Triple Huzzah!
Twenty-five-year old librarian Bethany Hagen’s sweeping YA debut, LANDRY PARK, pitched as “Gone with the Nuclear Wind,” to Nancy Conescu at Dial, in a major deal, in a pre-empt, for three books, by Mollie Glick at Foundry Literary + Media (NA).
That’s right — Landry Park is going to be a real book! When my agent called this week to tell me that someone had made on offer, I almost fainted. Then I went through the stages of joy — shock; disbelief; repeating the same words over and over; crying while helping patrons figure out how to use their flash drive on the library computers.
After months of hard, slow toil, this has all happened so fast. Let’s recap:
Monday: Dream Agent emails to say she wants to represent me and my novel. I do happy jig at the library wearing heels. Alarmed coworkers remind me that they won’t cover my roving shifts if I break an ankle.
Tuesday/Wednesday: frantic line edits with agent. Eyes go numb from looking at the screen.
Thursday: Drop contract in the mail, more frantic edits.
Friday: Finish edits, write short bio, send picture, polish series overview aaaaannnnnd OFF TO THE EDITORS.
Weekend: Try to not obsessively research every editor and imprint.
Monday: Offer! Heart attack.
fin.
So yes, I will be published. Tentatively, it looks like fall of next year. I couldn’t be more excited. My editor called after everything was finalized just to tell me how excited she was that we’d be working together. Isn’t that incredible? And the Penguin Young Reader’s Group is INSANELY good. How good?
Beth Revis is a Penguin author. So is Ally Condie. And Marie Lu. And John Green.
JOHN GREEN, PEOPLE.