Also known as advance reader's copies, or uncorrected proofs, or galleys, these are the marketing tools that publishers send out in to the world for review. Some are plain, some are fancy. Mine is the prettiest one I've ever seen, ever, and I worked in a bookstore for a long time, and I've seen plenty of 'em.
Yowzer.
My baby. It is being shipped. All over. It is suddenly very real, and I have a Stomachache Of Doom. (Will they know that it likes to go to bed early and its favorite is salted caramel ice cream? WILL THEY? I don't think so!)
I also have the Excitement of OMG, caught on tape here. Now, many of you have never met me in person. I recently talked on the phone to Grace in Canada and she was surprised by my voice (hi, Grace!) and that made me wonder what y'all think I sound like. Watching myself on this video, I realize *I* have never met myself in person, and I am a big doofus goofball, especially when I'm acting up in front of a camera (I talk like a grownup sometimes, I swear). Wow.
But this was a really important moment and I wish I could have invited every single person who made this moment possible over to my house to see this momentous opening of the ARC box (MY NAME AND ISBN WAS ON THE CARDBOARD BOX), and that includes you, my darling reader. So please, indulge my goofiness. (And yes. It was 7pm, and I'd been up since 4am, and I really did feel that powdering my nose was absolutely essential before I opened the box.)
It's a real book. Really, really real. It's gorgeous.(Also, wild, mad thanks to Amanda Bergeron at HarperCollins, my editor's assistant who delivered these to me next-day air. She didn't have to. She was better than Zappo's. She made my dreams come true, even faster than imagined, as a surprise. She's awesome.)
Yay!!!
Yay!!! I’m so excited. Are you going to announce the pre-orders now? Huh? Huh? (yes, I know I already pre-ordered, but still).
Is ARC really pronounced “ark?” I’ve always said it as an acronym, like A.R.C. But that’s just me.
Oh gosh I’m so excited for you! And, while you don’t sound exactly like I imagined, you do sound (and seem) exactly like YOU. I think Lala’s voice behind the camera surprised me more.
Congratulations! I am over the moon for you! And you are the most adorable thing ever; I loved the squeal and jump when you pulled that first flap back.
I teared up a little bit. So happy for you!!!
What a feeling that must have been! Congratulations!
I can’t help but tear up and celebrate with you! Congratulations!
I am SOOOOOO excited for you!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! How momentous! cant wait to see this book at my LBS. so cool to hear your voice also.
Squeee!
(And…teary.)
How awesome is that?
YAYYAYAYYAY!! You are an a*DORE*able Goofball. Happy to see you Super Excited and Joyful, and the glimpse of furbabies in the background is great.
FWIW, your voice sounded like I expected it to; it must come through in your writing. High Class, indeed. :^)
Yup, I teared up at the end. Congratulations to you! And I thought you’d be celebrating with Bombay Sapphire!! =)
And seeing you on camera didn’t surprise me at all – your voice and mannerisms were exactly what I’d expect. However, I was completely surprised by Lala’s voice – not sure why!
What a lovely day for you two! Congratulations again!
I agree with ayla — I was more surprised by Lala’s voice than yours.
Sooo cool! Congratulations!!
That was ADORABLE! Thank you for letting us share in your joy.
I have to agree, that is THEE most beautiful book I have ever seen!
(hey…that shirt looks familiar!)
Oh, baby girl!!! sooooooo happy for you!
Yaaaaay! I clapped!
I love how Clara is mildly curious, but also a little bit put off by all the enthusiasm.
Hooray! I’m so excited for you 🙂 That was such a great video!!! I got a little sniffly too…
Delurking to say congratulations and thank you for giving us the opportunity to share in this most wondrous of moments. I confess — I got a little choked up watching you open the box of ARCs. Love your blog and cannot wait to read your first novel!
Congrats to you! What an amazing thing to watch your journey and thank you for including us all in this moment. Your sweet mama is watching down on you and I know she’s so proud of you! BIG HUGE GIGANTIC HUGS!
Yay! How exciting!!! Congrats.
I can’t wait to read it. 🙂
Congratulations! So exciting, and it’s beautiful!
Congratulations! Wow, that was better than opening a Christmas present! Your excitement is contagious. I can’t wait to get my hands on my own copy.
This was so cool to see!! Congrats!! Thanks for allowing me, big grinned and all, to share the moment with you!
Your honorary goddaughter watched you open that box, and she doesn’t think you’re a doofus. She thinks you’re ossum.
Yay yay yay!!!!
I got all misty when you opened that up, I’m so happy for you!
Wow. I wanted to cry too. But to comment on your voice, I wasn’t surprised by your voice!
Congratulations!
So wonderful! I got teary eyed watching- can’t imagine how you feel. Congrats!!!
Congrats! Nice author photo on the back, BTW. :^)
Awwww. I got a little misty there. Thanks for sharing.
Wow Congrats! and thanks for the video, very cool. You sound very west coast to me but then I’m from the west coast so it’s all good :)I am really looking forward to reading this book!
Oh I just got so excited for you and wish I was at your house to hug you and tell you how great this is! I’m so buying this book when it comes out and LOVING it because it is buy you and I secretly love romance books. I do! I LOVE them!
CONGRATS on this HUGE accomplishment!
Congratulations, doll!
Congratulations!!!! I teared up a little just watching that! And I used to work in a bookstore, too, and that is a SUPER gorgeous ARC – I don’t remember mine ever being that pretty, they were usually pretty nondescript and boring, as I recall.
Goodness, I have only been reading your blog for about a month or so, and I was so excited watching you open the box!! I must have been having a soppy moment… Oddly, I guess cos I havn’t read so much of your voice, you seemed just like I would have thought, but there you go. Congratulations!! It’s so amazing to see a real live author hold their real live bookk for the first time!!
Oh congrats!!! Thank you for sharing the big moment with us!
Good for you – kudos!
YOU TWO ARE FREAKIN’ ADORABLE.
That is all.
No, that is not all: congratulations!
After reading and enjoying your blog for years, I am so happy for you. Congratulations on this big accomplishment! Enjoy!
HUZZAH! Congrats 100 million times over!
Yeah, I teared up, too. Like watching someone be handed their baby for the first time.
And I’m with Ayla – you sound just like you, but that was not what I expected Lala to sound like.
Congratulations on the new arrival!
Congratulations!!
Yay! Congratulations 🙂 That is sooooooooooo exciting
Congratulations! What a thrilling moment and so very special for all of us because we got to watch..tee hee!
Squeeee!!! I’ll have to watch the vid later. My computer was being a butt-head and stopping every 2-3 seconds and the choppiness was making me sea-sick (sorta). Plus I’m supposed to be grocery shopping so that my family can have something other than PBJ sammiches for supper. Oops. Congrats on your exciting day.
Getting a little misty here. You are absolutely adorable 🙂
Rachel, I’m so incredibly excited for you!! Just … wow!!
Alright Darlins’ – that was too cute – plus we got gratuitous doggy in the background. I’m thrilled for you. Now the next picture on the next book – really you should be holding up something you knit – like EZ’s heart patch or something. Are you turning the knitting completely over to Lala? We want knitting AND booking – in your spare time of course when you’re not working!
EEEEEEE!!
Awesome.
Also, yeah, what some other people said — you sounded almost exactly how I expected, but Lala did not. At all. Can’t say why, either.
I am so excited for youuuuu!
DUDE> this is insanely awesome. I’m SO GLAD you videoed it. SO GLAD. YAY YOU
I teared up, I’m so excited for you! What a wonderful moment! Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us!
*sniff* That is the most awesome thing. Congrats. 🙂
How wonderful, Rachael! I like the jacket of your book. Certainly will read this book at some point in time. 😉 Congratulations!
Giulietta
So exciting! and I am so excited for you! The book looks beautiful and I cannot wait to read it! Congratulations!
OMG, your video made me tear up….your excitement is palpable. I don’t even know you and I’m so proud of you!! (although I did introduce myself to you once at Rhinebeck…so you’re more than just a blog personality) Congratulations!
Mazel Tov…what an amazing moment.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing with us. Wow, how exciting!
It IS beautiful!! Congratulations Author!!
You are too cute 🙂 Can’t wait to read it!!
Congratulations! I’m sure Amanda is a nice person and all, but I’m pretty sure it is YOU who made your dreams come true.
Crying little tears of joy for you, and off to Amazon to order a copy.
Congratulations! It’s really a REAL book! (And I have to concur with the other commenters that you sound pretty much like I thought you would, but Lala not so much. Weird, eh?)
aww that was so cute!!! congratulations i think it is amazingly awesome…i can’t wait to read it!!!!! plus you sound so cute…it’s funny how we think people will sound when we read their words and in actuallity they sound very different!!. yay hon!
Congrats!! I’ve got mine on pre order! I am very excited for you!
Yesterday I got my union paper (it’s a magazine-type thing, so they write about a lot of things beside work issues). I turned to the article about a woman’s visit to the Romance Writers of America conference, and she mentioned you! So funny. I did not expect to see your name in a Swedish union paper.
oh MAN i wish i had watched this before seeing you in person today! (or..er…yesterday…dang, it’s already one in the morning!)
Thank you for sharing such an important moment with us. I even teared up a little. Congratulations!
It’s wonderful to be able to share your excitement way down here in NZ. Was thinking of Jan too and hoping/believing she was watching with pride and delight. Congratulations!!!
Congratulations!
I would’ve cried. I actually teared up watching you. I imagined that your voice would be deeper, but it’s nice, and you two are so CUTE!
Just.so.special. Congratulations. I loved the look of the book. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome stuff. The book looks great. And unlike Grace I think you sounded like I expected!
Yay! You were so subdued. I’d was expecting some screamin’. I also got misty-eyed. Thanks for sharing your special moment.
Oh, that made me cry. 🙂
You made a book!
Thanks so much for sharing–it’s so exciting! And I think you’re adorable 🙂
I mean, it’s your BOOK, dude. It’s REAL. Really, really, really, really REAL. Wow. I’m so glad you let us be there for the unveiling. I can only imagine the surreal feeling you must have had while opening that box and touching YOUR BOOK for the very first time.
I can’t wait to read it!
Aw, that is just too damn cute! I am looking forward to reading your book! It’s gorgeous!
You are so cute!
CONGRATULATIONS!
AMAZING. I got a little teary-eyed there, I must confess. You are awesome and I can’t wait to get my hands on your book!
Congratulations!
Ooooh, I remember that moment well (reader’s proofs of first book) and am squealing in glee for you!!! At least you had the good sense to have some bubbly handy. And your voice? It’s just right for you – just what I would have imagined if I’d thought about it. Huge hugs – can’t wait to read it – will it be on Kindle? That’s the only way I’ll get it way out here!
YAAY!
(and a little teared up too, but in a Most Awesome Way!
i got tears in my eyes at the same time you did…congrats! i can’t wait to have MY VERY OWN COPY of the book, that you’ve signed…of course!
Congratulations! That’s really awesome!! I’ve added the book to my “to-read” shelf on goodreads.com. =)
It looks like that was kinda like seeing your kid for the first time face to face. Congrats, Rachael. It was delightful to see and hear you movin’ around. (you too, Lala). Have Janine and Brooke and and and all give you a hug for me, please?
Wow! Yippee! Yowzas! Oh My Dog!
(are you a grown-up? Maybe, since you’re a real writer and all)
hahaha, this was so cute! made my day!
congrats!! its alllll real, baby!
Congratulations! Thanks for sharing.
I sat here clapping and laughing and tearing up a bit for you – so you handled it better than me 😉
Love hearing your voices after all these years too
Awwwww Rachael I’m so happy for you. I cried. It is so cool that you videoed it.
Oh wow, that is one of the prettiest gallies I’ve ever seen (or ARC or whatever they call ’em now-a-daze). The ones we got to keep at Bookshop Santa Cruz were kinda card-boardy plain.
CONGRATULATIONS!
And um yeah, your voice didn’t sound anything like the one I use in my head for your blog (I give all the blogs I read their own voices…okay, maybe you didn’t need to know that…) but now I have a voice for your blog :). That sounded kinda stalkerish…nevermind :).
WOWWWWWWWW! When can we buy?! Hey are you on Goodreads? You should be – as an author AND a reader 😀
Absolutely fantastic, well done.
You are such a wonderfully exuberant, gleeful wee soul.
I have two questions;
1) when can we get copies this side of the pond? and,
2) when do the chickens arrive?
because my girls always know what kind of mood I’m in and believe me, having excited chickens running around you as you squeal is heavenly.
If a little prone to tripping…
Your voice sounds exactly like I thought it would.
Thanks for giving us the chance to share in the joy of your big moment. Your book is beautiful, but not as beautiful as you are!*
Many, many good wishes…
Donna P
*Your house is beautiful too!
Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing, that was fun!
I’ve met you, so I know what you sounds like, but like everyone else I was surprised by Lala’s voice…I think I was expecting something like Stevie Nicks b/c she (Lala, as well as Stevie) is a musician. ? I am dumb like that. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
The real book…wow. Congrats!!
I was on Catalina (Great Trip!)and missed your naming contest, but for some character you might consider Levi. If you had been had been born a boy, that would be your name! named after Levi Brake, one of the coolest dudes ever.
Love,
Dad
Thoroughly proud of you. YAY!!!!!
I’m ordering my first copy from Amazon but if I see it in a tangible bookstore (or will I find it at Purlescence?) I’ll buy a copy there, too.
You know, I’d buy the book no matter what because I like you and know you’re a good person, but I’m also going to buy the book because I know your writing is excellent. Thank you for sharing your talent in my favorite format!
Did you know that I could order your book for INR 584 in India? (Googling…)
oh, fantastic! that is awesome. great video blog – what a fantastic moment!
Congratulations and thank you for sharing with a video, I was so excited myself to watch you open the box. Can’t wait to get my copy.
Susanne
For years I have enjoyed your “knitting” blog. You are a talented writer. And now you have a book! It has been a blast to share this journey with you. Thanks for the video. As an old, but unkown friend, I’m happy I was able to “be there”.
How wonderful!! I can’t wait to read it. You were beautiful in the video. Now we can’t wait to see it on the best seller lists.
Congratulations!!! What a teary moment – I’m so excited for you & can’t wait to read your book.
Late to the party as always but so happy for you, hey latecomers at least make the party carry on longer! Well done both of you for not jumping up and down, I think you were both rather cool dudes with just that hint of euphoria sneaking out…bet it was fun after the bottle got opened:0)
Voices, well you sound much like the message on your phonejust more sexy:0) Loved the fact that Lala was more interested in your picture on the cover than the cover, true love in deed. Hard work perserverence and love all got you to this point. May the love grow ever stronger, as to the hard work and perserverence kind of suspect you have that well in order, take care…space peace and deep breaths are good too. Much love.
oh Rach, best video EVAR, and OMG OMG HOORAY! your book looks so awesome. (and so does your hair.)
Honey! I can’t believe I didn’t see this until Wednesday. Congratulations! And you have a totally sexy voice, my dear.
I have no sound on my computer, but I got all teary watching you. Congratulations!! I’m sooooo excited for you!!
Oh my goodness, how cute are you?!
Congratulations (um, on the ARC, not on being cute…. well, sure, I guess also on being cute, why not?)!
You’re a NOVELIST!! OMIGOD, that’s so indescribably cool! I have never met you or anything, but I’m so happy for you, and it’s so neat to have watched the process and “know” a novelist! Kudos to you! Can’t wait to get my mitts on a copy!
Thank you so much for letting us share in your excitement! And, as others have said, you two are freakin’ adorable! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. 🙂
How wonderful! Personally, after following your blog for 3-4 years, I was super excited to hear your VOICE. And was that La’s VOICE?
And now I know a little about how getting famous works and how to celebrate it! Okay, maybe I’ll just blog for eleventy twelve years instead (I have a hard time makin’ stuff up, but, once again, I’m tempted to try Nanowrimo. Don’t forget us little people!!!
Yep. I have tears, too. Sniff.
Congratulations! Loved the video! It was so fun to share the moment! Brought tears to my eyes! Can’t wait for March 23rd!
What a sweet video. I can’t wait to get my own copy.
that was awesome! thanks for sharing it with us! the book, or Arc or whatever? looks really welcoming, just lovely – something I’d pick up at the bookstore, def ready for display! Congrats again, you must be so proud of yourself!!! also, I TOTALLY get the powdering the nose thing, dude lol!