Vampire Academy: Another Series with Bite
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By Shannon Maughan -- Publishers Weekly, 1/15/2009
The recent media hoopla surrounding Twilight is just one sign that the thirst for teen vampire titles hasn’t been quenched. Witness Razorbill’s bestselling Vampire Academy books by Richelle Mead. The third title in the paperback series, Shadow Kiss, hit shelves November 13, racking up brisk sales and bringing the three-volume total to nearly 600,000 copies in print since the series’ August 2007 debut.
The latest tale about half-vampire Rose Hathaway’s romantic and dangerous exploits at St. Vladimir’s Academy, a boarding school for vampires and their guardians-in-training, surely got a boost from all the attention given to the Twilight saga of late. In fact, the piggybacking was part of a plan.
“We knew Stephenie Meyer fans would be hungry for more vampire lit once they had exhausted her books,” said Shanta Newlin, director of publicity at Penguin Books for Young Readers. “So we provided signed copies as part of our vampire party pack for the Breaking Dawn midnight parties that stores were hosting [last summer]. In November we capitalized on the Twilight movie frenzy by running a keyword search and banner ad campaign on IMDB.com, which ran whenever someone searched for information about the Twilight movie or any of its actors.” That promotion, from November 14 through December 7, guaranteed 1,400,000 impressions. In addition, the house targeted other Web sites including Alloy.com and print magazines Romantic Times, In Touch Weekly and the final issue of now-defunct CosmoGirl.
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Vampire Academy author Richelle Mead. |
“I think it’s the mix of great storytelling, fierce friendships, and—let’s be honest—the compulsively delicious romance at the heart of the series that keeps people coming back for more,” says the series’ editor Jessica Rothman. She lauds heroine Rose as tough, sarcastic and funny, a blend that gives her character wide appeal. “From what I’ve seen, Richelle’s voice speaks to both teen and adult readers in a way that truly transcends the genre,” Rothman notes.
Amanda Barillas, supervisor of the children’s department at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, Calif., says the Vampire Academy books have been a big hit in her store, especially in the wake of the Twilight phenomenon. “I have lots of tweens and teens—sometimes kids who would not normally be coming into the store—asking ‘What else do you have that’s like Twilight?’ and I’m glad that I can show them Vampire Academy,” Barillas reports. Vroman’s has done well with Twilight- and vampire-centric displays, and at times has had difficulty keeping the Vampire Academy books in stock, according to Barillas.
And in addition to satisfying Twilight aficionados, she believes the Vampire Academy titles offer something fresh, too. “The author has clearly done lots of research and has a really great take on the history and folklore of vampires,” Barillas says. “She combines that with a very solid friendship story and forbidden romance.” Barillas believes the romantic entanglements in the series stand out as well. “Some romances can be predictable but Mead throws a curveball here and there. I had a real ‘Oh my gosh!’ moment in book three—there’s a huge twist at the end, and I can’t wait to see where she goes with it in book four.”
Barillas has a few months of anticipation ahead. At present a total of five Vampire Academy books are under contract, with book four, Blood Promise, arriving in August 2009. According to Newlin, the decision has recently been made to publish the volume in hardcover because of its predecessors’ popularity thus far. The trajectory of Mead’s first YA series is especially gratifying for Rothman, as it was the first project she read and acquired for Razorbill when she joined the imprint. “I fell in love with the story,” she recalls. “When people began to hunt me down for Richelle’s second novel, I knew we had something special.”
Fans agree. According to Newlin, one reader wrote this about Shadow Kiss: “I didn’t want the book to end. But by the time I got to the end I was so drained, emotionally and physically (pacing around reading) I collapsed in a heap.”
