After months of keeping a big secret I can finally share some exciting news with you.
Many of you know Cary McNeal of List of the Day fame. Cary and I have struck up a close friendship over the past couple of years, as I have with so many of you. He was one of the first people in my adult life who truly encouraged me to write and told me I had talent, which I desperately needed to hear but didn't even know it. I came to think of him as a mentor in many ways since he is doing what I would love to do: writing online, working from home, and writing books that make people laugh.
Last year he asked me to co-write a proposal for a new humor book that he had been approached to write on his own. Since he's a busy guy with a lot of irons in the fire and the project had a lot to do with differences in genders, he thought it might be best if he shared the work with a woman. We wrote that proposal well over a year ago but it didn't get picked up by a publisher, so we both just moved on and kept doing our thangs.
A few months later another book idea came along from his publishing contact, and again he asked me to work on the proposal with him. We wrote the 20 page-ish document together, and this time it was different... this time, there was a lot of interest right off the bat! This time publishers looked at it and said, "We can sell this."
So we got a book deal!
Last April we got word that our book had been picked up by Running Press. It has taken many months of negotiations, but now that we have our signed, official contracts in hand we have finally been given the green light to announce to the world that our book will be published in the Fall of 2011!
It's a non-fiction work called Crap I Bought On eBay: Our Shopping Spree In The Wal-Mart of Weird, and it's already pretty hilarious, if I do say so myself. And I do. :)
So, there you have it! I'm so excited to be a part of this project, and I hope that this news gives all of you who aspire to be published a shot in the arm. Remember, it doesn't matter how many people read your blog - it's not about collecting followers or doing give-aways or anything else that we get hung up on in the Blogosphere; it's just about writing consistently in your own voice. You never know who is going to read it and decide to give you a chance!
Oh, and anyone who says that internet-based friendships aren't real -- neener neener! You're wrong.
As always, I blog for fun and as a creative outlet, not for monetary gain. But hey, if anyone wants to pay me to do it, I'd be open to that too. Ha ha, I'm kidding! (no, I'm not)
I'm glad we talked. I feel so much better now that we're all in the know, don't you?
Please wish me luck as I dip a toe into completely uncharted (for me) waters.
XOXO
La Bev