How VANISHED became an Al Roker Book Pick
Over the summer, an announcement was made that Vanished has been selected as the next Al Roker Book Pick on NBC's TODAY Show. This October 4, I will be on TODAY to talk about Vanished with Al and his book club.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Al Roker's Book Club for Kids, it's a segment where a group of kids get to interview an invited children's author on his or her book. These kids are part of a "young critics" club, and after each of them asks the author a question, they give the book a final rating. Al mediates the discussion and usually starts the segment with a question or two as well. Past children's authors have included Rebecca Stead, Kate DiCamillo, Brian Selznick, and others.
Several people have asked me - how did it happen? How did Vanished get picked? So I thought I would share some my experience so far. First of all, I knew NOTHING - absolutely nothing until just a few days before the announcement. I had just got back from ALA, it had been close to a year since VANISHED was published, and so I thought, Okay...it's been a good year, VANISHED is out there in the world, lots of great things have happened, but's it's time to say good-bye and move onto the next project. Then out of the blue, I received a mysterious request from my editor at Disney-Hyperion: publicity wanted some video footage from me. Did I possibly have anything from the Edgars Awards or such?
I had absolutely no footage. At the Edgars, I was too busy gawking at the crowd of writers to even think about shooting a video of myself. The only video I did have was one I made recently with a certain young assistant to demonstrate my progress on the veena. It was cute and short, but homemade. Still, I went ahead and sent it. I asked if I could know what the video would be used for -- I was curious! -- but I was told I would know later only if "something worked out."
Then a few days later I got an email from publicity:
Hi Sheela,
I can now officially reveal the reason for my “mysterious request” for video footage last week: Vanished has been selected as the next Al’s Book Club for Kids pick on NBC’s Today Show! Al will officially announce the news on Wednesday, July 18th at the end of this month’s book club segment.
I was checking email in the basement, and when I saw this, I started screaming. Literally screaming. I couldn't quite get the words out, so everyone upstairs thought something really bad had happened, like I was hurt, or there was a fire, or possibly an earthquake (in the basement). But soon I was able to share what was actually really, really good news. And then of course, I had to wait about two or three days before the announcement was officially made on the TODAY Show, after which I could "go public."
That's basically how it happened on my end. As for what went on behind-the-scenes, I largely don't know. But what I pieced together is that my publicity department pitched the book to the show several months ago. Al has a team of producers who go through a list and then pick titles for the segment. They pick typically 6-8 titles a year, and they chose mine for the next pick. The feature has been running for about 5 years. There is a nice interview with Al about the show here.
As for the video, the team wanted to see if I would be comfortable on camera. Which goes to show that even if you think it's silly and a waste of time, it never hurts to do a few videos here and there, as a way to explore the medium, practice speaking on it, and to be able to showcase yourself and your work in a different way. Because you never know who is going to be watching it, and for what reason.
The funny thing is that I never did that video with this idea in mind. I really did it as a fun way to share my experience of learning a new musical instrument as an adult. And that was probably a good thing, because at least I was relaxed when I was doing it.
So...that is the low down on VANISHED becoming an Al Roker Book Pick.
If you would like to see the segment, you can see it live on television, Thursday, October 4, some time between 9:45 - 10:00 am EST. If you miss it, you can also watch a recorded version later on the TODAY web site after the segment airs.
And of course, I will definitely blog more about my experience after the show, too! :)
For those of you who aren't familiar with Al Roker's Book Club for Kids, it's a segment where a group of kids get to interview an invited children's author on his or her book. These kids are part of a "young critics" club, and after each of them asks the author a question, they give the book a final rating. Al mediates the discussion and usually starts the segment with a question or two as well. Past children's authors have included Rebecca Stead, Kate DiCamillo, Brian Selznick, and others.
Several people have asked me - how did it happen? How did Vanished get picked? So I thought I would share some my experience so far. First of all, I knew NOTHING - absolutely nothing until just a few days before the announcement. I had just got back from ALA, it had been close to a year since VANISHED was published, and so I thought, Okay...it's been a good year, VANISHED is out there in the world, lots of great things have happened, but's it's time to say good-bye and move onto the next project. Then out of the blue, I received a mysterious request from my editor at Disney-Hyperion: publicity wanted some video footage from me. Did I possibly have anything from the Edgars Awards or such?
I had absolutely no footage. At the Edgars, I was too busy gawking at the crowd of writers to even think about shooting a video of myself. The only video I did have was one I made recently with a certain young assistant to demonstrate my progress on the veena. It was cute and short, but homemade. Still, I went ahead and sent it. I asked if I could know what the video would be used for -- I was curious! -- but I was told I would know later only if "something worked out."
Then a few days later I got an email from publicity:
Hi Sheela,
I can now officially reveal the reason for my “mysterious request” for video footage last week: Vanished has been selected as the next Al’s Book Club for Kids pick on NBC’s Today Show! Al will officially announce the news on Wednesday, July 18th at the end of this month’s book club segment.
I was checking email in the basement, and when I saw this, I started screaming. Literally screaming. I couldn't quite get the words out, so everyone upstairs thought something really bad had happened, like I was hurt, or there was a fire, or possibly an earthquake (in the basement). But soon I was able to share what was actually really, really good news. And then of course, I had to wait about two or three days before the announcement was officially made on the TODAY Show, after which I could "go public."
That's basically how it happened on my end. As for what went on behind-the-scenes, I largely don't know. But what I pieced together is that my publicity department pitched the book to the show several months ago. Al has a team of producers who go through a list and then pick titles for the segment. They pick typically 6-8 titles a year, and they chose mine for the next pick. The feature has been running for about 5 years. There is a nice interview with Al about the show here.
As for the video, the team wanted to see if I would be comfortable on camera. Which goes to show that even if you think it's silly and a waste of time, it never hurts to do a few videos here and there, as a way to explore the medium, practice speaking on it, and to be able to showcase yourself and your work in a different way. Because you never know who is going to be watching it, and for what reason.
The funny thing is that I never did that video with this idea in mind. I really did it as a fun way to share my experience of learning a new musical instrument as an adult. And that was probably a good thing, because at least I was relaxed when I was doing it.
So...that is the low down on VANISHED becoming an Al Roker Book Pick.
If you would like to see the segment, you can see it live on television, Thursday, October 4, some time between 9:45 - 10:00 am EST. If you miss it, you can also watch a recorded version later on the TODAY web site after the segment airs.
And of course, I will definitely blog more about my experience after the show, too! :)