books in the “Artemis Fowl” series, which chronicles the adventures of a 12-year-old criminal millionaire mastermind. Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg will handle the script for the live-action film, while Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will producer alongside Weinstein.

In development

Addison Timlin and Jeremy Irvine are set to star in Fallen, an adaptation of Lauren Kate’s best-selling YA series about fallen angels. Produced by Lotus Entertainment and Mayhem Pictures, the film will be directed by Scott Hicks and has been adapted by Kathryn Price, Nicole Millard, and Michael Ross.

Film rights to Emmy Laybourne’s Monument 14 (Feiwel & Friends, 2012) have been acquired by Strange Weather Films. The YA novel focuses on a group of 14 kids who survive an apocalyptic event, and must continue to battle the elements from the shelter of a superstore. Director/Screenwriter Brad Peyton is attached.

Universal Pictures has landed the film rights to Lauren Oliver’s next young adult novel, Panic (2014). Marc Platt will produce the project. The realistic novel is described as Oliver’s return to the grittiness of her first book, Before I Fall (2010, both HarperCollins), which was optioned by Fox 2000.

Ally Carter has two series optioned for film. The rights for “Gallagher Girls” have been acquired by Tonik Productions. These best-selling books share the stories of a group of sexy high-school-aged spies. The “Heist Society” series (both published by Disney/Hyperion) is now with Lionsgate with Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks attached as producers. This series follows a reformed teen thief as she tries to make good and get out of the family con business.

Bryce Clyde Jenkins (from left), Skai Jackson, Anika Noni Rose, Wood Harris and Harrison Knight star as the Watson family in the Hallmark Channel movie The Watsons Go to Birmingham. (Photo courtesy of Crown Media)

On the small screen
Christopher Paul Curtis’s 1995 historical fiction novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, has been adapted for the Hallmark Channel by Tonya Lewis Lee. Directed by Kenny Leo, the film centers on an African American family living in the town of Flint, Michigan, who visit their grandmother’s home in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, a turbulent time during the civil rights movement. The cast includes: Anika Noni Rose, David Alan Grier, Skai Jackson, LaTanya Richardson, Wood Harris, Bryce Jenkins, Pauletta Washington and Harrison Knight. It will have its world premiere on Friday, September 20 (8pm ET).

Kass Morgan’s The 100 (Little, Brown, 2013), a postapocalyptic YA novel, will premiere as a television series on The CW in its 2013–14 midseason.

Roald Dahl’s 1990 illustrated children’s book, Esio Trot, about elderly lovebirds and tortoises, will be adapted into a movie for the BBC, starring Dustin Hoffman and Dame Judi Dench as the couple. Dearbhla Walsh will direct the project, which starts filming in England next month.

 See also:

Page to Screen: Summer Reading Blockbusters, Dystopian Teen Lit, and Childhood Classics

Page to Screen: Upcoming Kids’ Books Set for Film Adaptations

HarperAudio wants you to decide who should be the voice of Four in Allegiant, the final book in Veronica Roth’s young adult “Divergent” trilogy. The first two books—Divergent (2011) and Insurgent (2012, both Katherine Tegen Bks.), have met with critical acclaim and are currently being adapted for the big screen. Set in dystopian Chicago, society is split into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent)—that cultivate a specific virtue. All 16-year-olds must choose one of these groups and devote their entire life to it.

The hardcover edition and the audiobook version of Allegiant will be released in October 2013. The final installment in the series is being written from a split point of view—Tris and Four. Emma Galvin will again perform the part of Tris in the audio version. But it is up to readers to decide who will voice Four. The publisher has chosen four narrators (anonymous for now) and fans can vote for their favorite. Polls are open through August 2 at 12 pm. After casting a vote, teens can enter to win a Kindle Fire KD loaded with copies of the first two titles, a pair of Skullcandy Crusher headphones, 12 Audible credits, and a copy of Allegiant signed by Roth. Only one winner will be selected in a random drawing. The winning narrator will be announced at 5 pm on August 2

Save the Date

The Library of Congress’s 2013 National Book Festival will be held on September 21 and 22 on the National Mall between 9th and 14th Street in Washington, DC, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday September 21st, and from noon to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 22nd. This two-day celebration of literacy and reading will feature a terrific lineup of educational activities and authors, illustrators, and poets, including Katherine Paterson, Paolo Bacigalupi, Susan Cooper, Cynthia Kadohata, Grace Lin, Christopher Myers, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Kadir Nelson, Patrick Ness, and scores of others. Attendees can get books signed, have photos taken with PBS storybook characters, and participate in a variety of other activities. Co-chaired by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, the event is free and open to the public.

Support Literacy

Over the past 10 years, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s Be Book Smart campaign has raised nearly $30 million and has distributed its 10 millionth book to kids in underserved communities. This year alone, from June 21 to July 21, the Be Book Smart campaign, held in Macy’s stores across the country, raised more than $3.9 million through customer supported fundraising campaigns, in-store events, and volunteer activities. “Yet again, all of us at RIF are overwhelmed by the generosity demonstrated by Macy’s and its caring customers who helped make this possible,” noted Carol H. Rasco, president and CEO of RIF. “We are extremely fortunate to have had 10 years of support and commitment from Macy’s to give millions of children the opportunity to dream big, explore new worlds, and to write their best life stories.”

In fact, 2013 already promises a packed calendar of book-related film projects based on popular kid and young adult titles. Check out this roundup of releases that will have your students and patrons heading to the theater—and, hopefully, to bookshelves as well.

Coming Soon

The following adaptations, in order of release date, will be debuting in movie theaters in the coming weeks and months.

Oz the Great and Powerful (PG), starring James Franco, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis, opens in theaters everywhere on March 8. Directed by Spiderman trilogy master Sam Raimi, it’s inspired by Frank L. Baum’s classic, The Wizard of Oz.

Hoping to replicate the Twilight saga’s runaway success, the film version (PG-13) of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host (Little, Brown, 2008), which chronicles the tale of Melanie Stryder’s (Saoirse Ronan) struggle against a parasitic alien that wants to use her to destroy humanity, premieres March 29.

The Roaring Twenties come to life in Baz Lurhmann’s dizzying adaptation (PG) of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. On May 10, moviegoers will watch a star-studded cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby), Carey Mulligan (Daisy Buchanan), and Tobey Maguire (Nick Carraway). Though not a children’s book, it’s certainly a high school curriculum favorite.

Logan Lerman, fresh off his leading role in Perks of Being a Wallflower, steps back into demigod shoes on August 16 in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the sequel to Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief, both based on Rick Riordan’s bestselling series.

The first title in Cassandra Clare’s “The Mortal Instruments” series, City of Bones (S & S, 2007), will be making its way to the big screen on August 23. Lily Collins portrays Clary Fray, a teen from New York City who discovers the secret world of Shadowhunters (super-powered half-angels) when her mother (Lena Headey) is kidnapped by a demon.

The Seventh Son will be coming to theaters on October 18. This dark fantasy is based on the first installment of Joseph Delaney’s “Wardstone Chronicles” (HarperCollins), The Spook’s Apprentice. Ben Barnes plays the title character, and Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore also star.

Sci-fi classic Ender’s Game (St. Martin’s Pr., 1985) by Orson Scott Card will finally be getting the film treatment in this November 1 release. Asa Butterfield, the movie’s star who has been in several book adaptations (Hugo Cabret, Boy in the Striped Pajamas), portrays a military child genius who must save the world from evil aliens. Gavin Hood is both the director and screenwriter. The cast also includes Abigail Breslin (Valentine Wiggin0, Hailee Steinfeld (Petra Arkanian), Harrison Ford (Colonel Hyrum Graff), and Sir Ben Kingsley (Mazer Rackham). Not originally published as a YA novel, it has an avid teen following.

In the Pipeline

Below are several book-to-movie adaptations, scheduled to hit theaters next year, for which fans are already anxiously waiting.

The Maze Runner (Delacorte, 2009) by James Dashner is set for a February 14, 2014, release date; the film will be directed by Wes Bell.

Vampire Academy (Penguin/Razorbill, 2007) by Richelle Meade is also set for a February 14, 2014 release; the film adaptation, called Blood Sisters, will be directed by Mark Waters from a screen play by Daniel Waters. It will star Zooey Deutch (Rose Hathaway), Lucy Fry (Princess Lissa), and Danila Kozlovsky (Dimitri).

Divergent (HarperCollins, 2011) by Veronica Roth will be released on March 21, 2014, directed by Neil Burger from a screenplay by Evan Daugherty. It reportedly will star Shailene Woodley (Tris) and Kate Winslet.

Building Buzz

Several more adaptations have just been announced in recent weeks, although firm details about those projects are continuing to unfold.

John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) will be produced by Fox 2000 and directed by Josh Boone from a screenplay by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It reportedly will star either Shailene Woodley or Hailee Steinfeld.

Gayle Forman’s If I Stay (Dutton, 2009) will be produced by Summit Entertainment and directed by RJ Cutler. It will star Chloë Moretz (Mia).

Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Knopf, 2006) will be produced by Karen Rosenfelt at Fox 2000 and directed by Brian Percival. It will star Sophie Nélisse (Liesel), Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson (foster parents), Ben Schnetzer (Max), and Nico Liersch.

A live-action adaptation of John Rocco’s Blackout (Hyperion/Disney, 2011) will be produced by John Rocco and Ivana Schecter-Garcia at Fox 2000. Will Davies is writing the screenplay. A director has not yet been named.

A new version of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden will be produced by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Johnson from a screenplay by Lucy Alibar. It will be reportedly set in the American Southwest. A director has not yet been named.

Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins, 2008) will be produced by Disney and directed by Ron Howard.

Lois Lowry’s The Giver (Houghton Mifflin, 1992) will be produced by Nikki Silver and reportedly directed by Phillip Noyce. It is set to star Jeff Bridges (The Giver).

Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood (Tor Teen, 2011) will be produced by Stephenie Meyer for Fickle Fish.

Not Yet Published

Several film adaptations are reportedly in the works for as-yet unpublished works.

An adaptation of Margaret Stohl’s Icons (Little, Brown, 2013) will be produced by Alcon Entertainment from a screenplay by Massy Tadjedin. A director has not yet been named.

The film version of Josin L. McQuein’s Arclight (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2013) will be produced by Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment from a screenplay by Matthew Sand. A director has not yet been named.

Meanwhile, on the Small Screen

Film producers aren’t the only ones mining the bookshelf for great ideas. Television network Nick Jr. has already premiered its new CG-animated series The Tales of Peter Rabbit on February 19; it follows the adventures of Peter Rabbit and many other of Beatrix Potter’s beloved animal characters. Other small-screen adaptions include:

Kiera Cass’s The Selection (HarperCollins, 2012) is set to premiere on the CW network. It will be directed by Mark Piznarski, written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, and will star Yael Grobglas (America Singer), Peta Sergeant (Commander Gaia Woods), and Sean Patrick Thomas (Sylvan Santos).

Lauren Oliver’s Delirum (HarperCollins, 2011) will debut on Fox. It will be written by Karyn Usher and produced by Karyn Usher, Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, Paul Mazur, and Mitchell Kaplan at 20th Television. It wills tar Emma Roberts (Lena), Daren Kagasoff (Alex), and Billy Campbell (Thomas Fineman).

Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian’s Burn for Burn (S & S, 2012) will be produced by Barry Josephson Entertainment. A network has not yet been named.

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved classic Anne of Green Gables will get yet a modern-day, contemporary update with this adaptation produced by Joan Lambur at Breakthrough Entertainment. A network has not yet been named.

Jenny Bent, Susan Katz, Joy Peskin, Marisa Russell, Hannah Moskowitz, Betsy Bird. Photo by Galo Delgado.

What are the ingredients that make up a YA bestseller? A panel of seasoned publishing professionals addressed this question and many more at the Women’s National Book Association NYC chapter’s event “The Making of a Young Adult Bestseller-From Acquisition to Reader,” November 14. It was moderated by New York Public Library’s youth materials specialist and Fuse #8 blogger Betsy Bird, at Manhattan’s Wix Lounge, a free work and event space for creative professionals.

Over the course of two hours a group of industry hopefuls—aspiring writers, editors, and agents—heard insider tips, advice, anecdotes, and encouragement from representatives involved in each of the major stages of children’s publishing. Speakers included Jenny Bent, founder and literary agent at the Bent Agency; Susan Katz, president and publisher at HarperCollins Children’s; Hannah Moskowitz, author of several books for teen and middle-grade audiences; Joy Peskin, editorial director at Farrar Straus Giroux for Young Readers; and Marisa Russell, publicity manager at Penguin Young Readers.

The panelists agreed that while there is no magic formula for acquiring and finding “the next big thing,” chart-topping hits usually have a few key elements in common.

When taking on clients and new manuscripts, Bent looks for the perfect balance of great writing and a phenomenal idea. She said she asks herself “Does it leap off the page? Will it resonate with young adult readers?”

Photo by Galo Delgado.

Peskin added that a clue to a title’s possible future success is whether at an editor’s first read, the manuscript has a magnetic pull, much like meeting an exciting new person. That initial gut reaction is what will create an advocate in an editor, who will then push for acquisition and publisher support in the months that follow.

Using the example of Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” series from HarperCollins, Katz credited spunky editors for bringing fast attention to books that deserve a closer look. Once they’ve received and read a stellar manuscript, these individuals then push for a preemptive bid—a preliminary deal, including author advance and contract terms—so high that it would allow a publisher to sign up the book before any auction with competing imprints. “Unfortunately, there are a lot more misses than home runs,” she says, as a high advance doesn’t always equal a grand slam.

Moskowitz, who recently experienced a small auction for one of her titles, assured the audience that an editor’s enthusiasm and connection to the work is just as important as contractual stipulations. “I knew which publisher I wanted to work with on Zombie Tag (Roaring Brook, 2011), because the house sent me the offer in a zombie-themed coffin,” she recalled.

In this competitive market, an author’s ability to self-promote and speak about their book is a publicist’s dream. In addition to a major hook and raising awareness on a new title via radio, print, bloggers, and social media, building buzz through author appearances can really impact a novel’s staying power.

“We were amazed at how YA author, Rae Carson, a former beauty pageant contestant, totally compelled her audience at the New York Comic Con,” Russell said. But if writers are not up to speaking in public, there are different ways they can build a relationship with their readers. “Find your own means of connecting,” whether it’s through Facebook, Twitter, or blogging,” Bent recommended.

For her part, Moskowtiz explained, “I don’t use social media to expand my audience, but to cement it.”

Social media is especially important for authors who self-publish. For those writers, success requires a lot of time dedicated to promotion and marketing. “Trying to sell your self-published novel is a full-time job in itself,” said Bent, who represents both traditionally and self-published writers.

Citing the “Pete the Cat” picture book series (HarperCollins), which was sold by the creators to thousands of fans before being picked up by the publisher, Russell added that popular self-published authors often bring along a built-in fan base to build on.

When publishers feel like they have a potential blockbuster in their hands, they spend considerable time branding the book, brainstorming covers, title, and taglines, and soliciting advance praise in order to provoke excitement.

Peskin struggled with fine tuning the title for YA novelist Leila Sales’s next book, This Song Will Save Your Life (Farrar, 2014), changing it several times before she and Sales were completely satisfied that it accurately reflected the work’s caliber. Bent praised Abrams for getting the packaging just right for A.G. Howard’s Splintered (Abrams, 2013), a creepy retelling of Alice in Wonderland.

In the end, panelists agreed, there’s really no telling whether a book will meet its high expectations, even it if has all the right elements: riveting writing, perfect trappings, and savvy and connected author. The experts encouraged participants to keep working on their craft, and to persevere.

“Write the story that only you can write,” Peskin advised.