Today I must spend some time squealing with delight: my galleys arrived yesterday!

“My… what is that box on my porch…?”

Galleys (also known as ARCs, Advanced Reader Copies) are essentially paperback books created from an as-yet-unfinalized text. They have a cover image (often the final cover image but sometimes a placeholder) and on the spine you’ll find the forecast date of publication, but you won’t find a bar code on the back. That’s because they’re not *real* books yet… just a very glossy, very beautiful book-like binding used for marketing and publicity.

But they sure LOOK like books! (and feel like books… and smell like books…)

ARCs are what my publisher will send to book-reviewing organizations, and to established authors for a blurb line. (Like, “It scared me silly.” -Stephen King) They will also get sent to conferences and to librarian organizations, etc. All very exciting stuff.

The ones that were sent to me are also ear-marked for publicity, though on a smaller scale. I’ll have to (meet and then) talk to my publicist at Putnam before I charge ahead with most of this, but I’m planning to run giveaways (the first has already been given away to the person who won the cover reveal contest!), circulate a few through marketing & local librarian listservs, get one into the hands of some book bloggers, set one aside for a kid’s review club at my local indie bookstore (“Fresh Ink” at Porter Square Books!), and try to rustle up some local media attention too. Lots of big plans, and I’ll be sure to keep you posted as they happen… good thing my editor was *extremely* generous and sent me a big pile!

From what I hear 2-5 ARCs is what you should expect to get from your publisher. Thank you, Stacey!!

For now, though, I’m content to just sit here and stare at them lovingly. 🙂

Happy writing, everyone!