Our Blog

National Crafts Month: Crochet a Creepy Monkey!

National Craft Month continues with a truly intense craft: The Creepy Monkey from Creepy Cute Crochet: Zombies, Ninjas, Robots, and More! This is not a craft for beginners—it’s as tough and unforgiving as March. But if you’re a crafter, you’re not afraid of a challenge! And besides, this monkey is so darned cute I’ll leap at any opportunity to share it.

The world needs more of these sweet little monkeys. Make them!

Posted by Suzanne Wallace

A Simple Guide to Bookstore Etiquette

(image via the awesome Blue Willow Books)

Shopping in a bookstore is a bit like shopping at a hardware store: if you’re there for something specific, you need to know a thing or two about the item you’re looking for before attempting to find it in the aisles. If you’re there to browse, the world is your oyster.

As a bookseller, I’ve often heard people ask for a book they saw several weeks ago, on that table near the café (you know the one!), that had a blue cover. But lots books go on display every week, on many tables, and some of those books were published two, five, ten years ago! Feeling helpless and apologetic, all I can do is point out general sections of the store where they might find blue book. So to correct future sadness, arm yourself with bookstore etiquette and prepare to fill your arms with all the books you could ever want!

Posted by Laura Crockett

Worst-Case Wednesday: How to Escape From a Giant Octopus

 
Although most Octopuses look friendly and cute, and small ones probably are, there are also giant octopuses to consider. Although it is very rare, if you are in the water which they call home, they may attack. This could be because they want to eat you, or simply because they would like a hug.

Posted by Jade Gilmartin

Win Some Beautiful Find Momo Printstagram Prints From Us & Social Print Studio!

Today, we're thrilled to be publishing Find Momo, the debut book by photographer Andrew Knapp. The adventures of Andrew and his adorable border collie Momo delight over 130,000 Instagram followers every single day, and we can't wait to introduce this lovable duo to even more people. 

As a special way to celebrate the release of the book, we've teamed up with Social Print Studio, who a lot of you might know from their amazing print programs. They let users print beautiful photos from Facebook with GetBlue and Instagram with Printstagram, and you can order from their print studio site and app, printstud.io. You can follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and like them over on Facebook.

We're running a truly awesome giveaway with them, offering you a chance to get some beautiful prints of Momo and gift cards to Printstagram. 

What are those sweet, sweet prizes? Check it out. 

Grand Prize: A framed Momo print, a paw printed book, and a Find Momo poster! 
Three Runners Up: A set of Prinstagram images (of Momo or from your own feed / Facebook), a paw printed book, a Find Momo poster. Your choice of a $19 gift code or 24 squares from Andrew's Instagram feed.
First 20 Rafflecopter Entrants: Will recieve $5 Prinstagram codes and a Find Momo poster. 

That's right. The grand prize is a framed Momo print. The first person selected by the Rafflecopter will win a beautiful 11×11 framed Momo photo (in a square, black, 12×12 frame) selected by the author. 

Note, that photo above is just a mockup. Andrew will pick a gorgeous photo when the contest is over. He's on a book tour across the country right now, so who knows what kind of gorgeous pictures he's going to take? 

How can you enter? We've made it incredibly easy with a Rafflecopter below. You can follow @quirkbooks, @andrewknapp, or @socialps on Twitter, like us on Facebook, tweet about the giveaway, all that good stuff! So go ahead, enter, and join us in playing #FindMomo

And a huge thank you to Social Print Studio for teaming up with us on this. You guys are the greatest. 

Posted by Eric Smith

How To Tuesday: Get Some Pinterest Inspiration for Your Ultimate Reading Nook

When most people read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, they are astonished to learn that The Boy Who Lived sleeps in a cupboard under the stairs. For me, though, it always seemed kind of…cozy.

Don’t get me wrong—sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs is not ideal, but as a reading nook, it could work. Give me an area with soft lighting, pillows, a blanket, and a book, and I’d call this the perfect reading spot—perhaps not for The Boy Who Lived, but for The Person Who Reads. Reading nooks (or corners) provide readers with a designated space for opening a book and shutting out the rest of the world.  

Posted by Lindsey Wells

World Book Night Giveaway: Win Photos from Ransom Riggs’ Vintage Photography Collection

Today, World Book Night is highlighting Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs over on their Twitter and Facebook. It was a real honor to see Miss Peregrine selected for this awesome program, and I figured we'd run a fun giveaway to celebrate today's social media spotlight. 

Back in 2012, Ransom sent me a small box full of strange black and white photos from his personal vintage photography collection. I've used them now and again for promotions, and now, dear World Book Night people, we're offering a few up to you.

Enter our little Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a hardcover copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and one of three photos from Ransom's personal collection. We've also dug deep into the Quirk archives and wrangled up a bunch of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children posters, which we'll also giveaway to random entries after the first three winners are picked. How's… 20 of those posters sound? Good? Good.

You can enter by following Quirk, Ransom, World Book Night, etc. on Twitter and Facebook. Good luck, and thanks again, World Book Night! 

Posted by Eric Smith