Paper Towns

work · in 110 videos (2007–2013)

Mentions by year: 2007: 18 · 2008: 46 · 2009: 28 · 2010: 8 · 2011: 6 · 2012: 2 · 2013: 2

Threads

John: write and revise Paper Towns (2007) — stage, retro, 2007–2009
John: read Paper Towns draft excerpts on Brotherhood 2.0 (2007) — stage, propose, 2007–2007
John: asks Hank for input on the Paper Towns draft chapter (2007) — ask, reported back, 2007–2007
John: finish reading the Paper Towns first-chapter flashback on Friday (2007) — promise, kept, 2007–2007
Paper Towns advance-copy giveaways to Nerdfighters (2008) — stage, result, 2008–2008
Omnictionary: the brothers' wiki as a user-created novel (2008) — stage, launch, 2008–2008
Brothers punish themselves in return for donations to Obama's campaign: proposed project (2008) — stage, lapse, 2008–2008
John asks Nerdfighters for questions for his next Question Tuesday, offering Paper Towns discussion guides (2008) — ask, reported back, 2008–2008
John: answer why Paper Towns has two covers in his next video (2008) — promise, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2008–2008
John asks viewers which Paper Towns cover they prefer (2008) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2008–2008
Paper Towns Tour (2008) — stage, milestone, 2008–2008
Hank asks UK Nerdfighters to email a campaign address so Paper Towns gets a UK publisher (2008) — ask, reported back, 2008–2009
Hank asks viewers to pre-order Paper Towns (2008) — ask, reported back, 2008–2008
John slips notes cut from the Paper Towns manuscript into his books at a Borders in Indianapolis (2008) — story, tell, 2008–2008
Paper Towns collab album: free album for proving dedication to Paper Towns (2008) — stage, milestone, 2008–2008
Hank asks viewers to add him as a Facebook friend during the Iron Man BlogTV Challenge (2008) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2008–2008
Paper Towns movie option by Mandate and Mr. Mudd (2008) — stage, launch, 2008–2008
Hank asks Nerdfighters for ten-word Paper Towns blurbs for the Blurbing Book Club (2008) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2008–2008
John: two videos answering questions about Paper Towns for the Blurbing Book Club (2008) — promise, kept, 2008–2009
John asks for Paper Towns questions for the Blurbing Book Club wrap-up (2008) — ask, reported back, 2008–2009
John writes the Paper Towns screenplay (2009) — story, retell, 2009–2013
John urges viewers who want the current Paper Towns covers to buy the hardcover now (2009) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2009–2009
John asks Dutch-reading Nerdfighters to buy Paper Towns in Dutch (2009) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2009–2009
John's Paper Towns wins the Edgar Award (2009) — story, retell, 2009–2009
John invites teens to vote in the Teens' Top Ten, where Paper Towns is nominated (2009) — ask, reported back, 2009–2009
Paper Towns paperback release (2009) — stage, launch, 2009–2009
John asks viewers to buy the Paper Towns paperback (2009) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2009–2009
10-word challenge: John gives away a Paper Towns paperback a day for his favourite 10-word comment (2009) — stage, milestone, 2009–2009
John asks viewers to leave 10-word comments on YouTube or the Ning to win Paper Towns paperbacks (2009) — ask, reported back, 2009–2009
John asks Nerdfighters to make Paper Towns videos or songs for the paperback contest (2009) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2009–2009
John: announce the 10-word challenge contest winners on Friday (2009) — promise, late, 2009–2009
Paper Towns: UK publication (2010) — stage, launch, 2010–2010
John asks viewers to buy Paper Towns now that it is published in the UK (2010) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2010–2010
John's UK trip for the Paper Towns UK release: London and Edinburgh (2010) — story, tell, 2010–2010
John mistakes another man for Greg Mortenson at a Penguin author dinner (about 2008) — story, tell, 2011–2011
John points viewers to his earlier novels to read while waiting for The Fault in Our Stars (December 2011) — ask, open (no report in 2007–2013), 2011–2011

What the videos say

2007

2007-02-09 · Brotherhood 2.0: February 9, 2007 — Answering commenters' questions about his new book, John says it is called Paper Towns and will be published in September 2008. (00:01:09)
2007-07-11 · Brotherhood 2.0: Harry and the Potters are Nerdfighters! — John announces his new book will definitely be called Paper Towns, unless he changes his mind again. (00:00:11)
2007-08-28 · August 28th: Starring Mom — John is working like mad on Paper Towns and has only a couple of weeks left before he turns it in. (00:00:27)
2007-09-06 · September 6th: The Book Club Returns — John announces the next Brotherhood 2.0 book club book is his own Paper Towns, which Penguin won't publish until September of next year. (00:02:56)
2007-09-10 · September 10th: Airports and Whitman — John says many people concluded from one of his videos last week that Paper Towns was finished; it is not, and about six months of work on it remain. (00:00:11)
2007-09-10 · September 10th: Airports and Whitman — With little time for Brotherhood 2.0, John takes up Nerdfighters' suggestion that he read Paper Towns excerpts on Wednesday and Friday, which would also give him feedback. (00:00:49)
2007-09-12 · September 12: Paper Towns, Part 1 — John reads to Hank from the first chapter of his new book Paper Towns, warning that the draft is rough and will sound different when it comes out next year. (00:00:00)
2007-09-14 · September 14th: Paper Towns, Part 2 — John reads a cut-for-time version of the second half of the first chapter of his new book, Paper Towns. (00:00:05)
2007-09-18 · September 18: In Defense of Chris Crocker — John says he has finished a revision of Paper Towns and is happy, relieved and excited enough to dance. (00:00:10)
2007-10-22 · October 22nd: The Anniversary of Young Earth Creationism — John's editor at Dutton, Julie Strauss-Gabel, has sent back her edits for Paper Towns, with colour-coded post-its throughout the manuscript. (00:01:02)
2007-11-28 · November 28th: Amy Winehouse and Brain Liquefication — John announces he has finished the most recent revision of Paper Towns. (00:00:45)
2007-12-05 · December 4th: Question Tuesday!!!! — Asked what appeals to him in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself, John says readers will find out when Paper Towns comes out, in September. (00:02:07)
…and 18 more statements in 2007 (most important shown)

2008

2008-02-08 · QUESTION TUESDAYS (On Friday) — John gives Paper Towns' official release date as October 16th, joking that he had been lying when he said September. (00:00:36)
2008-04-14 · PAPER TOWNS-TACULAR — John's publisher has let him share the covers: Paper Towns will have two different covers with identical books inside, and readers can pick either. (00:00:43)
2008-04-14 · PAPER TOWNS-TACULAR — John says a main reason for two covers is that the novel's girl character is radically misapprehended by everyone around her; the covers capture two of those misapprehensions. (00:00:43)
2008-04-14 · PAPER TOWNS-TACULAR — John shows an advance reader's copy of Paper Towns, printed about three days ago for librarians and reviewers before the book's October 16 publication. (00:01:12)
2008-04-14 · PAPER TOWNS-TACULAR — Until publication John will give away as many ARCs to Nerdfighters as he can; today everyone commenting on YouTube or the Ning goes in a hat for this galley. (00:01:41)
2008-05-06 · Hank Would Think This Is Awesome: The Project — John's tripod is a stack of new Paper Towns galleys; he will give an advance reader's copy to one Nerdfighter whose entry is included in the birthday project. (00:01:50)
2008-05-18 · A CUTETACULAR INTRODUCTION! — With every video this week, including this one, John will give away one copy of Paper Towns to a random commenter. (00:02:47)
2008-05-19 · Three Things — John reveals that he and Hank have been working on a semi-secret wiki about lies rather than facts, Omnictionary, named after the Wikipedia-like reference source in Paper Towns; Hank acquired the domain. (00:02:11)
2008-08-06 · Question Tuesday Returns (on a Wednesday) — Asked why the new An Abundance of Katherines paperback costs only $3.99, John says books are generally too expensive, he would rather have readers than money, and it thanks readers in advance for buying Paper Towns. (00:00:45)
2008-09-04 · Paper Towns Tour Dates! — John shows the first two finished copies of Paper Towns, which has two different covers (happy Margo and sad Margo) with the same book inside. (00:00:00)
2008-09-04 · Paper Towns Tour Dates! — John announces an October 16 New York launch party for Paper Towns' release with Hank, their parents, the Yeti, Maureen Johnson and other authors; Julia Nunes is floated as a 'rumor'. (00:01:12)
2008-09-14 · Hank Vlogs (and a String Quartet) — Hank asks UK Nerdfighters only to email their name, age and location to a Gmail address, whose login he would give UK publishers to show demand. (00:03:01)
…and 82 more statements in 2008 (most important shown)

2009

2009-02-11 · Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday — Margo is the book's mirror maker: people looking at her see a funhouse-mirror reflection of themselves, not what is true of her, hence the two different, equally inaccurate covers. (00:00:46)
2009-02-11 · Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday — On colours: the book has much Moby-Dick in it (white imagery, Black Santas, Margo's middle name meaning red); like Melville, John wanted to subvert white as a symbol of purity and put Margo outside the good/evil dichotomy. (00:01:51)
2009-02-11 · Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday — The book is about how we misimagine other people and our stories; Radar's parents own the world's largest Black Santa collection because John finds it funny and it asks us to imagine the world more complexly. (00:02:36)
2009-02-21 · Paper Towns and PUPPY — In a bonus video, helped by Willy and pre-recorded questions from 'past John', John answers Paper Towns questions he didn't get to in his last video. (00:00:00)
2009-02-21 · Paper Towns and PUPPY — There are Paper Towns references in Brotherhood 2.0, not the reverse: viewers shared the last year and a half of writing and revision, so they saw what he was thinking about. (00:01:45)
2009-04-22 · Question Tuesday — John confirms an awesome Nerdfighter gathering from 2 p.m. in Melbourne on May 31 to promote the Australian edition of Paper Towns; booking and details are in the sidebar. (00:00:00)
2009-04-22 · Question Tuesday — Paper Towns may become a movie: the people who made Juno optioned the rights with John writing the screenplay, which he is working on now. (00:02:04)
2009-04-28 · 10 Book Reviews in 4 Minutes — Hank says John, bestselling author of Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines, is writing another book, This Is Not Tom, released through weekly riddles. (00:02:38)
2009-05-04 · Oinkbarf Pandemic! An Intellectual Response to Swine Flu — John's Paper Towns won an Edgar Award on Thursday night, given by the Mystery Writers of America to the year's best mystery novels, so he now owns a bust of Poe. (00:00:27)
2009-06-08 · I Will Call Him Louis: Australia Rocks! — John says that in Melbourne he attended the Reading Matters conference, where actors performed a series of scenes from Paper Towns. (00:00:00)
2009-08-12 · The Island of Nerdfighteria? — John announces that Paper Towns will be published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury, and thanks Bloomsbury. (00:01:01)
2009-09-09 · My Puppy's SECRET SHAME (and Paper Towns) — John announces the Paper Towns paperback comes out September 22 and asks those who haven't read it to pick it up or pre-order it via the sidebar. (00:01:36)
…and 49 more statements in 2009 (most important shown)

2010

2010-06-11 · Mmmm....PARTS — Paper Towns has just been published in the United Kingdom. (00:02:17)
2010-06-11 · Mmmm....PARTS — John asks people to buy Paper Towns in the UK, joking that otherwise no other book of his will ever be published there. (00:02:17)
2010-07-29 · Umbrellas Amuse Me: Observations from One Day in Munich — In a Munich bookstore that stocked his books, John met a reader buying an English copy of Paper Towns; he had never been recognised while looking for his own books, and was embarrassed but delighted. (00:00:58)
2010-08-17 · Lust and Folly in London and Edinburgh — The description says John's UK trip was to support Paper Towns, which had just been published there. (00:00:00)
2010-08-20 · The Fox Hat IS REAL, but Are Zombies People? — Downstairs shelves include author copies of his own books, desert island books, lexicography, child prodigies, Mark Twain, books about death, poetry, religion and conjoined twins. (00:01:56)
2010-11-19 · I'm Not Going Down: Thoughts from Amsterdam — John's description says Paper Towns is a finalist for a literary prize in the Netherlands, where he travels from Indianapolis. (00:00:00)

2011

2011-02-04 · QUESTION FRIDAY: Spelling is Hard Edition — Readers must also promise to read one of John's actual books so they don't think he is as bad a writer as the novella suggests. (00:02:10)
2011-04-25 · Meeting Greg Mortenson — A couple of years earlier, when Paper Towns came out, John was one of about eight authors, with Mortenson, at a Penguin dinner for some 200 young adult librarians at a library convention. (00:00:24)
2011-04-25 · Meeting Greg Mortenson — In his two-minute talk John described his book as about Walt Whitman and imagining others complexly; Mortenson followed with a book about nearly dying and devoting his life to education in Afghanistan. (00:00:50)
2011-05-18 · The Education Continuum WARNER CHILCOTTED — John says it doesn't matter whether, writing Paper Towns, he meant the Great White Wall of Cow to reference Moby-Dick's whale; it is there to make readers think about nature's apathy toward individuals and the heroic response. (00:02:30)
2011-06-06 · Men Running on Tanks and the Truth about Book Editors — Without Julie, John says, Paper Towns would be largely a boring history of the US Postal Service instead of being about Whitman's Song of Myself. (00:02:54)
2011-08-26 · Will He Kiss You? Am I a Muggle? It's Question Friday. — John says Sarah has contributed tons to his writing: the line 'imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia' in Looking for Alaska, the pranks in Paper Towns, and hugely to The Fault in Our Stars. (00:03:05)
2011-12-23 · There Will Be NO SPOILERS!!! — The Fault in Our Stars is still available for pre-order, and meanwhile viewers can read John's other books (the description names Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns). (00:02:50)

2012

2012-08-28 · In Which the Candle Dies — John shows the new box set, designed by Karen Kavett, with hardcovers of Looking for Alaska without the candle, the new Paper Towns design and Nerdfighter a private person's Katherines design. (00:00:29)

2013

2013-01-16 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says Paper Towns is about empathy and trying to imagine other people complexly, and hopes his books can jump into the abyss to be with readers. (00:53:07)
2013-01-16 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — Darnielle says he was sent a hardback book and found a Mountain Goats song in it ('Paper Towns'), then plays 'Game Shows Touch Our Lives'. (01:39:10)
2013-01-16 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John introduces a Paper Towns reader's theater, a book about imagining other people and our myths complexly: John as Q, Hannah Hart as Angela, Grace Helbig as Ben, Neil Gaiman as Radar. (02:30:51)
2013-10-22 · Question Tuesday: The Fault in Our Stars Movie Edition — Adapting his own Paper Towns into a screenplay, John had the main character pursue an entirely different girl than in the book, so he may not be the best judge of faithfulness. (00:01:56)