Smart Pop has been proudly geeking out about pop culture since 2003, and we’re so excited to keep the fanfest going and introduce you to our rebooted and rebranded website, newsletter, and social media platforms. And we’re even more proud to give you a first look at our upcoming lineup of books—each and every one created by fans, for fans.
Steering the Smart Pop ship are Editor-in-Chief Robb Pearlman, a pop culturist and #1 New York Times bestselling author, and me, the voice behind this blog and social media, Marketing Director Heather Butterfield. (If you’ve followed Smart Pop for a while, you may remember me from the OG Smart Pop site. Hello, again!)
Over the years Smart Pop has published essay collections about everyone’s favorite books, games, films, and TV shows, including Black Panther, Supernatural, Zelda, and the Hunger Games trilogy. And now, we’re building on our success to launch the ultimate publishing destination for fandom, featuring original and licensed gift and humor books, reference works, essay collections, memoirs, biographies, original fiction, and more. Smart Pop will be a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse space for every kind of fan!
You may be wondering, What is this blog for? Good question! It’s where we’ll share news on our upcoming projects; excerpts from books old and new; Q&As with our team, authors, illustrators, and contributors; our best pop culture recs; and more. You can also keep up with our day-to-day shenanigans on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and, as if that wasn’t enough, our NewsPop! Newsletter, filled with exclusive content, goes out every month!
Here’s What’s Coming in 2021!
Drumroll, please. . . !
We’ve been keeping quiet about these books for months, so it’s such a relief to finally get to share them with you! We hope you’ll be as excited as we are to see these on bookshelves.
The Book of Karen: Activities for Reactionary Adults came out in January. Sorry we couldn’t brag about this to you about it sooner (it was part of what’s called a “soft launch”). Though the book is filled with the kinds of brain teasers, word searches, crossword puzzles, riddles, connect-the-dots, crafts, fill-in-the-blanks, and prompts found in any traditional adult activity book, The Book of Karen subverts and parodies the genre by highlighting the horrible behaviors of the entitled women and men whose videoed and memed behaviors would be comical were they not so condemnable. A portion of the proceeds directly benefits The Equal Justice Initiative.
The Con-a-Sutra: An Adult Guide to Full-Frontal Nerdity will be published on June 29. For everyone who’s a geek in the streets and a freak in the (Star Wars) sheets—or wants to be—The Con-a-Sutra is a guide for nerds, by nerds that puts the graphic in graphic novel.
Star Trek: Starfleet Is . . .: Celebrating the Federation’s Ideals beams down onto shelves on September 7. That’s one day before National Star Trek Day! It celebrates Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future by highlighting 101 of the key traits of Starfleet, and how those same ideals are personified by characters spanning the entire Star Trek franchise. TM & © 2021 CBS Studios Inc. ARR.
Live Like a Vulcan, Love Like a Wookiee, Laugh Like a Hobbit: Life Lessons from Pop Culture is out on October 5. Much like a dragon-guarded mountain filled with stolen dwarf gold, Pop Culture is far more than just a side quest or afternoon’s entertainment: it contains a veritable treasure trove overflowing with life lessons. This modern-day fable chronicles what happens when four cosplayers meet after a day at a convention to talk about life, love, and what they watched.
Bob Ross’ Happy Little Night Before Christmas is out October 19. Over 40 of Bob Ross’ most beautiful winter landscapes accompany a new take on the classic poem, centering on how Bob is moved by the spirit of the season, and the beauty of nature, to paint. It’s a meditation on embracing not only your inner creativity, but the beauty of nature, and the feelings of peace, friendship, and harmony that blankets the entire holiday season like a happy little snowfall. It’s sure to be an instant classic and a happy little addition to any family’s holiday tradition. ®Bob Ross name and images are registered trademarks of Bob Ross Inc. © Bob Ross Inc. Used with permission.
I’m Dreaming of a Chris for Christmas: A Holiday Hollywood Hunk Coloring and Activity Book is out on November 2—giving you plenty of time to jingle those bells!. Filled with line drawings of the most notable celebrity Chrises (both in and out of ugly Christmas sweaters) for you to color in, it also features enough holiday-themed mazes, fill-in-the-blanks, crossword puzzles, games, cryptograms, and brand-new Chris’d up lyrics to traditional holiday songs to make your days merry and bright (and your nights a little less silent).
Be Strange, but Don’t Be a Stranger!
We’d love to hear what you think of all of the changes here at Smart Pop so please drop us a line in the comments or on social media! We’ll see you right here, every Friday, with a new post.
