Dear Friends, Family, and Foe,
As many of you know, I've been working on book two for quite awhile now. I started the process two years ago and it's finally ready to hit shelves soon. As in two weeks soon. On Thursday, May 14th, 2009, my newest book, "Exclusively Chloe," will be released by Penguin/Puffin. This will mark my debut as a fiction author and I'm terribly excited for all this to be happening.
What's the book about? Well, remember all those times you've thought to yourself, "Omg, Jon's such a girl!" Well, it's true. And now she has a name: Chloe-Grace. Here's the book's synopsis:
"Chloe-Grace can't help it -- she's spectacular. How could she not be with celebrity parents who have been the queen and king of Hollywood for years? And Chloe is a celebrity all unto herself as well -- she's the first celebrity-adopted kid in Hollywood. But now Chloe's sixteen, and she is tired of every undesired moment of the world's attention. She wonders what it would be like to be a 'normal' kid in a regular school. To really understand it, though, she would need to go undercover. So after getting a make-under at the hands of her mother's fabulous stylist, she enters the 'real' world. But she soon finds out that there is just as much drama there as there is in Hollywood..."The book is targeted toward the young adult market but makes a delightful summer read for anyone. Plus, I'm writing in the voice of a teen girl so you probably might want to see what that's all about. I read stuff like US Magazine and gossip blogs for research. It was grueling and I didn't enjoy a single minute of it. I heart celebrities who do things "just like us." Like ride bicycles and tie shoelaces.
I'm delighted to share all this news with you but am also looking for your love and support.
What can you do?
(1) Um, buy the book. It's available widely and costs an astonishing $7.99. Pre-orders are being taken now. Heck buy two and give one to a twelve year old near you. It's available online at a variety of websites and will also will be available at mainstream and indie bookstores near you. If they don't carry it, ask for a copy, or tell me and I'll tell them to carry it. PR Scripts are available for those who want to act out "Act I, Scene I: Where is the greatest book on Earth, Exclusively Chloe?" It's a two person five-minute play intended for an audience of bookstore staff. No previous acting experience required. You can also improvise your own dialogue without a script if you'd like.
(2) Just as important as getting a copy, it would be wonderful if you could leave reviews (on Amazon if nothing else). Research has shown that online reviews are extremely important for a book's success. My personal goal is to get at least twenty five reviews on Amazon in the first two weeks. FYI: Amazon doesn't take reviews until after the book has been released.
(3) Check out Chloe-Grace's website: www.exclusivelychloe.com
Join Exclusively Chloe's Facebook Fan Club, my her MySpace, twit her Twitter, and RSS the blog for news/updates in Chloe-Grace's voice. I'm generally blogging at www.jonyang.org so you can keep up with the further adventures of your favorite author in training [here]. All my personal social networking stuff is linked from [here] also.
As always, I'm available for television appearances, library talks, (bad) relationship advice, general counseling, and hanging out on your couch for days at a time. In addition, if you can think of any ways or connections to get the word out about EC, I would be more than grateful.
Random facts:
- The book will be listed under "J.A. Yang," in the grand tradition of obscuring gender information (ala S.E. Hinton). Maybe for my protection.
- Some of you may have inspired characters, descriptions, fashion items, sayings, situations, and all around general wonderfulness.
- My mom is very happy.
- George is also pretty excited.
- I'm currently working on my next book, also a young adult novel for Penguin.
- If you're in the Bay Area this summer, come hang out with me and I'll sign your book. Or your arm/credit card bill, whatever.
- Shelley is my official fan club president. She's waited two long years for a fan base to begin and she's been generally slothing around in the meantime. Let's make her busy shall we?
- All this would not have been possible without my amazing agents, Lilly and Stefanie of Full Circle Literary.
Thank you all!
(This was from an email sent to friends today)
