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How to Make Your Own Superhero Lollipops

I love stopping by Robin Klinger’s desk. Sure, most of the time she’s busy handling subsidiary rights and selling our books to folks overseas. But when she isn’t swamped with that sort of thing, she’s taking strolls to Old City Coffee, planning her next epic vacation, and, perhaps most importantly, filling up the candy jars that sit in our lobby.

The candy jars, which range in appearance from a saxophone playing M&M to a magic yellow school bus, are almost always packed to the brim with Tootsie Pops. And now, thanks to Zakkalife, we can decorate the hell out of them, superhero style. Check out those capes and masks!

Thanks for the link, Alicia!

Superhero Lollipop Templates @ Zakkalife

 

Posted by Eric Smith

The Meowmorphosis Book Trailer

We teamed up with our good friend Justin Lutsky over at Epic Image Entertainment for another fantastic book trailer. You might remember Justin from such book trailers as Night of the Living Trekkies. Watch as he brings poor Gregor Samsa to life.

 The video has already found its way to Entertainment Weekly, I Can Haz Cheezburger, Neatorama, Mental Floss, Galley Cat, NY Mag, and Geeks of Doom! Thanks to everyone who has covered it, and to all of you who continue to share it.

Check it out below!

Posted by Eric Smith

Earrings Crafted Out of Vintage Book Pages

Flourish & Debonair, an Etsy seller based out of Knoxville, Tennessee, gives you the option to actually wear old books, as opposed to tossing them in the attic or hocking them on Amazon.

Like these handmade paper bead earrings, crafted using a repurposed vintage science diagram of the nervous and skeletal system. You can clearly see the brain, spine, and nerves in the handcrafted spherical beads. Best use of a science book, EVER. And to top it off, they come in a handmade origami gift box. A nice touch.

Posted by Eric Smith

Art of the Mash-Up @ Brave New Worlds: Photos!

Earlier this year, we announced a contest with our friends the Bridgeman Art Library. They're the folks who give us the awesome artwork for our Quirk Classics series, which our designers then redesign. You can check out some before and after shots of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters, Dreadfully Ever After, and Dawn of the Dreadfuls on Bridgeman's official website, here.

The winners of the Art of the Mash-Up competition had their works framed and displayed in Brave New Worlds, a comic book shop right near our office in Old City Philadelphia that maintains an awesome art gallery. Despite the chilly and rainy weather, the exhibit's opening night had plenty of folks stopping in to scope out the mashed up art… as well as drink our wine, eat our pizza, and snatch up free posters. One of the winners even drove all the way up from St. Louis to see his runner up on display in the gallery

Unfortunately, my camera battery died about 5 minutes into the event… but I did manage to grab a bunch of photos with my iPhone. Have a look at the Flickr gallery below (if you don't have Flash, just go here). Thanks to everyone who stopped by, and a huge thank you to Quirk's Melissa Jacobson, for letting us use her expertise in hanging artwork.

 

Posted by Eric Smith

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, the Book Trailer!

It’s the moment a lot of you have been waiting for! Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After hit stores on Tuesday, and we’ve got a stellar book trailer to go along with launch.

Produced by our talented friends Dirty Robber (who created the stunning Dawn of the Dreadfuls trailer), the trailer is packed full of zombies, intrigue, ninjas, and one seriously epic high-flying kick.

Give it a watch! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do. I’ve embedded it below, but I recommend scoping it out directly on YouTube. Enjoy!

Posted by Eric Smith

Contest: Win a Dreadfully Cute Antidote Necklace

Tomorrow’s the big day. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After hits bookstores everywhere, and we are psyched at the Quirk HQ. If you’re like me, you live in constant fear of the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Your apartment is stocked with non-perishable goods, you scope out optimum “last stand” locations, you have a detailed escape route… all that good stuff. But do you have a plan if you get bitten? Where would you go? How would you treat yourself?

Chances are, if you’re an optimist, you’ll hope for some sort of cure. And we’ve (sort of) got one for you. It won’t save you, but at least you’ll look stylish and prepared.

We’ve got eight of these cute, bright red antidote necklaces up for grabs. All you have to do is give our Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After Facebook page a ‘like’ for a chance to win one. I’ll select eight of you at random come the end of April.

 

Posted by Eric Smith