I signed my contract!
What I’m reading: Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan, Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah
I laughed too hard to stay still for the nice commemorative photo I had in mind, but eh! This speaks 97,000 words.
What I’m watching: The Future Diary, The Lost City
What I’m listening to: Interstellar - Main Theme on loop (my taste is Varied, clearly)
I’ve officially signed my first book deal contract, just in time for Christmas. FIRE TO THE STARS releases spring 2025 from Knopf/Penguin Random House! A second (untitled) book will follow. It feels real!
WHEW. It’s so strange to say that after so long since the initial offer in August, and the announcement in October. The terms have been negotiated for months, but in terms of writing up the legalese, traditional publishing indeed moves at its own pace. Hurry up and wait, one of my author friends likes to say. Man, if that doesn’t nail the feeling!
Bookwyrms, once the shock of major milestones passes, you might be surprised to learn that it’s not uncommon to feel like nothing happened. I was thrilled to sign with my agent and receive my offer of publication, but there’s a part of my brain that absorbed those milestones and said, Okay, back to work. You truly have to enjoy the hustle of creation to emotionally survive this industry, because the hustle never stops.
Right now, I’m waiting for my editor to deliver notes on book one and approve a proposal out of the few I sent for book two. I’m using the free time to draft a YA space fantasy project that’s been living in my brain since I saw the amazingly unique comps for Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale. Buy their book. It’s amazing!). With all the discourse about how difficult it is to sell sci-fi in YA right now, this is definitely a project I’m writing for my own enjoyment. Who knows if it’ll ever sell. I’m fresh into a two-book contract where the first book releases spring 2025, so it’ll probably be a while before my agent and I discuss what’s next for me in YA.
For now, I’m back to dreaming, and there’s freedom in that.