Holy cannoli. What a whirlwind!
Let me take you back a couple weeks. There I was in full-blown mommy-panic mode, hightailing it home halfway through a mini vacation (which included trying to get on a ferry without a reservation on a long weekend; a feat only a few brave souls have ever accomplished) with one super-sick daughter, one super-disappointed son, and a hubby who is, eternally, super-awesome. Seriously. He didn't even pay me to say that.
On that day, the day everything changed, I was really worried about my daughter. Her fever peaked just shy of 104º, and we were focused on getting her home and to her doctor. The last thing I could have imagined was that my book was sitting in the "YES" pile on a publisher's desk ... largely because I hadn't submitted it to anyone.
Captain Obvious here to explain the "typical" steps required to get a publisher:
Step One: Submit beloved work to GIANT PUBLISHER.
Step Two: Wait. Then wait some more. Then wait until you loathe every page flip of the calendar.
Step Three: Receive inevitable letter of rejection, which may or may not be worded kindly.
Step Four: Lick those wounds, have a big drink, and proceed back to step one. Repeat ad infinitum, or until you receive a "YES" ... whichever comes first.
So this "Step One"? To my knowledge, it's kinda-sorta important. Having a (real) publisher contact you out of the blue is about as likely as winning the lottery without first buying a ticket.
But on that sick daughter/disappointed son/eternally awesome husband/ferry travelling not-so-fun-adventure of a day, that's exactly what happened. When we finally made it home, there was a message waiting from an editor at Thomas & Mercer (Amazon's Mystery & Thriller Imprint). It went something like this: She'd read The Faithful. She loved the story, the writing, and the characters. In fact, certain aspects gave her chills. She wanted to talk about a second publishing with Thomas & Mercer. We discussed plans for taking it global, and putting the full force of Amazon's publishing and marketing team behind it. And in the end, she made me an offer which, let's just say, was very generous.
So ...
A newly polished version of The Faithful will be published in print, ebook and audiobook by Thomas & Mercer in the fall of 2015. At the same time, foreign language translations will be published in a multitude of countries throughout the world (holy crap! It's going global, folks! ).
For the next little while, The Faithful will remain available for purchase in its current form, which is awesome. However, it does mean there will be a delay in publishing the next book in the series (sorry guys!) as Thomas & Mercer take the reins. I'll keep you updated as things move forward, but for now I have to say I'm incredibly honoured and excited to be working with such a fantastic publishing house. Amazon is huge and ever-growing, and I'm grateful to be one of their darlings.
Oh, one more thing and most important of all: My daughter is feeling much better, my son has gotten over his disappointment, and my husband is still awesome. Seriously.
xo SM
In front of the Parliament buildings in Victoria, B.C. Hard to believe, but we were T - 1 hour until the launch of super-sick daughter.