2021 year end updates

News
Written By Amita

It’s been a minute since I wrote anything on this blog! I’ll be blogging more regularly in the lead-up to and post-publication of my novel but here’s a rundown of what’s been going on the last few months and why it’s been so hectic:

The Circus Train sold in the US:

I am so proud to share that my agent secured a deal for the book in the US. The Circus Train sold to G.P Putnam’s Sons in the fall of 2021 and will be published in the fall of 2022.

It’s really funny how the US deal happened. We got a Canadian deal first and then a UK one and then it went a bit quiet. To be honest, I was so busy working on edits for the book with my Canadian and British editors, I mostly forgot about the other markets. That kept me busy all through the winter, spring and summer.

Then in Sept, I was very lucky to be able to travel to France for a friend’s wedding. While I was there, I promised myself I’d relax. I had barely had a chance to read anything for fun all year and so I brought this book called Where the Crawdads Sing with me. And from the first page I was riveted. It was so good and the writing was so beautiful. When I finished, I looked to see who the editor was and saw her name was Tara. I thought to myself ‘Wow. How amazing it would be to work with her for the US market.’ And then I forgot about it and started reading a YA book and eating a lot of croissants.

Well, a few weeks later, we ended up signing a deal with that exact same editor. The funny thing is I never told my agent that I was reading Crawdads. I didn’t even know she’d submitted it to Putnam. So it is truly funny how life works sometimes.

The US version of The Circus Train will be out in the fall of 2022. Pre-orders aren’t open yet but if you email me, I’ll reach out to you when they open up.

It also sold in the Czech Republic and Slovakia:

The Circus Train also sold in translation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The best part of getting a book deal for me is seeing it come to life in different languages and have all the different interpretations of the cover. So stay tuned for more on that next year.

We had a Canadian cover reveal and I got an ARC:

In November, my Canadian publishers ‘revealed’ the cover of The Circus Train. They put together this beautiful animation (shout-out to Jesse for creating it, Neil for organizing and anyone else at HarperCollins Canada involved behind the scenes!)

I think it’s pretty magical and mysterious!

Alongside the reveal, I got a Canadian ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of my book. It just so happened that my cover was revealed the same day that Justin Bieber’s collab with Tim Horton’s launched. I thought it would be amusing to get some timbits (timbiebs?) to celebrate. Et voila:

Most Canadian cover reveal celebration ever.

I redesigned my website:

Everyone needs a refresh from time to time and I wanted to do that for my website. I really enjoy coding and had a lot of fun adding a bunch of custom code to create my new site. I also decided to change the positioning a bit, in terms of who I am. I don’t know if other authors struggle with this, but I do.

I decided I wanted to start writing a bit more about things outside of my novel. I have a lot of experience in web design, coding, marketing and content creation and do a lot of different things. I’m a creator at the end of the day, whether the medium is a novel or a stage play or a website. I just like to make stuff. So I decided I’d start sharing tutorials and how-to’s alongside updates about my books. On that note…

Look out for more blogposts (and finally some emails!) in 2022:

I’ve been preparing a lot of blogposts that tie into the book and the things I mentioned above. I’m also working on a bunch of emails (thanks to everyone who has signed up to my list so far. I didn’t forget you, I’ve just had a lot on the go.)

By far my favourite part of writing the book was being able to do so much research. I learned so much and have so many archived photos and snippets of info I wanted to share. I’ve heard from a few readers that they really like this sort of thing, so I’m hoping people will find it interesting.

Why blogposts and email? Didn’t they die in 2003? Well, I’m a writer before anything else and am much better with words than pictures. I also struggle a lot with social media. I have a lot of respect for people who can do it well, but it’s not something I have a big interest in right now. Blogging and email are my preferred ways of communicating with people. There’s just so much more ROI on that stuff than on posting something on a platform I don’t own, and wondering which way the algorithm will go on any given day. So blog posts and email it is.

And finally, book 2 is well underway:

After having a tough time coming up with an idea, I finally settled on one I love and spent a good part of the last two months writing my second historical fiction novel. It’s strange that the first one isn’t even out yet but I’m working on a second. It doesn’t have a deal, no one has seen it, but it involves:

  • Paris

  • New York (specifically Grand Central Station)

  • A wedding

  • A pocket watch

  • Physics

I’m really excited about this one!

That’s all for now. A big thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered my novel, it means so much to me. Happy Almost New Year and here’s hoping for a better 2022 for the world!

Amita
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