It’s Here. It’s Real. OMG.

It happened today. The moment every writer dreams of.

I saw my book announcement on Publisher’s Weekly.

I actually got the call from my agent about this offer back in … I want to say March? I was sitting on the couch with a sleeping baby on my lap, scrolling through random Amazon listings on my phone, when my agent’s number popped up on my screen.

“This is the call,” he said.

But because the publishing industry is a complicated place, a lot had to happen between the offer and this announcement.

First we had to talk to other editors and make sure this was really the right editor and house for my book (it was!).

Then my agent’s lawyers had to negotiate a contract with the publisher’s lawyers. This can take a lot of time.

Then I had to look over the contract myself, decide I was good with the terms, and get it signed/sealed/delivered.

Then I had to write the announcement to submit to PW. Have you ever tried to boil your novel down into one simple, elegant, utterly compelling sentence? It’s hard. And since I’m a copywriter/word nerd/perfectionist it took me many drafts, which I then narrowed down to my top 3 to share with my agent siblings, which narrowed it down to 2 that I sent to my agent, who made the final call.

And here it is. The announcement. Living proof that my book baby is going to someday meet the world.

And I am freaking out.