THE ONE THAT I WANT: a cover, finally!
THE ONE THAT I WANT will be published as an e-book on December 20 by Simon Pulse, and here's the gorgeous cover I've been promising you! The story of Gemma and Max goes something like this:
IT’S SO WRONG WHEN YOUR BEST FRIEND CATCHES YOUR MR. RIGHT!
Gemma has come a long way to be a majorette with the high school marching band. Twirling batons and wearing a sequined leotard and a tiara on the football field may not jive with her punky image, but her new position gives her the confidence to flirt with Max, the star kicker for the rival football team. She’s secretly astonished and crushed when he asks out her grating so-called best friend Addison instead. Then Addison pressures her to go out with them plus Max’s oafish friend. Gemma finds herself on a double date from hell.
As the group dates continue, Gemma falls farther for Max. It seems that he may also have deeper feelings for her, but it’s too late now that he’s dating Addison. Gemma soon learns she can only stake her claim if she feels like she deserves to wear that tiara. She has to catch her batons along with her own self-worth. What started as a romp through the kitschy underbelly of Atlanta turns into a tortuous lesson. Will Gemma ever get what she wants in a guy and what she needs in a best friend?
You can already pre-order it for Kindle or Nook.
Several people have complained to me that the book is not going to be available as a paperback. They don't have e-readers, so they won't be able to read it. I am sorry to disappoint readers who have enjoyed my other books, but there is nothing I can do about this. The publisher wanted me to write a romantic comedy that would be released as an e-book only.
The complaints also continue, mostly on my guestbook, about the fact that I am not writing sequels to Endless Summer. I really appreciate it when readers tell me that they've enjoyed my books. I am being up front with you when I say that I can't write a book the publisher has already said no to. When you come back to me again and say PLEEEEEEEEEASE, it just makes my stomach hurt.
Let me lay it out for you. Publishers are not peopled with meanies. Publishing houses are businesses. They have to make money or they will go under. The technology is changing very rapidly, and they are trying their best to change with it. When they decide to publish a new work only as an e-book, or when they decide not to publish sequels to their books, they are looking at how many other books like these have sold, and they are predicting how many of this new book they could sell. They are rarely wrong.
You do not have to feel helpless about this. You do get to vote for what books will come out, what TV shows will stay on for another season, what movies will be made, and what musicians will get the chance to make a second album. You are voting with your dollars, plain and simple.
A lot of people have complained that for the past few years, almost every new YA book has been a paranormal series. That is a direct result of the fact that readers basically bought Twilight over and over and over. Publishers responded by publishing Twilight over and over and over. At the same time, readers stopped buying as many romantic comedies, and that's why you haven't seen as many of them from me lately. The publisher is not asking for them because they have not been selling as well as vampire books.
Because I know this is so important, I live by this rule. I do not have the money to purchase all the books I want to read. I make sure that I borrow the ones I'm not as interested in and purchase the ones by authors I love, knowing that my dollars will make it more likely that my favorite authors will be hired to write more of the same kind of books. I own EVERY book by Jennifer Crusie. I also tell anybody who will listen how much I love her books, because I know how much word of mouth matters.
My vote is only one of billions, but I am trying my best to put my money where my mouth is.