July 27

I figured I’d respond to this comment from Hans Curtis as a full post, in regards to the new book(s) announcement:

“As a reader and not a writer or publisher, I don’t know exactly what this means for you, or how big this news is? idk Sourcebooks Young Readers or what ‘world rights’ means for you? If this is a debut, how is it different from your other young reader titles like The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever or Stranger Things Have Happened?”

Technically, books like The Greatest Zombie Movie Ever are classified as “Young Adult.” It Watches in the Dark is classified as “Middle Grade.” Honestly, my YA novels, excluding A Bad Day For Voodoo, have been on the low end of YA, and in fact the Scholastic editions of those books were part of the Middle Grade Book Club, so there’s some blurring of the lines here. But Sourcebooks called the other five novels I published with them “Young Adult” and this one is “Middle Grade,” so it’s my middle grade debut!

“World rights” just means that Sourcebooks acquired the rights to sell the book to all territories around the world. There’s a Dutch edition of A Bad Day For Voodoo!

As far as “how big” this news is…well, the deal is for my sixth and seventh books with this publisher, so it’s not MONUMENTAL HUGE GIGANTIC news. But it’s noteworthy in that these are horror novels, not comedies (I get called a “YA Horror Author” on a regular basis, but all five of those books are pure comedies), and I’ll have new stuff in bookstores for the first time in a few years. Focusing on self-publishing is what let me quit my day job, but it’s still pretty cool to see your books on the shelves!

FUN FACT: I keep calling the book It Watches At Night even though it’s called It Watches in the Dark. Hopefully I’ll get over that by the time it’s published. My title was Scarecrow Square.