What's the news?

By Julie

It's been a while since I've done a "What's happening with the book?" post, so here goes!

Things are moving along nicely. I completed my regular edits in January, my copy edits in April, and today, I'll receive what are called "first pass pages," which are printouts of the typeset manuscript that I'll read for missed typos and last-minute fixes. Soon, I imagine they'll be printing up the galleys (copies for advance reviews and publicity purposes). They can't do that until I have a cover, and that's still in the works. I can't wait to see it.

My official publication date in the U.S. is February 19, 2013. Feels like forever, but when I consider it's been nine months since I sold the book to St. Martin's Press, and only eight months until publication, it seems like no time at all. I suspect the next eight months will fly by faster than I can imagine at this point.

My very first cover!

August 19 … THIS AUGUST!!! ... the book will be published in Germany as Zu zweit tut das Herz nur halb so weh, which translates loosely as "With two together, the heart hurts half as much." The book is available at all the German online booksellers for pre-order (Here's the Amazon Germany link, for instance!), as is the audiobook, which is being read by two German actresses, including one who was in the movie Run Lola Run!

This is pretty cool--the art on the cover of the summer catalog for Pendo is the art from my cover, and I am apparently the author of the month on their website (or season, maybe!?). Much of this I figure out using an automated online translater.

I met a woman from Germany who is visiting her daughter here in Texas for the summer (her daughter is the mother of some kids my kids know from school), and she was very excited to learn about the book and plans to watch for it when she returns home. The daughter lives here now, but German is her first language. I'm hoping to share one of the extra copies I'll get of the German edition so she'll be able to read it in German.

I even received my first fan mail from a bookseller in Germany who had read the advance review copy. It is kind of a bizarre experience to debut a book from afar like this, but I am certainly not complaining. Pendo is doing an amazing job and has put all their confidence in the book, which is very exciting. I can't wait to see how it does there.

In the background, I am busy working on odds and ends--things like sending notes to authors asking if they are willing to read the manuscript and consider giving a blurb. It's awkward, but I guess it must be done! I have received several really lovely blurbs and they never fail to make me smile and get a little choked up when I read them! I'll share some of those soon.

I'm also, as I've mentioned in previous blogs, attempting to get the next book going, which is a strangely different process once you are under contract for your first book. I've read lots of blog posts in the past about the differences, so I'm not completely unprepared, but it's still challenging. In the past, I finished one manuscript and moved onto the next, only thinking about the previous one in terms of querying agents and making revisions. Now I find my mind must adjust to thinking about two stories a LOT during the same periods of time and it isn't especially easy. I'd like to knock out a first draft over the next several months, as recommended by those with the experience, but I'm not sure it will happen.

So, I think that about covers it for now. I feel like I'm forgetting something important, but that's everything that comes to mind!

What about you guys? Anyone have anything exciting to share? Book news? Life news? How's your summer going?