Amazon Vs Macmillan! Goliath Vs Goliath! I'm a little David with no rocks to be found anywhere!

As I was alerted by the talented Ms. Colleen Venable, and directed to this article on the New York Times, Amazon (they get no link) has pulled down all of Macmillan Publishings titles in a dispute with the publisher over the price of ebooks for their Kindle reader. Now both First Second and Roaring Brook Press, two companies with whom I have published the majority of my books, fall under the Macmillan banner ( as well as Henry Holt, St. Martins, FSG and others) so they're all yanked; What's worse, since all of my work has included full color illustrations, they weren't even eligible for Kindle-ation, so I'm just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

Realistically, this will all be resolved soon, I'm sure. However, if you're reading this, and you were planning to buy one of my books at some point in the near future, may I humbly suggest you do it right now, at a place other than Amazon?

Real Blushworthy Zeus mention in The School Library Journal

Well, sometimes in this business people write some nice things about your work, and sometimes they write some really nice things about your work, and then there's this.

The good folks at Macmillan (the parent company of Roaring Brook and First Second) recently hosted an event where they presented some of the companies upcoming offerings to an invited crowd of Alpha Librarians (the best sort of friends one can hope to have for your book. Librarians are teh awesome). The above link takes you to a preview of some of the offerings they saw. My own Zeus comes way down at the bottom. As the title of this post may lead you to believe, they say some very nice things indeed.

Thanks to Tim Bush and Sara Hudson (by way of Phil Stead, apparently) for the heads-upses.

The first couple of pages from Uncle Bigfoot

 Like the title of the post says, a sneak peek at the first couple of pages of story from my newest book,  Uncle Bigfoot. Suspense!

A little more Uncle Bigfoot...

Pages 3 and 4. Lotsa little clues beginning to appear, but the thing I'm most proud of is on page 3, where I've worked an Evil Dead reference into my second straight children's picture book.

..and yet even more Uncle Bigfoot

Finishing out this preview sequence are pages 5 and 6. Page 5 is one of my two favorite pages in the book, with the narrator running down his list of possible reasons why someone wouldn't want to be photographed. It's very six-years-old, and , I should say, very me. Page six contains my obligatory self-portrait (with the lovely Arta), as well as a few cameos by some pop-culture icons.

Who's behind the door? Well, the book is called Uncle Bigfoot. The next page is a big foldout, revealing the titular Uncle Bernie in all his hirsute glory. I'd show you here, but certain mysterious forces who don't want you to know would, like, get me. Totally.

Not a joke! Not a hoax! Uncle Bigfoot released today!

A very appropriate shelf date for a book about Bigfoot. My newest picture book explores that situation we all found ourselves in at some point in our lives, when some never-before-seen visitor arrived at your door and you're told they're your uncle/cousin/second cousin, what-have-you. Uncle Bigfoot explores the idea that, what if, instead of being a thrice divorced plumber with a gambling problem from Michigan, your mysterious relative were something a little... different.

Available wherever fine books are sold, beginning April 1st. Seriously.

Click here to write glowing 5 star reviews at Amazon!

Click here to write glowing 5 star reviews at bn.com!

Click here to see a real Bigfoot!