Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Good news!

Cross-posted from the Blue Rose Girls:

As Grace announced last week, her beautiful novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon was selected by Al Roker as the December selection for the Today Show Book Club, aka Al's Book Club for Kids. I thought I'd share a little behind-the-scenes look into how this type of good news is shared in the publishing house.

It was Thursday morning around 10:30 am, and I had just gotten out of our weekly editorial meeting. I was in my office chatting with our Library Marketing Director when I heard the sound of running footsteps down the hall. Running footsteps is a sure sign of news--although sometimes bad (for example, something printed incorrectly, what are we going to do?!). Our Publicity Director and Grace's in-house Publicist burst into my office holding a copy of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon with huge smiles on their faces. (Whew, it's good news. But what?) "Today Show book club selection! Today Show Book Club selection!"

Excitement, shock, disbelief, happiness.
"Wait...what? What? Really?!"
Laughter, cheering, yay yay yay! I could hear the news spread down the hall.
What happened?
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is going to be on the Today Show!
No way! Awesome!
"You should tell Grace!" I was told.
"This is Al Roker's Book Club, right?" I asked--I wanted to make sure I told Grace the right thing.
I IMed Grace on Gchat.
me
: hey, are you there?
grace: yep
me: are you at home? I have good news for you! Should I call your cell?
grace: ok

I got Grace on the line. Our Publicity Director and I told her the news together. I think the first words out of Grace's mouth were, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Really?! Oh my gosh!" as the news sunk in. "I have to tell my mom!" and then later..."What am I going to wear!?" and "How did this happen?!"

This is generally how it works when we hear good news. For example, when we receive the bestseller lists and see that we have a new title make it on, the news spreads down the hall, and people cheer and clap and yell and come out of their offices and cubes to celebrate for a little while. When The Curious Garden hit the list for the first time back in April, our Publisher's Assistant started calling my name while running down the hall. "Alvina! Alvina!" It's especially exciting when it's the first time an author has made it on the list. In the case of Peter Brown, a group of us crowded into my office to hear Peter react to the news. He had been on tour in CA at the time.

I love good news in the office, obviously. Keep it coming!!

And congratulations again, Grace!

10 comments:

yamster said...

I love imagining the sound of the running footsteps down to your office! Congrats to Grace AND you! :)

Suzanne said...

What a great story! Thanks for sharing!

Crystal said...

Thanks for sharing this story, ALvina! It's nice getting a behind-the-scenes peek at how good news is celebrated at an editor's office . . . :)

Carol Coven Grannick said...

An exquisite book, a well-deserved honor!

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

this process must be so exciting :)

Reggie said...

Hello Alvina,

This is writing from the National Book Development Council of Singapore.

We would like to explore inviting you to Singapore for the inaugural Asian Festival of Children's Content happening on 6-9 May 2010.

Do contact me at regina@bookcouncil.sg.
Website: www.bookcouncil.sg

lisafalkenstern said...

Alvina,
I'm not commenting on this post but your title of your blog. I was one of the five artists at your table at
Rutgers (the one asking money questions). I wanted to let you know that I did the cover for Bloomabilities. And I sold my first children's book right after the conference. Your answer about prices were very helpful. Thanks!
Lisa Falkenstern

Rita said...

Splendid news!!! I've heard nothing but raves about this book! High-quality raves from the best sources. Congratulations to you and Grace!!

Anonymous said...
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Rayna Erlick said...

Congratulations on good news! It's always nice to hear people in publishing celebrating!