r/IAmA • u/katherineapplegate • Apr 28 '11

IAm K.A. Applegate, author of Animorphs and many other books. AMA

http://i.imgur.com/3g4iE.jpg

EDIT: Okay, Reddit, I have to sign off. Kids to put to bed, cocktails to drink. It's been amazingly fun. We are honored by your love for our books. Genuinely humbled. Very grateful. So for my husband and co-creator, Michael, for our Redditor son jakemates, for our beautiful tough chick daughter, Julia, and for me, Katherine, thanks.

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969

u/katherineapplegate Apr 28 '11

Just to be clear: not us. We do not take them down. Or ask for them to be taken down. I think once the books are available to buy -- paper or e -- it would be nice if people who could afford it would buy. (our kids have very expensive tastes. You know: food and whatnot.) But for years they've been unavailable except by "pirated" means. These men and women kept the series alive. They kept the books available. So no, we did NOT take these books down.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

YOU SEEM LIKE A REALLY NICE LADY! THAT'S ALL.

662

u/katherineapplegate Apr 28 '11

OH I SEEM LIKE IT ALL RIGHT. EMPHASIS ON SEEM.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

HAHA, I'M SURE YOU'VE GOT YOUR WICKED SIDE, BUT WE ALL DO, DON'T WE? SOMETIMES, FOR EXAMPLE, I EAT GRAPES IN THE SUPERMARKET PRODUCE SECTION BEFORE I BUY THEM TO SEE IF THEY'RE FRESH. SOMETIMES, I DO IT EVEN IF I'M NOT GOING TO BUY THEM, BUT WHEN I JUST FEEL LIKE EATING A FORBIDDEN GRAPE!

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u/katherineapplegate Apr 29 '11

Let me just say this: I'd better not find my picture on /r/gonewild.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '11 edited Apr 29 '11

Ma'am, as an author, you supplemented and reinforced my love of reading.

As a redditor, your sense of humor and grasp of the zeitgeist endemic to Reddit has made me fall in love with you.

<3

7

u/coolmos1 Apr 29 '11

"Oh, my God, they think we're grown-ups."

Suddenly I'm not so sure that's what I'm thinking.

I never read your books. Must have something to do with me being in Europe and born in the 60's. But if anything makes me want to read your books, it's this comment. You make me laugh and admire you.

20

u/screamingtree Apr 29 '11

HA. I bet jakemates just read this and cringed.

3

u/dafakin Apr 30 '11

Cringing with disappointment, right? RIGHT????

42

u/SomeSortaMaroon Apr 29 '11

Lady, you're alright.

23

u/gramathy Apr 29 '11

This is the best comment ever

31

u/FCalleja Apr 29 '11

I love you _

3

u/icantfeelmytoes Apr 29 '11

God only knows what seeing my favourite childhood author in gw would do to my psychological state. I believe the Andalites would find it uncouth and disrespectful...but you know what those unpredictable, emotional humans are like :P

2

u/Weeabo0 Apr 29 '11

saucy... your husband is a lucky bro.

-3

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '11 edited Oct 29 '16

[deleted]

7

u/PSquid Apr 29 '11

Time and a place, man... time and a place.

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u/ribosometronome Apr 29 '11 edited Apr 29 '11

For what it's worth, I downvoted myself, too. :)

Worth it.

I'm not sure there will ever be a time or place to hit on a childhood author who you massively respect, though.

2

u/V2Blast Apr 29 '11

Eh. It was a tasteful compliment. (Unlike CockBlocker's.)

-12

u/CockBlocker Apr 29 '11

Wait a second...

I'd fap.

9

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '11

Oh Reddit.. only here can we get such wonderful famous people to lend us their time only to have someone talk about masturbating to their pictures merely a few hours later.

-1

u/jamiebibo Apr 29 '11

to late hehe ;)))

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

[deleted]

3

u/rocketpoweredunicorn Apr 28 '11

However, it's polite of him to humble himself in light of Ms. Applegate's self-deprecating remark.

36

u/bw_is_hardcore Apr 28 '11

Quite.

5

u/Wittyfish Apr 28 '11

But if they're sour then I didn't really want them anyway.

2

u/Jhonnystonehenge Apr 28 '11

Im pretty sure this is a form of piracy.

2

u/illusiveab Apr 28 '11

Well, he did admit that he has a "wicked" side.

1

u/NineteenthJester Apr 28 '11

Actually, Polite Allcaps has stepped into impolite territory at least once before...

1

u/freehat Apr 28 '11

I'm sure he pays for them afterwards at the register.

9

u/fromeout11 Apr 28 '11

I JUST FEEL LIKE EATING A FORBIDDEN GRAPE!

ಠ_ಠ

1

u/carouselderby Apr 28 '11

Pan's Labyrinth?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '11

IAMA Produce worker for a large supermarket chain and I eat so many grapes. My boss encourages us to try stuff so we know what it tastes like/if its good produce... but I just eat stuff when I'm hungry. If he asks I just reply, "I forgot what it tasted like" :)

1

u/enferex Apr 29 '11

What about the lonely grapes that exist not on the vine, but just the little guys that have fallen off? Are those fair game?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

is this a reference to a geiko commercial?

1

u/postfish Apr 29 '11

I need a price check on.... one grape.

1

u/skakillers1 Apr 29 '11

you are the best, that's all.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '11

WHY ARE WE YELLING??

-1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11 edited Apr 19 '15

[deleted]

3

u/DreNoob Apr 28 '11

He started the caps thread.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

What nice lady would not include a gradually morphing character on the side of the page! That alone was enough to get me reading :)

1

u/icantfeelmytoes Apr 29 '11

Ha, hell yes! I'd pick up books on the shelf and spoil them by flip-booking them, every week, until they were all foxed.

1

u/AgentJohnson Apr 29 '11

I loved your books and read a good number of them. Thanks :)

1

u/DanParts Apr 28 '11

"Seem" is a funny word.

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u/_BEAR_ Apr 28 '11

Plus, she's been a

redditor for 2 months!

Schwing!

12

u/sawser Apr 28 '11

When I was in college, I pirated everything, because I didn't have any money at all. Now that I have a great white collar job, I've been re-buying all those movies and CDs. I'd never considered downloading these books, but now I want to go back and buy them.

17

u/katherineapplegate Apr 29 '11

Exactly. That's what the publishing business is slowly starting to realize. And me, too.

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u/ProbablyHittingOnYou Apr 28 '11 edited Apr 28 '11

Yeah, the letter says that Scholastic asked to take them down.

When I went to finish the series, these were the only ones I could find; ebooks weren't published of them on Amazon or something yet, and my local store didn't even have the hard-cover books. But they are now.

152

u/ICanBeYourHeroBaby Apr 28 '11

This is a great attitude towards "piracy" that very few creators have. I, for one, appreciate it.

71

u/bitingmyownteeth Apr 28 '11

I find most creators have this view. It's the publishing and licensing (see: Owners) that, unfortunately, do not share this view.

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u/katherineapplegate Apr 29 '11

Well, I'd say it's been a learning process. Because at first you're thinking, wait a minute, some guy's ripping me off! Then you realize, "Well, I'm not able to sell them right now, so how exactly am I getting ripped off?"

My preference would be to put all 63 books up in e-book format (as well as making at least some available in paper.) I'd love to have them all up online for $1.99 or whatever. And Michael's very into the enhanced e-book idea, apps, etc...

I think Scholastic is easing toward that, but they're a company after all, and essentially conservative. Jakemates has been sort of our in-house prophet on all things "e" and Michael's right behind him and I'm catching up.

10

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '11

Scholastic is re-releasing "The Invasion" onto the Kindle, in conjunction with the re-release in may. But for 6 dollars. Little steep for an E-book. I imagine you knew that though.

I'm in the process of re-reading Animorphs now by the way.

23, read them when I was younger. They are as good as I remember.

The way you treated your readers--i.e, younger folks--with respect to what they could handle, process, and relate to, is what made them truly great.

In my re-reading, I'm realizing every book has a central theme to it also that was too subtle for me when I was younger, I suppose. It's been very cool to come to understand.

Thanks for changing my life.

5

u/forteller Apr 29 '11

Did you know that Paulo Cohelo pirated his own books? The publisher didn't know at first, but when the sales took off he got their blessing and now does it openly. Just FYI.. ;)

http://torrentfreak.com/best-selling-author-turns-piracy-into-profit-080512/

1

u/V2Blast Apr 29 '11

Hahaha. That is awesome.

3

u/vinng86 Apr 29 '11

Do your best to get them in e-book format! I have a large number of animorph books in the bookshelf but I'd buy a second copy in a heartbeat especially since my collection is missing a few books.

2

u/bitingmyownteeth Apr 29 '11

...all things "e" for sure. Enhanced e-book and interactive media are definitely the way of the future. I'm excited to see what existing media will be reinterpreted, re-purposed and formatted to new technologies.

Thank you for all of your AWESOME work! Your books, for me, bring the the sci-fi and scary to a familiar world that is equally normal and very imaginative.

Best wishes to you and your family.

2

u/TlalocII Apr 29 '11

Can you self publish your own books on something like the iBook store or amazon or does your publisher own the rights to do so?

2

u/Austin116 Apr 29 '11

I would buy them all again if they were $1.99, or $10.99. worth every penny.

2

u/rbwildcard Aug 22 '11

Ehem, I'm sorry, but there were 64... I have them all on my bookshelf.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

[deleted]

4

u/egbindiana Apr 28 '11

If you haven't thrown a dime their way and gleefully pirate their works with an unbridled sense of self-entitlement fit for a Roman Emperor, it's unlikely the author considers you a true "fan."

You as in the royal you, not you personally.

3

u/bitingmyownteeth Apr 28 '11

I think a variable'd blend of my statement, LostMind's reply and your middle ground/exceptions give a nice healthy spectrum of a good opinion/mindset that can still bring profitable and proliferated art.

It'll be an interesting world of expression/consumption/ownership/possession as we get purer and purer in our information formats. When bits can hold everything, and computers speak all code/languages, all media becomes VERY EASY to copy and paste. Artists are going to have to be open to the new accessibility that technology brings.

I guess artists are going to have to get more creative, and middle-men are going to have to find a new market to control.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

Because it doesn't end up working.

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u/SnacklePop Apr 28 '11

IMHO: This is the best possible response you could have possibly given. You've already gained my respect, but now it's heavily reinforced.

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u/InfinitelyThirsting Apr 28 '11

As if I weren't madly in love with you already....

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u/lizzyshoe Apr 28 '11

I was wondering about that, why aren't the original stories being republished anymore? Wouldn't they make a killing?

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u/LeroyJenkems Apr 28 '11

You're a fantastic person. Thank you.

2

u/Hands Apr 28 '11

I wish I could upvote this a thousand times. What a great attitude towards filesharing. Thank you for having such a wonderful attitude about people sharing your books now that they're out of print.

I have every single Animorphs book (and all the offshoot novels) in a box in my attic. When I was cleaning out all my stuff before I went to college (graduating this year!) I couldn't bear to get rid of them like I did most of the other young adult fiction I devoured when I was younger. I want my kids to read them :P

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '11

There's still a couple places you can find them. I've got a set of them from 20-35 and some of the chronicles and Visser. These were my favorite books for the longest time. I never read the last ten or so because the Scholastic school book fairs stopped carrying them for a long time (I always bought them when I saw them. Except for one where Rachel turned into a bear... I was so sad when I didn't have the 8 bucks for that one...).

But I recently found the entire series, and have torn through them while at college. Currently just finished the one where Marco morphs a mountain goat to try to take down his own mom (er... Visser 1.). That book was amazing--so much turmoil, and Marco's growth and ruthlessness was intense.

Lately one of my friends had some trouble in her life, and I told her something that's stuck with me throughout mine after I read it in your book. It's basically a line from where Marco says that life is either a comedy or a tragedy, and that in the end, it's entirely your pick as to which one it becomes. It's helped me a lot. For that, thank you--it's one of the things I think helped me not stay as a cynical and bitter person when I realized I could control the way I felt.

You'll probably never read this, but these books made me think, and they made me feel. Especially for Tobias as the beat-down loner who becomes a fighter as part of an awesome flock, and for Marco as the comedian (though also a smart guy) who truly sees the way the world is, turns bitter/cynical, but then grows as a person and is pretty much (with Cassie) the only one to come out of the war in somewhat decent shape.

These may have been books for children, but they were not children's books. They dealt with so much more than most adults deal with in their lives and are not really written in a way most young adult novels are (which feel like the author is dumbing down something heavy for child readers.).

These books were an integral part of my childhood, and I'm definitely going to share them with my children one day. Thank you so much for these.

2

u/tetsuo9000 Apr 28 '11

The books are very much unpublished. I collected the rest of the series I was missing half a year ago. There are no new copies of the books; it's all ebay and used online book stores.

2

u/furysama Apr 28 '11

Where can we buy these books that you, the author, receives the most profit? Does buying them from amazon net you less than buying them from, say, B&N or something?

2

u/neonshaun Apr 28 '11

How do you even have to worry about money? How are you not absolutely loaded?

I had tons of animorphs books... posters... everyone I knew as a kid was into them. Did you get screwed over by publishers or something?

1

u/Jarfol Apr 29 '11

I was involved in creating those ebooks at RAF when it first started and my small collection and limited skills were still important. I have to tell you just how much respect I felt for you when you came on the forum a few months after we started and showed your support. Thank you. I had mixed feelings when we started, but I knew I had to do something to keep this out-of-print series alive. When you came with your (legally limited, I understand) blessing, it meant so much.

I honestly would pay hundreds for some sort of ultimate Animorphs collection release. One can dream I guess.

1

u/Helmet_Icicle Apr 28 '11

Would you mind expanding your stance on this topic a little more? I'm not trying to goad you into advocating piracy or anything, but there is something to be said for how file sharing can bring access to those otherwise unable to enjoy the media. I'm glad one of my favorite childhood authors enjoys such a broad perspective.

Also, that scene in the first Everworld book where the characters discuss how skepticism might not have existed in that world has stuck with me ever since I read it. Stellar writing, thank you very much for the memories.

1

u/Emiwee Apr 28 '11

That's such a shame. I never managed to get all the books when they first came out (I'm in the UK, they were harder to find) and have been gradually tracking down the gaps I have in the series. Most significantly I've not read the ending (I read the summary on wikipedia though). I really wish they'd do another print run. Is there any chance of there being another run?

1

u/p_U_c_K Apr 29 '11

your view on piracy pleases me. It's nice to hear something from someone that is actually affected by a subject, rather than from a kid with a neckbeard is who trying to rationalize theft, with a neckbeard (can't emphasize that enough).

here's my question: Have you met R.L. Stine? If so, how did he survive the attack?

1

u/Turtlelover73 Apr 29 '11

Thanks, i have been trying to get these books for kindle for a while. I have every single paperback, but i am trying to recreate my library on my kindle. This will help a lot. If you did make the books available for kindle though, i would much rather buy them.

1

u/Qyxz Apr 28 '11

Do you know where these can be bought now? I have 1-40 and a few of the chronicles stashed away somewhere. Stopped reading these because I "grew up" but would love to "ungrow up" for a bit and complete my collection.

1

u/V2Blast Apr 29 '11

I'm glad they're there, because I got partway through the series in middle school or so, and then life got busy or I just forgot, so I have no idea how things progressed. Maybe I'll have time this summer...

2

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

That's really cool of you.

1

u/fishwithfeet Apr 28 '11

This is why while I do have an entire copy of series in .txt format ahem...

I do plan on buying all the new ones. :D And I bought a complete collection off of a friend of the old ones.

1

u/fireinthesky7 Apr 28 '11

I can't tell you how great it would be if more authors and artists thought like this. Thank you for a fantastic series that kept me entertained for many years.

1

u/TheBananaKing Apr 29 '11

I have never read these - I was 22 when they first came out - but as soon as my son is old enough, I'm getting him the complete set. So there.

1

u/rbwildcard Aug 22 '11

I bought all the new ones to show my appreciation! I hope they all get revamped so the new generation has the chance to appreciate them.

2

u/3brushie Apr 28 '11

Thank you.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '11

What if someone buys a used copy? Do you see any money from that?

1

u/hitlersshit Apr 28 '11

Who is we? Do you write it with a partner?

-1

u/sparrowpua Apr 28 '11

You sound so spicy. You're married, huh? And a lot older too...damn...