Paper Towns and PUPPY

2009-02-21 (said on 2009-02-14 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 7 days later) · Q&A · John · 2:47 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: self promotion, civic or action cta, community lore

In a bonus video, with Willy and pre-recorded 'past John', John answers remaining Paper Towns questions: appearances in Indianapolis and Amsterdam, writing time, road trips as metaphor, Omnictionary, and his next book with David Levithan.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; Willy tries to eat the tripod; bonus video answering leftover Paper Towns questions

• ★★★ 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 · Willy, Paper Towns

00:00:30 — Public appearances: Indianapolis Second Story fundraiser reading; Amsterdam Dutch launch and Nerdfighter gathering

• ★★ On Friday, March 13th, John will do a reading in Indianapolis as part of a fundraiser for the organization Second Story; details in the sidebar. — 00:00:30 · Indianapolis
• ★★ On Thursday, March 19th, John will be in Amsterdam for the launch of the Dutch edition of Paper Towns. — 00:00:30 · Amsterdam, Paper Towns
• ★★★ John invites European Nerdfighters to a public Nerdfighter gathering that Thursday night in Amsterdam; details are not set yet, but he asks them to sign up via the sidebar. — 00:00:30 · Nerdfighteria, Amsterdam

00:01:00 — Q&A: three years of writing, the ending, road trips, Omnictionary vs Wikipedia, the cover girl, other countries, Brotherhood 2.0 references

• ★★ John says writing Paper Towns took about three years. — 00:01:00 · Paper Towns
• ★★ John denies the ending was rushed: he did not want to say everything on the page. — 00:01:00
• ★★ Road trips appear in two of his three books because they are fun and a really, really good metaphor. — 00:01:00
• ★★ He named the book's wiki Omnictionary not for fear of a Wikipedia lawsuit but for literary reasons: the name means it contains all knowledge. — 00:01:00 · Wikipedia
• ★ John doesn't know whether the girl on the cover is a Nerdfighter; he only knows she is a nice young woman from Canada. — 00:01:45
• ★★ Paper Towns is out in Australia, though apparently hard to find, and is coming out in a number of other countries. — 00:01:45 · Australia, Paper Towns
• ★★★ 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 · Paper Towns, Brotherhood 2.0

00:02:15 — Next book with David Levithan (spring 2010); Carrie Bradshaw punishment; sign-off

• ★★★ John's next book, out in spring 2010, is written collaboratively with his friend David Levithan. — 00:02:15
• ★★ Relaying a question, John tells Hank he needs to do the Carrie Bradshaw punishment now. (playful) — 00:02:15 · Punishment

Humor (significant)

• Willy keeps trying to eat the tripod while John films. — 00:00:00

  “Do you want to be a YouTube celebrity and I'm not doing a good job of letting you?”

• Past John asks if the ending was rushed; John starts to say he spent three years on the book, but the end... — 00:01:00

  “Ten minutes.”

• People assumed John avoided the name Wikipedia for fear of being sued. — 00:01:00

  “no one in all of human history has less standing to sue anyone for anything than Wikipedia”

Threads in this video

• kept · John: two videos answering questions about Paper Towns for the Blurbing Book Club (2008) — John makes the second Paper Towns question video, answering the questions left over from his last one. (00:00:00) → refers to Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday
• result reported · John asks for Paper Towns questions for the Blurbing Book Club wrap-up (2008) — John answers more Nerdfighter questions about Paper Towns (writing time, the ending, road trips, Omnictionary, cover, editions). (00:01:00)
• asked · John asks European Nerdfighters to sign up for the Amsterdam Nerdfighter gathering (March 2009) — John asks European Nerdfighters to sign up for a public Nerdfighter gathering in Amsterdam on Thursday night, March 19. (00:01:00)
• update · Will Grayson, Will Grayson: John and David Levithan sell their co-written book (2007) — John says his next book, co-written with David Levithan, comes out in spring 2010. (00:02:15)
• milestone · Will Grayson, Will Grayson: publication (2010) — John's next book, out in spring 2010, is written collaboratively with his friend David Levithan. (00:02:15)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• John asks for Paper Towns questions for the Blurbing Book Club wrap-up (2008) — reported back; last: result reported, 2009-02-21 (said on 2009-02-14, implied)
• John: two videos answering questions about Paper Towns for the Blurbing Book Club (2008) — kept
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson: publication (2010) — completed; last: outcome, 2011-04-06
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson: John and David Levithan sell their co-written book (2007) — followed over 6 videos (2007–2010); last: update, 2010-03-29

Mentioned

Central: Paper Towns

Also: Projects: Brotherhood 2.0

Organizations: Second Story · Wikipedia

Rituals: Punishment

Places: Amsterdam · Australia · Indianapolis · Netherlands

Characters: Carrie Bradshaw · Omnictionary (character, “Paper Towns”)

animal: Willy

Only in the description or credits: David Levithan

Replies to

• continues · Paper Towns Tastic Question Tuesday — “I'm going to answer some questions about my new book, Paper Towns, that I didn't get to answer in my last video.”

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