30 of the best Q&As from the author of 'Animorphs'

mssylmarie asked:

To this day I STILL subconsciously distrust anyone by the name "Chapman."

K.A. Applegate replied:

As you should. they are all bad people.

saltywings asked:

Animorphs basically made reading fun for me.

K.A. Applegate replied:

That is, to me, the ultimate compliment.

lostrock asked:

Thanks for doing this, Ms. Applegate.

A significant number of Animorphs books were ghostwritten. Could you describe the process of working with a ghostwriter? Do you feel guilty about utilizing them, or do you find them to be a useful resource?

Have you ever seen a ghost(writer)?

K.A. Applegate replied:

We started as ghostwriters, so we saw it more as opportunity. We paid well, but not very well to be honest. We wrote outlines (we suck at outlines) and then got all bitchy when we didn't like what we got. Neither of us is an editor so we weren't really capable of offering decent guidance. So we tended just to sort of slash and burn. Basically without meaning to be we were probably horrible assholes to work with.

1ns4n31nth3m3mbr4n3 replied:

as a former ghostwriter for animorphs i can confirm the assholiness.

K.A. Applegate replied:

Yeah, sorry about that.

likwitsnake asked:

The Everworld series was probably my favorite thing to read as a teenager. It seems like it would be the perfect material for a movie and or series. Has there been any interest shown in that regard?

K.A. Applegate replied:

Thanks. You and six other people. No Hollywood love yet. It's all complicated and controlled by Scholastic.

likwitsnake replied:

Was the series not popular? I figured the blend of mythology, magic and aliens would appeal to a large audience.

Also, how do you feel about the whole Twilight craze? :)

K.A. Applegate replied:

No, it died a painful (and not very slow) death.

Uh, here's the thing. We authors congregate at the same venues sometimes (book festivals, strip clubs). So I have to consider the possibility that Stephanie Meyer and I will be downing Jello shots together at some point, and she'll be asking me why I said that shit about her on Reddit.

Suoretsoperp commented:

I too love Everworld. In fact I never finished the series, ty for reminding me!

K.A. Applegate replied:

Thanks to all EVERWORLD fans! You know what was weird? When it came out we got our first starred review. I was like damn, now we have to write them well? The expectations had been raised. What a pain in the ass. We were so depressed by this great review.

K. A. Applegate in response to a deleted question:

That's weird, I just answered this and it was eaten. (Jake blames Amazon.)

Trying again: Tobias had to be trapped to make the 2 hour tick-tock real. Loved the character, and I always thought fans would like him.

No involvement with the TV show.

ProbablyHittingOnYou replied:

I always thought Tobias liked being a hawk better, anyway.

K. A. Applegate replied:

Life was not good to Tobias. I think he was happier.

Shoegaze99 asked:

How has it been working with Scholastic? I feel like they always put out a good product with great production values, and of course no one markets to younger readers better than they do ... but do they treat their writers as well as they treat their product?

K.A. Applegate replied:

Hmmmm. Long pause to consider the politics of the situation. I would say this: no one is better than Scholastic at handling series. Handling me? Eh. Maybe I'm a pain in the ass. (Michael nods head.) Any real problems we've had are with Scholastic Media. I'll let you fill in the blanks on that.

jtcoons asked:

Did you realize what a monster you had created in the yeerks? I was so afraid of mind control for a long time after that. And slugs crawling in my earhole.

K.A. Applegate replied:

And yet it never happened. Or did it? Are you sure it was you writing that question?

InfinitelyThirsting replied:

There is not a keyboard to handle the sound of combined frustration and horror that I just made for planting that thought.

shitrus asked:

What was the reason for making Ax's favorite food cinnamon buns?

whenever my mother makes her cinnamon buns for the holidays my brother and i look at each other and scream CINNAMON BUNS and try to devour them as quickly as possible. my mother thinks we are weird

K.A. Applegate replied:

Because we loved cinnamon buns. When we started ANIMORPHS we were usually still broke, and a Cinnabon was a good night out for us.

And you know what? Never even a note from Cinnabon.

bdubaya asked:

Ms. Applegate. Your books were a pretty huge part of my childhood. Thank you for rocking so much.

My question is, what did you think about the Animorphs TV show? I personally thought it was pretty decent, but it got canceled pretty quick. Were you very involved with it?

edit: she answered me! I feel so starstruck right now

K.A. Applegate replied:

We were not huge fans of the TV show. We wanted it to be animated because with kid actors, animals and FX it had every expensive thing in Hollywood. We knew Nick didn't have the kind of money to make it good.

Wexmajor replied:

I remember being so excited for the premiere in second grade or whenever it was and then Elfangor gets eaten off-screen and Jake shapeshifted his shoes instead of them falling off as he changed. So much nerdrage.

thinkingthought replied:

About 3 years ago, I posted on an Animorphs forum that the TV show was terrible. The next day, the girl that played Cassie on the show messaged me on Facebook calling me out, saying they did the best they could.

I wrote her back saying I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, and was pretty starstruck actually. She never wrote back after that.

K.A. Applegate replied:

It's not the actor's fault. The best they could do with special effects was a stick with Visser Three's head on it. They'd point the camera up at it. Visser-On-A-Stick.

Nowarist asked:

Holy smoke, this is awesome! I loved reading the Animorphs series as a kid and I also started reading your Remnants series but never got around to finishing it ): I'd say my favourite book was The Ellimist Chronicles since the story was so captivating and as it also contained the most memorable line (in my mind); "Step into my lair, said the dreth to the chorkant." Anyway, I'd just like to ask what your favourite sci-fi book is and what book you would absolutely recommend reading (from any genre)? Thanks for taking the time to do this AMA!

K.A. Applegate replied:

Well, Michael's sitting right here, so, um. . . GONE by Michael Grant. Is that enough dear? No! Don't beat me! I plugged you! I pluuuuuuggged you!

mojowo11 replied:

I never read a single Animorph book (not sure why...I was young when they were big, and read a lot); that said, I'm enjoying this AMA because of your candor and evident sense of humor. Cheers on doing this whole thing the right way.

kittiekorn asked:

Oh, WOW. My 10 year old self is screaming with excitement. My now-former fiancé and I loved your books as kids. I found Everworld again in 2008 and read through it again; would you consider expanding on the story's origins a bit? Why did it end so abruptly, as opposed to continuing the story in Everworld?

Animorphs was my favorite series as as a kid; my son is named Tobias after your character.

K.A. Applegate replied:

Tell me he doesn't eat mice.

kittiekorn replied:

Well, he does hiss like a cat... but I blame that on our 8 pet cats.

That line made my night. Thank you.

mayonnnnaise asked:

Do you realize you're one of the reasons I write fiction in my free time? The Animorphs series was the first novel I ever read in which I felt someone understood what my life was like. I'm crying as I type this. Tobias's story helped me get through some really lonely times and parent issues. Thank you.

Edit: I went a little crazy. I just mean that Ms. Applegate was perhaps the first writer that inspired me to write.

K.A. Applegate replied:

So sorry to get you into writing. What a horrible thing to inflict on you. Should have just sold you crack.

Lion-0 asked:

I remember reading the books as they came out one by one and thinking: when is this going to end?

Did you intend the series to be as long as it is or did another party want you to keep writing more books?

Thanks for the great memories.

K.A. Applegate replied:

Obviously we had no idea we were going to 54 books. Around #11 we're thinking, shit, we've used up all the good animals!

We ended it. Michael and I looked at each other and just said, "That's it. We're done."

FG_SF asked:

If you could, would you go back and end Animorphs differently?

K.A. Applegate replied:

No. But if you had any idea the crap I've taken over it . . . . I was doing a school visit for a book I wrote called Home of the Brave (not a plug, I swear). It's in free verse, about a Sudanese immigrant to Minnesota (so, okay, not a bestseller), and I'm giving it my all, chatting away to these bleary-eyed seventh-graders, and all of a sudden this kid in the back raises his hand. I think, hey, he wants to ask me about metaphors or some such thing, and he screams, "WHY DID YOU END ANIMORPHS THAT WAY????"

tututitlookslikerain asked:

I have feared this day since the first I came across the AMA boards. I knew one day this would happen... I knew you would come.

You've written some books that have given me nightmares well into adulthood.

WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS

First question:

1. How do you write a series like the Remnants and have that classified as young adult books?

2. My friends and I have often wondered if you have to go to the dark dank places of your soul in order to write books that never have anything go well for them. i.e. Remnants is a constant "Fuck You" to the characters... I feel bad for them. I kept reading it thinking, "will it EVER get better for them?"

3. Are you satisfied with how EverWorld ended? It wasn't very satisfactory as a reader. Can you explain why you ended it the way you did?

Thank you for doing this!

K.A. Applegate replied:

1) I don't do the classifying, that's the bookstores and the publisher. 2) Either the dark, dank portions of my own soul, or the sunnier portions of Michaels. Heh. 3) I'm not happy with the EW ending. Basically I overcommitted. We could keep up with 140 pages a month -- barely -- but Everworld was 250. We got in over our heads.

candidkiss replied:

Remnants was horrifying. Especially what happened to Billy over the course of their initial journey. I tried to imagine that myself and just got creeped out every time.

K.A. Applegate replied:

By that time I had kids of my own. I had changed many diapers. So I knew true horror.

WHYISITYELLOW asked:

So what inspired the books?

When did you start using reddit?

Whats your favorite animal?

Do those books still sell?

Working on anything new?

Sincerely Why is it yellow?

The answer. Because something had to be.

K.A. Applegate replied:

A strong desire to make money. Actually Michael and I had written a bunch of YA romance and were doing okay but we both hated the work. I was ready to quite series and he said, nah, let's try again but this time what is it you want to write? I said I want to really show kids what it would be like to be in the heads of animals. He said That's a sci fi premise, we're going to need aliens." We sent it off to Scholastic and boom.

I just started on Reddit but our son, jakemates, has been on for a long time.

K.A. Applegate in response to a deleted question:

Thanks for your service. My dad was in the army for one tour and Michael's dad -- who I love, by the way -- was a 20 year career soldier. (Chief warrant, Michael says.)

It's both cool and a little intimidating to think of actual soldiers considering our tiny, safe, sitting on our butts in Minnesota and Chicago (at the time) thoughts on the morality of war.

We've both always accepted the necessity of war in some circumstances, and accepted that it's a pretty fucking awful thing to put our young men and women through. What we wanted to say was that there would be times it would be necessary, that some soldiers would find joy in it (Rachel,) some would find a sort of addiction (Jake,) some would hate it but do their best, (Cassie,) some would sail right through, (Marco,) and others would be the victims left behind, (Tobias.)

I don't know how that meshes with what real soldiers learn.

wordsfilltheair asked:

Ms. Applegate, I read each and every one of your Animorphs and Everworld books (and even watched the Animorphs TV show...). They really spurred my interest in reading, and for that I can't thank you enough!

A few questions (I would love answers to all, but I'm particularly interested in the first three):

• What was your favorite book as a child? What about right now?
• What books would you consider essential reading for any adult?
• Who was your favorite Animorphs character to write and why?
• Did you base characters off of people in your life/yourself?
• Any plans to ever revisit the Animorphs universe? (I know you mentioned there have been no attempts to convert it to film, but I think there are a lot of 20-something year olds who would be there opening day.)

Again, thanks so much for your contributions to the world of literature and for doing this AMA! It's clear you have a lot of fans here, and we really appreciate it.

K.A. Applegate replied:

Favorite book as a child was Charlotte's Web.

Hmmm. I don't know about essential. That will be different for each person. That's something you have to find for yourself.

The most fun to write was probably Marco or Rachel, although I identified most with Cassie. Cassie was closest to being me. She was ambivalent, and inconsistently moralistic, and didn't dress well, and was into animals.

I don't usually use real people. Michael used the kids for GONE and then ended up horrified when he realized he'd hooked up our "son" and "daughter" romantically.

Blandis asked:

Could you please elaborate on the ghostwriting process? What do you feel are its advantages and disadvantages? How are ghost authors selected, and how much control do have over the process?

K.A. Applegate replied:

I started out ghostwriting (17 Sweet Valley Twins!!! I gave Jessica Wakefield her first period, assholes!!). It's a great way to learn the ropes.

Pardon the obscure literary reference.

After I gave birth to Jake and Michael and I didn't sleep for the next three years, we realized we needed help if we wanted to keep Animorphs going. We really had great ghosts (we sucked as editors, as I may have mentioned). It's not a perfect solution, but when a book comes out every month, it's often the only solution.

Kibure asked:

What is your best advice for an unpublished author? How long did you take to publish?

Thank you in advance, I know this is a set of questions you likely get often.

K.A. Applegate replied:

We started late (in our 30's) but broke in fast. Of course we snuck in the back door by ghostwriting for SWEET VALLEY TWINS. I should say I did so, anyway, and Michael was only dragged in reluctantly. I took on too many contracts and told M he had to do a book. Standard WTF? response from him.

As for advice: write. That's thing one. Write stuff that sucks. It always sucks when you start. Keep sucking, then fix it. That's the whole job.

SnacklePop asked:

Hi Katherine, I knew someone like you would have enough character to do an AMA. Just a couple questions about your own passions in books and writing.

1. Can you name a few favorite books? Have any of them been lifechanging?

2. Do you have any particular favorite authors/role-models/people in general?

3. And yes, as cliche as these 3 questions are, I'm wondering if you have any advice to novice writers, or just writers in general.

4. (Plug section) You currently working on any projects, or prospects that you would like to talk about?

5. The last one is always the fun one, Care to tell us a random fact about yourself? Lot's of people like to "get to know" authors.

Anyways, thanks for your time, and regardless of a reply, keep being creative, and may you never focus your motivation purely on money. ;)

K.A. Applegate replied:

Interesting, that "purely on money" part. Because honestly, that's what got me going. I sucked as a waitress, sucked as a typist, pretty much just sucked at everything, despite (shock) my BA in English. And I was tired of eating Top Ramen and stealing toilet paper rolls out of public restrooms. I figured ghosting other people's books would pay the rent, and it did . . . sort of.

Anyway, now that I can afford the mega-pack of Top Ramen at Costco, I realize it's not just about the money. And that's the best advice I can offer a novice writer: love what you're doing, even when the Ramen's running out.

RaichuALoveSong asked:

What was your inspiration for Remnants? I loved Animorphs, but I remember calling around to different libraries to get the new Remnants books when they came out. 2011 seemed so far away at the time!

K.A. Applegate replied:

Remnants was more Michael's idea. My husband (Michael Grant) is a disturbed man.

iratemang asked:

The ending to me was so sudden and sad. I was wondering what you want the reader to think will happen after that. (Trying to be vague to not elicit spoilers).

K.A. Applegate replied:

I wanted the reader to understand that this had been a war story, and war stories never end cleanly. PLus I was thinking well, maybe we'll do a sequel . . .

TheCommonCow replied:

Just so you know. The phrase 'Ram the Blade Ship' has been permanently engraved in my mind as one of the most frustrating sentences I've ever read in a book.

Thanks for awesome memories of reading the series!

K.A. Applegate replied:

Thanks.

hbronez asked:

typically how long did it take you to write an animorph book?

K.A. Applegate replied:

About 3 weeks. We were doing 12 regular ANI, a Chronicles and a MEGA every year. Ah caffeine and youth.

biyabo replied:

Three weeks per book!?

As a wannabe writer, I think I'm going to go cry in a hole now.

Manumitany replied:

Bear in mind they were smaller books (though excellent by all means!) Less than 200 pages, all of them, I think... and fewer words per page than in some other mass-market paperbacks.

Average Animorphs book had 22-25 lines of text (27 total, but partial lines at ends of paragraphs brings down average) per page, about 8-10 words per line. So about 200 words per page.

The books at the height of the series - when they were coming out every month, you know - were 150-170 pages. And each chapter dropped half a page of words for the title, plus the previous chapter usually dropped half a page as well. I think # of chapters was in the high-teens? So deduct 15 pages, you're looking at 135-155 pages overall. 27-31k words per book would be my estimate. Still seems high, though, so I'd probably figure on the low end of that. So, around 27k words per book.

At three weeks per book, that's 9k words per week. If she wrote daily, that's only about 1,300 words per day. Of course there are days off... but even just assuming a 40-hour writing week, you've got 120 hours in three weeks. To hit 27k words, that's just 225 words per hour, which is about half of a double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, letter-sized paged. Not sure if Katherine (is it okay to call you by your first name? :) did all her own copyediting, but I'm guessing she gave Scholastic a raw manuscript that they copyedited and typeset, so things didn't have to be absolutely perfect.

In other words, biyabo... take heart, it's do-able!

By the way, K.A., I'm curious as to how your contracts were based - payment per word? Per book? Royalty-based, at all? I understand if any of that is confidential. How accurate are my estimates above? Thinking of reading your books in elementary school brought me back to the other things I learned... like how to estimate how many pieces of candy are in a jar, for example (winner gets all the candy, woooohooo!)

K.A. Applegate replied:

Ah, a writer. Getting straight to the important part: getting paid.

Here's how it works. You negotiate for an advance and a royalty. The advance is a check you get "against" the royalty.

So let's say Scholastic would pay us an advance of $50,000 per book. (Actually it was less than that to start with and more than that toward the end.) And they would pay us a royalty of 8% of the cover price. If the books retailed for $4 that was 32 cents per book. We have to sell X number of books at 32 cents each in order to "earn out" which means, pay for that advance.

If we don't earn out, no problem, we keep the advance.

Complicate that further with foreign rights -- Germany, France, Spain, etc... Those all count against the advance.

Once the book earns out, the royalties flow to the writer in a new check. We still get royalty checks -- not terribly impressive since Animorphs/Everworld/Remnants have been out of print. But it's fun because it's like found money. Oh, look! Three thousand dollars! And we didn't have to work for it. Yay! Ah hah hah hah.