So many landmarks in a weird landscape.

Weddings performed over Zoom. Graduation car parades. Birthdays shared by family members eating their own unique pieces of cake, in their own separate homes, in front of their own personal screens, singing happy birthday, off-key like usual, hundreds of miles apart. So many familiar landmarks celebrated in unfamiliar ways.

For a first-time author, those landmarks include signing a contract. Asking for blurbs. Approving the cover. Proofing the galleys. Mailing advance reader copies. Reading reviews. Every one of these is a rung on a ladder a writer gets to climb up, up, up to launch day. Even when the world is weird and awful and beautiful, as our world is now. We keep marking these stops.

Now the printer has my final Copy Boy manuscript and is turning it into a physical book, to be delivered to readers (UPS willing and the creek don’t rise) on publication day, June 23, 2020.

I’ve always pictured pulling my book off the shelf at a bookstore or library. Flipping through the pages, dog-earing them. Ever since I was a little girl I pictured that. In pandemic times, though, that daydream seems a little ridiculous. I mean, there are many more important things than a novel. Besides, bookstores are closed, right? So, I thought, maybe I should shift my dream, picture Copy Boy’s cover on the screen of a Kindle Paperwhite, which still sounds great…

Capital Books is Copy Boy Headquarters.

Turns out, I’m off-the-charts lucky to have a real supporter, a partner, in my local indie bookstore, Capital Books. Not only are owners Heidi and Ross Rojek co-hosting (with Stories on Stage Sacramento) Copy Boy’s virtual launch party June 24, but they’re also sending a thank-you-for-shopping-indie gift to everybody anywhere who orders the book from their Sacramento shop. I’ll be at Capital Books with a mask and a sharpie on June 25, signing all the books they’re sending out. And with each order, Capital Books is also planning to send a little #BeDifficult magnet and the front page of the San Francisco Prospect newspaper, featuring hints as to the not-quite-right behavior of several Copy Boy suspects. I hope you’ll pre-order from this essential local-to-everybody store.

Dang, I love this audiobook.

I had no idea how much I’d love to hear Jane’s story performed. But I do. I love it. My narrator, April Doty, just today finished the first recording of every chapter. Now I get to listen to them all, pen and book in hand, to let April know where she’s skipped a word, mispronounced a name. It’s a lot of hours sitting in a chair in front a computer screen, but April’s narration makes it fly. I’ll share more about how this worked as we wrap it up. But the really great news is that the audiobook will be available everywhere, from indie stores that sell via Libro, to libraries that share them through Overdrive, to Amazon’s Audible and more.

Back to those socially awkward requests.

Here’s a short list of things friends can do to help a writer-girl out:

•Pre-Order Copy Boy, as a paperback or ebook, anywhere you like to shop. As you know, my favorite bookstore is Capital Books. But there are lots of options, including Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

•Mark Copy Boy as Want to Read on Goodreads. It’s just crazy what difference those want-to-reads make. (Go to https://www.goodreads.com and create a free account, with your name, email address and password. Search for Copy Boy. Push the Want to Read button.)

•Forward this email to a friend you think might like to order Copy Boy.

•Request a copy at your local library. (ISBN: 978-1-63152-697-838)

•Let your friends know how much fun it might be to hold a Zoom book club with a debut author who’s just dying to meet readers.

Thank you so much for all your love and support, for everything, really. I am grateful.

Be safe and well,

Shelley