News from the wild: Uglies has its own dump bin!
For all you non-publishing industry types, a “dump bin” is one of those cardboard palaces that gives your novels their own little theme-home. Like Barbie’s beach house for books, sort of:
Dump bins are paid for by the publishing company, which humbly begs the bookstore (B&N, in this case) for the right to install them. They cost a lot, but they also attract a lot of eyeballs. Yay for S&S!
This bin was photographed in the wild by Diana Peterfreund, whose debut novel Secret Society Girl just came out last month. It’s a total page-turner about conspiratorial college hi-jinks. (Justine gives it a mini-review here.)
Special props to Diana for breaking the rules. For you see, you’re not allowed to take photos in B&Ns! They think we’re stealing their shelf arrangements, or something. (Stay as bad as you are, baby.) She’s also recently converted from Plutophancy, which is always good to see.
And also check out her hilarious account of having to outline a book for her editor, and her lovely review of the Midnighters series.
Now go buy things of hers and mine.
Pluto Update
The iceball is probably toast:
The bottom line, said the Harvard astronomer Owen Gingerich, chairman of the Planet Definition Committee of the union, is that in the new definition, “Pluto is not a planet.†—NY Times, Aug 23, 2006
That looks exactly like my B&N. We have a dump bin too :D.
Are all B&Ns the same?
(A dump bin of the Uglies Tril, I mean.)
Oops. We aren’t allowed? Really? Well, if that don’t beat all. Well, thank for outing me then, Ratt Westerfeld.
Um, it was the *other* Diana. I don’t even have a camera. I’ve never even been to a B&N. I don’t know what a book is.
Ooooh… a dump bin!!! I’m sorry, can’t we call it something else, like fancy-shmacy-decorated-cardboard-psuedo-bookshelf?
“Dump Bin” sounds like something Harry Potter would have to dive in to hide from Filch.
Hurrah! It’s taller than me.
Yay!! 🙂
You should ask to take one for your apartment. Acually, you probably already have one. So nevermind.
Wow! That dump is niiiiiice, Scott.
Just one tiny thing–bookstores buy dump bins packaged together with books. No begging. Well, a little begging. You can see them in the back of the catalog.
sweet! i want a dump bin… that is so cool, i would by the trilogy but i already own all of them 🙂
Stealing shelf arrangements? Well, I suppose that would be hard to do without taking pictures – since nobody else knows how to alphabatize books on shelves except B&N. Hah.
No pictures. What a strange rule.
Hmm…the picture on the top of the bin-thingy is the mirror image of the one on the cover of Uglies. I wonder what way the picture was actually taken…
Stealing their shelf arrangements? WTF?! That is nuts. Since when are they copyrighted?
Oooh, that dump bin looks so cool. I may get off my duff and go to a B&N just so I can see one. And take pictures of it. Mwahahahaha!!
Diana Peterfreund’s book is next on my list. 😀
I wonder what B&N does with those dump bins afterward. Maybe I could get one!! My new dorm doesn’t have any bookshelves, and it’s kind of driving me crazy.
ha, it’s official: “Astronomers declare Pluto no longer a planet” http://news.yahoo.com/fc/science/astronomy_and_space
oh, it’s the main headline on cnn.com too, “Pluto demoted” hahah
Wow, I really didn’t know that Pluto was no longer a planet :o…. that’s going to take a while to get used to. Gives me an excuse to get into a debate with my Science professor. haha.
As for the dump bin, which is quite an odd name, it looks very nice. I get frustrated when they dont stock up with sequels, so I’m sure that bookstore is going up in sales 😀
Here where I live they have another cover for ‘Uglies’, one with mini manequinns in a silver bowl, but I have the original.
why is Tally prettier as an ugly than as a pretty??? take that, image-obsessed society.
She’s really pretty in the full image…
I got my own dump bin for my stuff at home. Only, it’s more like a bin, in which I dump stuff…
Rebecca: Usually, they throw them away.
Actually, corporate is more concerned that rivals, reportors and local authors will use photos as proof of inventory than they are worried that Borders will steal any of our layouts. We are, in fact, instructed to never tell anyone any inventory or sales info – a rule we break routinely when we tell customers “The computer says we have one, let me see if I can find it.” Oh, and we recieved and sold several thousand copies of HP:HBP last year – just in case anyone cares.
Managers only care because corporate does and because authors can be damn annoying at times – “Why do you only have 1 copy of my book – it’s going to be a bestseller, I tell you!” Our estimable host excluded, I’m sure – besides, you all have my blessing to bug any store not smart enough to carry plenty of copies of Scott’s books.
I, personally, don’t give a shit and will say nothing to people taking photos – so no worries if you happen to wander into my store.
Turns out we are also required to destroy any dumps when we are done using them and can never give them away. Supposedly it’s because of copyright issues, which is complete bull – copyright doesn’t cover change of ownership – so it must be in the contracts with the publisher. Blame S&S’s marketing department. Or, rather, blame Disney (as usual) for making such a big stink about the Johnny Depp standees they kept sending us when Pirates 2 – and all the movie-tie-in books – came out.
Anyway, this is why – being the rule follower that I am – I have several of those pretty 3-D dump tops sitting in my room waiting for the day I either own my own store or am in charge of some kid’s section at a library. And, of course, my cousins have several hanging up in their rooms as well.
Unfortunately someone trashed that particular Uglies dump before I could snag the top. %@#$!
psst – anyone who wants to try and snag one can always go digging through the dumpsters behind the store. They usually keep cardboard and trash bags sorta seperate, so it’s not like you’d have to go digging through actual trash. I’d also suggest bringing a friend to act as a lookout for employees bringing more trash to the dumpsters. I would not suggest asking an employee instead, however, unless you know one personally – we get in trouble if we say yes. I also wouldn’t suggest trying to use dumps as bookshelves without some re-working; they don’t last very long as designed.
cool! ive seen a dump bin like that in my local bookstores, but they werent for UGLIES, or the other books in the tril.
UGLIES PRETTIES SPECIALS= BEST BOOKS EVER
We’re the guys who actually make the “dumps” for the publishers and we call them ‘displays’
We also sell them in small quantities to authors and small publishers, see our website, http://www.bookdisplays.com, or call Frank Matonti, VP Sales at 973-736-1224 x 18 for details.
That was a good Midnighters review (I know this was about Uglies, but…). I like how she brought up the poison bit. That was one of my favorite-if-tiny parts in the book. I like little weird details.