look ma, no hands! well, apparently the cat's out of the bag. the cover's blown, literally. as many of you know, i've been writing a book and now it's ready to be distributed this upcoming fall. what is the book about you ask? well, it's about blogging. tada. the ranks of bloggers turned authors is about to swell by one. as you can see, the cover is now ready for your viewing pleasure, and the book is listed on amazon. with my name on the cover to boot. yes sir, i'm legit.

how did i come by this amazing gig you ask? well, the short story is that my friend lilly is a book agent. due to her persistence, ingenuity, and magician's nature, she somehow acquired a book deal for me from a major publishing house. so last september, i quit my video gaming job, started writing the book, and six months later, i'm about to have a book published. the original plan was to have a 35,000 word book ready by november 2005. instead, the project got expanded so i had until january 2006 to write 50,000+ words. i turned in the manuscript recently and after some edits, i believe my end of the process is over. all i have to do now is wait for the book to be finalized and printed.

i'm still in some disbelief that i will have a book published, so i'm withholding my excitement until i actually have copies in my hand. however, needless to say, i'm very anxious and bursting with fruit flavor. it's been quite an interesting process and i've certainly learned quite a bit about both the publishing and writing worlds. i've kind of kept the book on the low because it feels like a wonderful dream that i don't quite want to test the limits of. you know what i'm saying?

however, many people contacted me today after seeing the book listing on amazon (many thanks for spreading the news amit) so i'd thought that at this juncture, it would be safe to announce my upcoming book to the world. so here it is: i have a book coming out. make room on your bookshelf. start saving money. spread the word. i blog, you blog, we all blog.

a quick f.a.q. about the book:
when is it coming out?
i believe it will be distributed in europe first. my publisher is based out of england so the book will be released there in july. the united states (and presumably other countries) will start receiving copies in august, maybe september.

will it be on bookshelves around my area?
from what i understand, yes. thankfully, my publisher has lots of renown and will be stocking the book in places like borders and barnes & noble. if not, i'm sure the book will be available in second-hand bookstores shortly after its release. just kidding. i hope.

i will probably not be doing any readings in your local bookstore. i'm pretty sure books like these don't get public readings. however, i will come to your house to stage dramatic reenactments from the book for you, free of charge. i am also available for birthday parties, weddings, the occassional bar mitzvah, and lonely saturday nights.

who is your publisher?
the publisher is rough guides, who are popular for their travel books but are expanding into culture and other areas. i've read many of their books and they are all written amazingly well and highly recommended. plus all of their books come in really neat sizes that are easy to walk around with. rough guides is a part of the penguin publishing group.

did you get paid? will you get paid?
the short answer is yes. despite being a (lucky son of a gun) first time author, i got a princely sum to do something i likely would have done for free. the money i received was an advance on royalties. which means that i get a percentage of each book sold. if i sell millions of copies, we are all going on vacation together. clear your calendars.

i am not sure what the "best" way to get this book would be. i'll have to find out exactly how all this works; if pre-ordering on amazon is better, or getting it some other way is better. if you care about this kind of thing, i'll find out later and get you the info.

is that you on the cover?
the final cover image was not my first choice. pink and eskimos aren't exactly my cup of tea. however, the eskimo sure did beat the pants off of some of the other choices. suffice to say, men in speedos, bullhorns, and penguins were offered as other suggestions. as much as i would have liked to pick my own cover, there were marketing issues at hand. and really, who can't resist an eye-catching book with pink and an eskimo on the cover? plus, it's a book with my name on it. who cares what it looks like?

the only thing i can complain about now is that everyone will think that it is i on the cover, since the eskimo is asian and i am asian. we do not all look alike. oh well. there are probably worse fates.

what are you going to do now?
i am currently unemployed (or self-employed if you ask the irs) and working on finagling my way into becoming a freelance writer or some other writerly occupation. maybe another book is in the works? who knows. soon i will be doing the rounds in support of the book, with the first stage of that being my new companion blog to the upcoming book (the book blog is still in beta).

is there a fan club that i can join?
the actual position of fan club president, and more importantly, treasurer, is still up for grabs. send a sase to me for an autographed 8x10. or you know, look for me on an upcoming cover of tiger beat or big bopper.

oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
oh, oh, oh, oh
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
the right stuff

thank you to everyone who contacted me today and thanks to everyone for their support. and of course, thanks to lilly -- my agent, my life. more book related things to come in the near future.