Show your support for our great annual author series in three different ways.

Visit Barnes & Noble in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, July 13. Just mention Out Loud! when you check out, and our series will get a percentage of your purchase price. Doesn’t matter what you buy: a book, a magazine, a cup of coffee, a sandwich – mention Out Loud! as you pay and the clerk will hit the secret “donate to Out Loud!” button on the register: it’s magic! And it will help us continue to bring amazing author events to you in coming years.

All book sales at the Meg Cabot author event the previous evening will also qualify, so come early and buy lots! Then you can have her sign everything.

Can’t make it to see Meg Cabot on the 12^th or to Barnes & Noble on the 13^th? No worries! Online purchases also qualify for five days, from July 13^th through the 18^th.  Just enter Bookfair ID #10518447 at checkout so we’ll get the benefit of your purchase.

All this and there is absolutely no cost to you. Who said there’s no free lunch? Or, anyway, free author events?

Meg Cabot will read from Overbite, her newest novel for adults, and discuss her career as a writer for adults and young adults on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m. in the final event of the 2011 edition of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series.

The event—which is free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College campus. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Cabot is a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of books for both adults and tweens/teens. After working for ten years as an assistant residence hall director at New York University, Cabot wrote the Princess Diaries series, which was made into two hit movies by Disney, sold over 16 million copies, and has been translated into 38 languages.

Cabot’s newest series include the tween hit Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls, the YA trilogy Airhead, and Abandon, the first book in a new paranormal series for young adult readers (the sequel, Underworld, will be in stores in spring 2012). Overbite is a sequel to Insatiable, Cabot’s first paranormal romance for adult readers.

Following her presentation, Cabot will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of several of Cabot’s books, including Overbite, available for purchase.

A portion of the purchase price of any books purchased at the event, as well as any qualifying purchases made at the Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble the following day, will support future Out Loud! events.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org. Meg Cabot’s website can be found at www.megcabot.com.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

The political season is heating up in Iowa, but nothing on the campaign trail is likely to rival the intrigue on display in Steve Martini’s political thrillers. Martini will read from his latest novel, Trader of Secrets, for Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series on Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m.

The event—which is free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College campus. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Martini introduced his popular character, attorney Paul Madriani, in 1992’s Compelling Evidence. The recently released Trader of Secrets is the twelfth novel featuring Madriani. Prior to the publication of his first novel, The Simeon Chamber in 1987, Martini had careers as a journalist and an attorney.

Following his reading, Martini will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of Trader of Secrets and other Martini titles available for purchase.

Martini’s event is the fifth of six Out Loud! events in 2011. Meg Cabot, bestselling author for youth and adults, will wrap up this year’s season on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org. Steve Martini’s website can be found at www.stevemartini.com.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Additional support for Steve Martini’s event comes from Gray, Stefani & Mitvalsky PLC and Rush & Nicholson PLC.

Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the bestselling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter and Meredith Gentry series, will answer questions from readers as part of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series. Hamilton’s event, which will include adult content and is therefore not appropriate for children, is set for Friday, June 10 at 7 p.m.

The event—which is free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College campus. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Hamilton will be on tour for Hit List, the twentieth book in the Anita Blake series, which first entranced readers with 1994’s Guilty Pleasures. Hamilton is recognized as a pioneer of the “urban fantasy” genre, and her books are well known for their blending of mystery, horror, romance and erotica, and fantasy—all spiced with dark humor.

Hit List will be released just a few days prior to Hamilton’s Cedar Rapids appearance. Hamilton’s Out Loud! appearance is one of just three tour stops currently scheduled in support of the new book, and the only one that is free to attend.

Following the question and answer session, Hamilton will pose for pictures with members of the audience.

While Hamilton will not be signing books at the event, the Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with pre-signed copies of Hit List available for purchase.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present two additional authors in 2011 including Steve Martini, author of the thrillers featuring Paul Madriani, on Friday, June 24, at 7 p.m.; and Meg Cabot, bestselling author for youth and adults, on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org. Hamilton’s web site can be found at www.laurellkhamilton.org.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

Andrew Shaffer, who grew up in Cedar Rapids and once worked for the Cedar Rapids Public Library, will be the next author to read as part of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series. Shaffer’s event is set for Sunday, May 22 at 2 p.m. All series events—which are free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College campus. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Shaffer will read from his irreverent non-fiction book, Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, which examines in hilarious detail the romantic tribulations of some of the world’s most famed thinkers, including Socrates, Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and Bertrand Russell, among many others.

Publisher’s Weekly said of the book, “Shaffer’s jaunty compendium of highbrow heartbreak provides proof positive that even the most brilliant of minds can fall afoul of Cupid—and offers some measure of hope to the lovelorn.”

Following his reading, Shaffer will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of the book available for purchase.

The Out Loud! Author Series received a grant of $500 from Humanities Iowa, a state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in support of Shaffer’s reading. The event will also include comments and questions for Shaffer from Professor Chris McCord of the Kirkwood Community College philosophy department. McCord has published “Teaching Ethics with Scrooge” and “Frankenstein Meets Kant” in Teaching Philosophy.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present three additional authors in 2011 including Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the popular the “Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter” novels, on Friday, June 10, at 7 p.m.; Steve Martini, author of the thrillers featuring Paul Madriani, on Friday, June 24, at 7 p.m.; and Meg Cabot, bestselling author for youth and adults, on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org. Shaffer’s web site can be found at www.greatphilosophersbook.com.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers. While this event is supported by Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of either organization.

Mary Helen Stefaniak, an Iowa City resident and graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will be the next author to read as part of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series.

Stefaniak’s event is set for Sunday, May 15 at 2 p.m. All series events—which are free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College campus. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Stefaniak will read from her second novel, The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia, which has been awarded a 2011 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction. The Anisfield-Wolf awards “recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures.”

Juror Rita Dove described the novel as “a rollicking tale that manages to speak seriously to the tragedy of ignorance and the damage caused by fear.”

Previous winners of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award include Martin Luther King, Jr., Toni Morrison, and Alex Haley.

The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia was also selected by independent booksellers as an Indie-Next “Great Read” in September 2010.

Stefaniak’s first novel, The Turk and My Mother, won the 2005 John Gardner Book Award and has been translated into several languages. Her first book, Self Storage and Other Stories, received the Banta Award for Literary Excellence from the Wisconsin Library Association. Stefaniak is currently an Associate Professor of English/Creative Writing at Creighton University in Omaha.

Following her reading, Stefaniak will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of her work available for purchase.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present four additional authors in 2011 including Andrew Shaffer, author of Great Philosophers who Failed at Love, on Sunday, May 22, at 2 p.m.; Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the popular the “Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter” novels, on Friday, June 10, at 7 p.m.; Steve Martini, author of the thrillers featuring Paul Madriani, on Friday, June 24, at 7 p.m.; and Meg Cabot, bestselling author for youth and adults, on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.

This year’s edition of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series gets underway on Tuesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. with Stephen Lovely, whose novel Irreplaceable is the 2011 Linn Area Reads book. All series events—which are free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College Campus. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Lovely attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and worked for seven years as a night clerk in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. In 2005, he became director of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, a summer residential creative writing program for high school students. Irreplaceable, which is set in a fictionalized Iowa City, explores the many issues surrounding organ transplants.

The Linn Area Reads program has already hosted several well-attended events related to the novel. The community reading program wraps up with Lovely’s Out Loud! reading.

Following his reading, Lovely will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of Irreplaceable available for purchase.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present five additional authors in 2011 including Mary Helen Stefaniak, author of The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia, on Sunday, May 15 at 2 p.m.; Andrew Shaffer, author of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, on Sunday, May 22, at 2 p.m.; Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the popular “Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter” novels, on Friday, June 10, at 7 p.m.; Steve Martini, author of the thrillers featuring Paul Madriani, on Friday, June 24, at 7 p.m.; and Meg Cabot, bestselling author for youth and adults, on Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series, as well as information about the Linn Area Reads program, is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org. Stephen Lovely’s web site can be found at www.stephenlovely.com.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Stephen Lovely’s event is supported in part by a grant from the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Vampires, political thrills, family dramas, and philosophers with lousy love lives are on tap for the 2011 edition of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series. For the first time the collaborative program of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries will feature six events, all free and open to the public. All series events in 2011 will take place in Ballantyne Auditorium on the Kirkwood Community College Campus.

The series kicks off on Tuesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. with Stephen Lovely whose novel Irreplaceable is the 2011 Linn Area Reads book. Lovely attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and worked for seven years as a night clerk in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. In 2005, he became director of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, a summer residential creative writing program for high school students. Irreplaceable, which is set in a fictionalized Iowa City, explores the many issues surrounding organ transplants.

On Sunday, May 15, at 2 p.m., Mary Helen Stefaniak will read from The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia, which was chosen as an “Indie Next” pick in September 2010. In the acclaimed novel, a hidden history of the American South emerges when a worldly teacher leads Threestep, Georgia, to reinvent itself as “Baghdad.” Stefaniak, who is also the author of The Turk and My Mother and Self Storage and Other Stories, is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and divides her time between Iowa City and Omaha, where she teaches at Creighton University.

Andrew Shaffer, author of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, will read at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 22. Shaffer takes readers on an irreverent tour of the tragic love lives of great thinkers through the ages. A Cedar Rapids native who attended the University of Iowa and lives in the Quad Cities, he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and the creative director of greeting card publisher Order of St. Nick.

On Friday, June 10 at 7 p.m., bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton will answer questions from the audience. The latest release in her popular Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, Hit List, will be released in June. Hamilton is also the author of the urban fantasy series featuring Merry Gentry, who is a Fey princess and private investigator. Hamilton’s presentation will include adult content and will not be appropriate for children.

Thriller writer Steve Martini will appear on Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m. Martini introduced his popular character attorney Paul Madriani in 1992’s Compelling Evidence. He will read from the twelfth novel featuring Madriani, which is set for June release. Prior to the publication of his first novel, The Simeon Chamber in 1987, Martini had careers as a journalist and an attorney.

On Tuesday, July 12 at 7 p.m., Meg Cabot will present a program for both her YA and adult readers. Well known for YA novels like The Princess Diaries and Avalon High (both of which have been made into Disney films), Cabot is also a bestselling writer for adults. She will be on tour supporting Overbite, which will be released in July and is the second entry in her vampire series that began with last year’s Insatiable. Her latest YA book is Abandon, which will be released in late April and is a retelling of the Persephone myth.

All Out Loud! authors will take questions from the audience during their presentations. Additionally, all authors will sign books following their presentations with the exception of Hamilton who will pose for pictures with fans. Pre-signed copies of Hamilton’s newest book will be available for purchase at the event.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series, as well as information about the Linn Area Reads program, is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

Check back Monday for the announcement of the 2011 Out Loud! Author Series lineup!