Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Fib news: I gotta book deal!

I’m utterly, totally thrilled to say that yours truly has a two book deal with the wonderful folks at Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic). Now, for those of you in the kid-lit world, you’ll understand when I say that I feel as if I won the lottery. And for those who don’t know of Arthur and his remarkable cohorts, the bottom line is that I’ll be working with people from whom I’ll learn an incredible amount and who will always make sure I deliver the best possible book I can deliver.

And what will that first book be, I hear you ask? Well, I can tell you that the working title is…

The 14 Fabulous Fibs of Gregory K.

Yes, there will be Fibs in it, but it won’t just be a book of Fib poetry. We’re talking story and character and all that good stuff. For more than that little tease, though, you’re gonna have to stick around to see how things develop. Or for updates, why not e-mail me and let me know you want to be on the Fib mailing list? Excellent.

This deal, I have to say, is a testament to the power of bloggers and the Net. Yes, the Levine Books folks knew me before Fibs, and I knew them thanks to SCBWI conferences and me submitting (and them liking but rejecting) my work. I believe we’d’ve worked together at some point, regardless of Fibs. HOWEVER, the wonderful Fibbing of friends, family and a few blogging pals set the stage for the remarkable Fibbery of the Slashdotters. From there, Fibs spread through the Net… and the buzz ended up getting me in the New York Times (a mere two weeks after the first Fib post!). After that, Arthur came to me with a brilliant pitch and voila… there’s a book with Fibs in the future.

I know the Times article and book deal would not have happened without the Net activity before it, so, I truly, truly thank all of you who Fibbed and linked and pointed others this way, be you bloggers, poets, mathematicians, teachers, MSNBC.com, CBS.com, Word Freaks, gamers, actuaries, musicians, librarians, knitters, or something else entirely. And I also hope some of you are inspired: watching a mention on Slashdot create the opportunity for a kids' book deal (with poetry!), you start to realize that thanks to the Net, almost anything is possible.

24 comments:

Don Tate II said...

Congratz! Great,exciting news. Even more exciting watching this unfold on your blog. I knew it would happen.

Chris Barton said...

Congratulations! When you said you had some news to share, I thought you'd been named Hot Man #18, addressing the historical underrepresentation of poets (an underrepresentation that's shared, I might add, by nonfiction writers), but this is even better.

Woo hoo!

Anonymous said...

Yahoo! Greg this is fabulous news!!! Congratulations. I'm very happy for you. And hey, being named a "Hot Man" can't be far behind. :-)

Christabel said...

Yay! Many congratulations.

Camille said...

I have enjoyed your poetry so much. You have a gift and a real talent. You deserve a book deal. Lucky us!

Anonymous said...

GK...Fabulous news...which I have known for a long time HAD to be coming!! Many, many congrats......on the first two of what I am sure will be a long series......

Becky said...

Congratulations, Greg! How exciting!

I can't wait to see that first book in the Scholastic flyer (one of the highlights of every month!). Any idea of publication date? It will make it that much more exciting about the kids to know that you are their "Fibbing friend" :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Greg!! That's amazing and wonderful news. And it does give hope to the rest of us about the power of bloggers and the Net to make a difference. I can't wait to see the book!

Disco Mermaids said...

Woo-Hoo!!!! That is awesome, Greg. Yes, the chance to work with Mr. Levine would be amazing. And you deserve it. You...are...my...hero!!!

- Jay

Liz B said...

Congratulations, this is very good news!

Anonymous said...

Awesome, Greg! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Welcome aboard, you're gonna love it at AAL Books. Good, talented, witty, people, all of 'em.
Congratulations!!!!


Lisa Yee
www.lisayee.com

Kelly said...

Hey, Gregory!
Official congrats from me. I'll post my congrats now. What a wonderful thing! When my MG novel is done in the fall, I'm coming after YOU :)

Bkbuds said...

My first reaction when I stumbled on your blog was "Why isn't this man already on my bookshelves?" Seriously.

It was only a matter of time.

Congrats. Now get to work!

Little Willow said...

Congratulations! How exciting. Can't wait to read the final product. May this be the first of many good books and deals. :)

Greg Pincus said...

Thanks y'all for the support and good wishes now and all through Fib-mania. It's really and truly appreciated.

And bonus thanks to you, Lisa, for not saying "you're working with THEM? ARE YOU NUTS??????"

Now really, no more cleaning my desk. I got work to do!

PJ Librarian said...

What an exciting time for you. We can all say we knew you when... Hope you will still be able to volunteer at the library even after they find a regular librarian and your name is on all the must read booklists. I am sure everyone would miss you and your wonderful contribution. Congratulations!

Jason said...

Kudos man!

Cat Herself said...

Excellent! Can't wait to see the book . . . and to meet you on your book tour. :-) Keep us all posted!

Anonymous said...

What wonderful news, Greg. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Anonymous said...

Congrats Gregory K. Somewhere along the line I missed this news!! _Cannot_ wait to be standing in line at the bookstore buying your collections...!

Cheers

Deb

Anonymous said...

well
done
Fibber!
you deserve
congratulations
now get back to work, willya Greg?

P.S. Randy Rader has accepted two of my fibs for the first issue of his Fib Review. See what ya started? :)

Bashou said...

After reading the story about you and your Fibonacci poems in the Times, back in April 2006, I composed this Paean to Fibbers:

A
is
to B
as B is
to A plus B, so
spins Fibonacci lunacy.

Joel Wollner
Eugene, OR

Anonymous said...

I wasn't sure where to leave this, but... please wish me luck with my new blog, "A Year in Fibs" at http://wcb1.typepad.com/blog/