Monday, January 28, 2008

Always Cross Your Fingers -- Jay

Razorbill has started working on the paperback version of Thirteen Reasons Why (which won't be out for a long time, so ya might as well go buy the hardcover!). When I first heard about this, I asked if they wanted any new author blurbs for the book cover. I had one particular author in mind, and they told me that if I could get that blurb, I’d be their favorite author.

Okay, those weren’t their exact words…but I’m really good at reading into things.

I first met Ellen Hopkins at the 2007 SCBWI national conference (a couple months before my book came out). I introduced myself while getting her to sign my copy of Crank, and she said she’d already heard really good things about my book. Seriously, that made me almost collapse. Then, soon after my book came out, I somehow found myself sitting on a panel with her during a bookstore gig. Hearing her talk to the audience about her philosophy on writing, I became a huge fan of hers. I mean, I was already a fan of her books, but I gained a deep respect for her as an author. Her take on dealing with difficult subjects and presenting the story honestly made me feel like I had a kindred spirit in the world of authors. And I thought she might like my book if she ever read it.

When Robin and I crashed the Big Sur writing conference, where Ms. Hopkins was on the faculty, I had the chance to listen in on her discussing my book with other faculty members. She hadn’t finished the book yet, but had definite opinions on what she’d read so far, and it was extremely positive.

But then…I didn't hear from her. And authors are constantly letting each other know when we like a book.

Being an overly sensitive guy, I assumed that meant she hated the rest of the book and was afraid to tell me so. Eventually, I crossed my fingers and e-mailed her, asking if she’d be willing to give me a blurb for the paperback. But I closed my e-mail with something like: Of course, if you hated my book, there’s no need to respond.

And she returned my e-mail with this:

Every once in awhile you come across a book that you can't get out of your mind, one you have to rush back to if you must put it down for some reason. Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why is one of those books, and is at the very top of my personal "Must-Read" list.

Ellen Hopkins, author of NY Times bestsellers, Crank, Burned, Impulse and Glass
At that, I uncrossed my fingers!

- Jay

16 comments:

SilberBook-Blog said...

How amazingly wonderful and well-deserved!

alan

Heather said...

Whooo!!!! Awesome! Aren't kudos the best?

Wild About Words said...

Jay,

That's great. You deserve it!!!

Donna

gail said...

Aren't you glad you asked! How exciting!!!

A big congrats!
gail

Stephanie J. Blake said...

You are such a rock star!

Anonymous said...

It just keeps on coming so keep on reaching for the STARS. Let me know when you will be traveling north again

Candace said...

Awesome! And that blurb is spot on. :)

Anonymous said...

Nice!

Ellen did my crit in LA, and she is a kind, generous spirit. I'm not at all surprised by her response and reaction.

Sarah Michele said...

Aha, that's so cool.
You and Ellen Hopkins are two of my favorite authors, so when I saw her name in this entry I was just kind of like "...woah."

CJ Omololu said...

Whoo hoo! Remember how you're feeling right now when some of us lesser authors come to you and ask you to blurb our (I mean their) books.

LindaBudz said...

OMG, Jay, The Very Top! I am so happy for you.

Patty Palmer said...

Good for you! You deserve it. And I agree, Ellen is amazing. I had her as one of my critique leaders in Big Sur and I'm pretty sure I learned more in my four minutes with her than with anyone else. Very cool.

Stephanie Roth Sisson said...

That made me smile. It must ahve made you glow to read that. What a great story!

Disco Mermaids said...

Yay! I had my fingers crossed that I'd get 13 comments within the first day of this post.

Finger-crossing works in so many ways...

- Jay

P.S. Y'all make me so happy!!!

Sarah Beth Durst said...

So cool! Congrats, Jay!

ibeteen said...

Your book is totally amazing you definatly deserve the review. I just finished it and I am going to get everyone I know to read it!! I am inspired by you.