YOU'RE NO BETTER Updates

NetGalley, starred reviews, and pride events

Happy Pride! Here are your June updates.

• You’re No Better is finally available for request on NetGalley! NetGalley allows librarians, educators, booksellers, reviewers, and other folks to access Advanced Reader/Review Copies (ARCs) online. (It’s like Edelweiss, but less sales-oriented and a little less clunky.) At time of typing, it is the 6th most requested book in the LGBTQIAP+ category, and the 8th most requested in the Teens & YA category. Thank you for your support!

  • Reminder: If your request for a digital ARC is approved via NetGalley, you have until Oct 19 (the day before release) before it’s archived.

• You’re No Better also got a starred review! Publishing trade reviews are given out by publications like the School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Shelf Awareness, and others. These trade reviews are highly subjective (and critical ones can sting or even be downright bigoted), but it still feels nice to get a starred review, which means that this individual reviewer considers the book to be high quality. Thank you, Kirkus!

• Last but not least, my events page has been updated for Pride. There are three in-person events in and around Northern VA.

What else has been going on?

• The You Weren’t Meant to Be Human paperback is set to release in just over a month, on July 7th. It’s a solid $10 cheaper than the hardback, so it’s much easier on the wallet.

• The Compound Fracture paperback is also dropping on September 15th. It’ll have black-and-orange stenciled edges, a French flap (fancy), discussion questions, and a preview chapter of You’re No Better. PLUS, there’s a B&N Exclusive Edition of the paperback, which includes a Q&A with the author (me!) and an annotated chapter.

• If you’re on Edelweiss, you’ll have seen that indie bookstores can order signed packs of You’re No Better that come with limited-edition art prints by Evangeline Gallagher, my cover artist. There might also be something else for pre-orders… idk… I’ll have more about that later this summer. So dig up your pre-order receipts if you’ve already bought your copy in advance.

• I’m currently 54,000 words into Beast//Warden, the first draft of which is due mid-July. This manuscript and I are not getting along, but I can see the diamond in the rough. I have faith in my amazing editor at Peachtree Teen that we’re going to figure this damn thing out.

• IRL, I’ve been training for a new position at my day job, helping local friends with their gardening, keeping up with Critical Role campaign 4, playing a lot of Tomodachi Life (and eagerly awaiting the new Rhythm Heaven game this summer), researching tornados and WWI and torture techniques, going to the movie theater way more than usual (Is God Is was awesome), et cetera. It’s been a good year so far… though I am sick of the rain around here. My windows leak. I’m tired of mopping up the sills.