Reminder: On Monday, March 15th, I'll be talking about vlogging and books in Indianapolis at 7 PM: Indianapolis Public Library 40 E St. Clair St Indianapolis, IN

On Wednesday, I'll be in New York City with David Levithan, Libba Bray, and E. Lockhart doing crazy readers theater at the South Court Room of the New York Public Library's 42nd Street Central Library branch.

Then in April, I'll be on tour a lot. For more info, scroll down. Now then: I have promised to answer your questions and comments. And if there's anything this blog is known for, it's keeping promises. Also breaking promises. But anyway:

"Is it possible for us to buy books at one of the stops on your tour?"

It is not only possible; it is encouraged.

"Why are you not coming to Canada/Seattle/The Moon?"

I would very much like to quit writing and spend all of my time touring to Canada, Seattle, the moon, and your hometown. However, there are a few problems with this plan, most notably that 1. I have a seven-week old son here in the house who demands (and deserves) a lot of attention, and also 2. David Levithan has an actual job, plus 3. I also kinda have a job writing books.

"Man, I wish you could visit Hawaii sometime, John!"

Me, too! My publisher has never offered to fly me to Hawaii to tour, but believe you me, I WOULD NOT TURN THEM DOWN.

"I figured there would be more tour dates. but oh well"

Again, there is this tiny baby who is counting on me to provide him with fresh diapers and lullabies and the like.

"What size shirt do you wear?"

Large, usually.

"Is there a cost for reserving a seat?"

No. The only event that costs money is the one at Symphony Space in New York. You just have to reserve a seat at some of the venues because they are not-huge.

"Prices? Times? please let us know these things, John."

Right, so the price is almost always free; if I know the time, it's listed below. If I don't, it's reasonable to assume that the time will be "early eveningish," but I will certainly give you an exact start time THE MOMENT one has been decided upon.

Hope to see many of you this month and next!

Hope to see you all

Right, so for the last five years, I've been working on this book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson. The novel is about two different people, both named Will Grayson. (One WG is written by me, the other by David.)

It has recently come to my attention that this book comes out in 28 days. So you should preorder it here! Or here! Or here! Or here!

Also David and I are going on TOUR! I hope you will come see us.

First, NEXT MONDAY, MARCH 15, I will be talking about vlogging and books in Indianapolis at 7 PM: Indianapolis Public Library 40 E St. Clair St Indianapolis, IN

UPDATE: I'll be doing crazy readers theater in NEW YORK CITY with David Levithan, Libba Bray, and E. Lockhart on MARCH 17th at 6 PM at South Court Room, New York Public Library, 42nd Street Central Library.

Then on April 6th, the real tour begins!

Tuesday April 6, 7PM
Andersons Bookshop
123 W. Jefferson Avenue, Naperville IL 60540


Wednesday April 7, 7PM
The Book Cellar
4736-38 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago IL 60625


Thursday April 8, 7PM
Boulder Bookstore
1107 Pearl Street, Boulder CO 80302


Friday April 9, 7PM
BookPeople
603 North Lamar; Austin, Texas 78703


Saturday April 10, 7PM
Madison Congregational Church, Hubley Hall
26 Meetinghouse Lane, Madison CT
CALL AHEAD TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT: 203-245-3959


Sunday April 11, 1PM
Symphony Space / Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre and Café
2537 Broadway (at 95th Street)
New York, NY
TICKETED EVENT: http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/59...


Monday April 12
New York City
TIME AND LOCATION TBD


Thursday April 22, 7PM
Borders
6020 E. 82nd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46250


Friday April 23
Los Angeles
DETAILS TO COME


Saturday April 24-Sunday April 25
Los Angeles Times Book Festival


Monday April 26, 7PM
Books Inc/Not Your Mothers Book Club
601 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco CA


If you have questions about WGWG (or anything else), leave 'em in comments. Also, if you want to keep up with the latest goings-on, subscribe to us on youtube or follow me on twitter. Thanks!

Several commenters have pointed out that the UIndy web site seems to disagree with me about the scheduled time of my writing workshop next Monday.

This is because there are, in fact, two events.

There will be a free writing workshop at 4 PM on Monday Feb. 8th at the Wheeler Art Center (1035 Sanders Street # 111 Indianapolis, IN). I will talk about writing and we will do writing exercises and have fun. (Hopefully.) To attend that, rsvp to Bryan Furuness: furuness--at--gmail.com

That evening, I will be reading and talking about my books at 7:30 PM at Good Hall, which is at the corner of E. Hanna and Otterbein. More info on that here. Please attend both!

Sorry for not blogging much. In case you don't follow me on twitter, I had a baby, which can really slow down your blogging. BUT:

If you live in or near Indianapolis and you are a high school student (or can convincingly pretend to be one), I'll be teaching a free writing workshop next Monday, February 8th, at the University of Indianapolis. The workshop will be from 4 PM to 5:30 PM at the Wheeler Art Center (1035 Sanders Street # 111 Indianapolis, IN).

If you'd like to come, RSVP to Bryan Furuness: furuness--at--gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who has responded to the essay I wrote for SLJ about the future of reading and publishing in the US. To answer a few more questions:

1. I am not in any way proposing that physical books are dying as a medium, nor do I imagine some all-digital future for text.

I do believe, however, that the survival of printed text won't matter very much from a business perspective, because the big issue is not the medium but the distribution network.

The distribution network--insofar as it still involves bookstores--is in big trouble. (As pointed out in the essay, the stock price for chain bookstores is a good indicator of how serious a challenge they face.) Whether you buy physical books or ebooks has no bearing on the survival of bookstores; all that matters is where you buy the books, and increasingly we buy them either at Amazon or at Wal-Mart.

2. Several librarians have commented and/or emailed that because they are not collection development specialists, they have little or no say in deciding which titles are purchased or how they are purchased.

I (respectfully and lovingly!) disagree, because, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but:

A. Librarians who work with teenagers and children can affect the circulation of titles in their library by being the ambitious bakers I talk about in the essay; collection development specialists pay close attention to circulation numbers.

B. The idea of "collection development" is a lot broader now than it was back before the Internet. You may not buy the books that get shelved in your library, but you can (if you want) turn your kids on to This Is Not Tom or many other hypertext novels, which amounts to collection development.

C. One may feel at times that collection development specialists listen to any person on the street as much as they listen to branch librarians, but you have (and should have!) advantages over the rest of us: You have more expertise and a deeper knowledge of your patrons. If your library system isn't set up to reflect this, then (imho) they're missing an opportunity.

More questions? Leave 'em in comments. Thanks!