There are lots of things you secretly hope for when you publish a book: amazing reviews, amazing sales, a permanent spot on the New York Times Best Seller list. (I can hear you chuckling, but it's true!)
There are also a lot of things you're told to expect: bad reviews, late nights promoting your book, even later nights writing the next one.
And then there's the completely unexpected . . . like your publisher closing.
Egmont USA's closing is old news by now. I won't rehash it here. There were folks whose "unexpected" was worse than mine: They lost a job. Or they had contracts or covers or ARCs and it all fell through– they have to sell their books a second time.
Me? My "unexpected" was finding out that VALIANT would be released April 28. And while a few essential Egmont USA staff remain and are committed to seeing this through, (hi Andrea and Margaret!) VALIANT's release isn't going to be the same. Not by a long shot.
I didn't expect how adrift I would feel. I certainly didn't expect the awful sense of powerlessness.
So when Harold Underdown suggested that the remaining authors band together to promote our releases–when my agent and the folks at Egmont USA thought it was a good idea–I jumped at the opportunity. Which led to a few more things I didn't expect:
I didn't expect that ten authors who were juggling busy schedules and their own disappointment would pull together in less than two weeks, determined to get every last one of us across this finish line.
I didn't expect this fabulous community would circle around us so quickly. Of all the unexpected things since January 21st, the one that has surprised me the most is you.
You.
You who sent notes. You who messaged and posted and tweeted and offered ways to support Egmont USA staff and authors. You Egmont USA authors who have barely gathered up the pieces of your dreams, but are doing everything you can to take care of ours.
All of you. You are the most miraculous, most unexpected, thing of all.
So I am going to ask for one more miracle: Please help us get through the end of April.
Please support the authors with releases tomorrow. Please visit Egmont's Last List so that you can see all the Egmont USA authors who need your support. Please sign up for Kat Kennedy's Last List blog hop that will help feature those authors. Please tweet about us– #LastListEgmont. Please talk about us to your friends and local bookstores.
And please, please know how grateful we are for every lovely, wonderfully unexpected thing you've done over these last few weeks.
With all my heart, Sarah