… birthing this book baby of ours! Seriously, somebody get us to Lamaze class. Yup, it’s coming in early November (our official “due date” is the 6th, although it varies slightly depending on where you look). Excuse me while I practice my deep breathing (hee, hee, hoooooo, hee, hee, hoooooo).
Perhaps the craziest part about it is that this might be the longest baby gestation ever recorded – over three whole years! Seriously. Labor of love could not apply more. So for everyone who has been asking about pre-order details, you can click on any of the logos below to pre-order from any of these affiliates. And of course don’t forget the local guys – the book will be available at your favorite bookstore, and if you stop by, many local bookstores can pre-order it for ya too. Fun fact – pre-orders don’t just score you a discounted price, they’re also good for us authors too. And we hear they can show up before the actual release date, so that’s another added bonus.
Speaking of a nice long gestation, this was John’s Facebook status almost exactly a year ago (and yes, that’s the Jamie you know from this post).
But today somehow we’re holding a 336 page mocked-up book full of hundreds of house-sprucing ideas that are about to go off to the printer this week to be made into a real life book. Like one you can hold in your hands and read and put on the coffee table. Actually lots of them since it would be weird just to print one. As for what it’s about, it’s definitely not a formal decorating bible with designer terms and upscale rooms. Please, we’re not that fancy. It’s more of an idea book for folks like us. A heaping portion of doable and affordable suggestions to pick and choose from – and adapt to fit your home. Some are more involved, some are super easy. Some are free, some might be something that you’d save up for. Basically it’s the blog. Only a book. And instead of getting a post or two a day, you get 243 ideas with photos, checklists, tutorials, and illustrations galore (along with bonus tips, sidebars, and added commentary). And a little dorky humor a la us.
Wait, and did we mention that we packed it with over 200 photos and 100 illustrations that have never been seen before on the blog? I guess we just did. In fact, none of the tips in this book are just regurgitated from our blog posts (zero cutting and pasting here!). Some of the general ideas and basic tutorials may be familiar (how could we not include must-have how-tos like painting furniture or upholstering a headboard?) but we wanted to present them in a fresh way. So instead of seeing the same table that I painted three years ago for the blog, you might see a brand new dresser makeover that we secretly completed back in January. Sure it was extra work, but we really wanted the book to look fresh and be full of different “takes” on a ton of decorating ideas – both classic and unexpected (and pretty much everything in between).
It’s so funny because we distinctly remember every single phase: signing on with an agent well before Clara was born, writing a 100 page proposal in 2010, pitching it to publishers and picking the right one for the job right after moving in 2011, turning our proposal into a complete book outline and then a complete manuscript right around New Year’s, shooting for three straight weeks in our house back in February of this year, and then refining and proofing and proofing some more, and finally – finally! – sending this baby off to be printed. Whew.
Whirlwind? Yes. Lots of fun? Yes. Lots of work? Yes. Still feels like it’s all a dream? Yes. One big, flipping-the-house-upside-down dream…
So needless to say, when we look down at the final layouts and triple check that we didn’t write something like “hang your fart” instead of “hang your art” (don’t worry, we have proofreaders) it really is sort of a chest-swelly moment. Not in that “we’re a big deal” way, but in that “we didn’t know we had it in us” way. I mean, of course when we signed on to write a book we thought we could do it, but as we went we kept saying “ooh, wouldn’t it be cool if we added this too?” – and every time we did we’d worry if we had just bitten off more than we could chew. But oh happy day we didn’t! We survived. We lived to tell the tale. We wrote the book we were dying to write. And I think it’s going to feel even more unreal when we’re actually holding it in our hot little hands. There might be tears the ugly cry.
And since the final cover has officially been pinned down, we thought it would be fun to chat about that process, since it was completely different than we thought it would be (as was almost every aspect of writing a book – did you know you edit the entire thing with a pencil on printed layouts over about five to six rounds of revisions – there’s no computer involved at all?!). I’d say the two overall most surprising things about writing this book were:
- how little the publishers changed the inside of the book (aka, the meat)
- how much the publishers have to do with the outside (aka, the bread)
Isn’t that funny? Every time we submitted outlines and even the final manuscript we expected tons of crossed out stuff and rearranged stuff and suggestions about what to move/do/change. But other than typos and grammar fixes, it was really all us. Which is kind of awesome. I mean, in the book we’re the same pun-loving weirdos as we are on this blog. I guess we somehow thought they’d try to “polish us” but they totally let us be us. Our freak flag is waving, baby. And we’re so grateful.
Then when it came to the cover, we learned that most authors actually only get to give “feedback” but the publisher always has the final say. Thank goodness we love our editors and they seem to like us back, so it was a pretty collaborative process in the end. First we shot some of their initial concepts amidst our three-week photography extravaganza back in Feburary, and out of all three cover concepts there was one that we did our darndest to wiggle out of: putting our mugs on the cover.
We just didn’t want to be sitting there (or standing there) posing in some styled room because… I don’t know… it just felt so… serious. We really wanted the cover to feel playful and happy and fun (it’s not a lofty book about box pleats, it’s a happy-go-lucky home idea book). So after we shot all three concepts, including some terribly awkward photos of us sitting on the sofa like this…
… we heard they officially weren’t going with the pose-on-the-sofa idea for the cover (they agreed that it was looking really forced). Wahoooooo! We celebrated. There might have been an entire box of Oreos that were sacrificed to the We’re-Not-On-The-Cover Book Gods (by way of our bellies). Then about a month later we heard they were going with a fourth concept that a new designer came up with (with us on the cover, but not as big, and not us posing in a room). Whaaaaa? Here was the very first draft they sent over just with initial ideas from their team:
We opened the PDF while holding our breath… and then we stared at it for a while. And then we realized that we kind of liked it. Not because we’re on the cover of course, but just because of the vibe. The playful look and feel of the different typefaces, the wood letters, the blue stitched spine detail, the paint can in the O – they were all fun and cheeky and definitely not stodgy or serious. Of course the designers asked us for feedback, so we gave it lots of thought, still kind of cringed at the idea of seeing our faces on the cover, and offered up a few general suggestions like:
- what if we made the spine more of a teal tone and less of a baby blue?
- what if we added some house keys hanging at the bottom from the “e” in the word love?
- what if we used wood letters in a chunkier, more modern font?
- what if we took ourselves off the darn cover? (this became a joke, how many times we tried to weasel our way out of it)
And they came back with:
- Sure! Color picks are just preliminary, so you can definitely weigh in on those!
- Sure! We love that idea!
- Sure! We’ll get them hand-carved by an artisan in the typeface that you pick and then shoot them in a studio so they look real and have real shadows (how cool is that?! they were made just for the book, and yes we have totally begged them to send them to us so we can keep them forever!)
- Nope, you’re staying right there. Everyone here loves that it makes it personal and it’s not a giant stiff looking photo so hopefully you’ll learn to love it too.
Oh and some other changes happened over those months of development. Some tips got changed to bonus tips instead of numbered tips (to help keep the page count – and therefore the price – from getting too high). So we ended up with 243 tips, which is our lucky number (it’s old pager code for We Love You, which we thought was fitting). The subtitle also got more specific thanks to some focus-group feedback. So here’s the final design – mocked up to look 3D:
Clean and still fun. Not too kid-ish, but still playful and cheeky with that awesome zing of color down the spine and a few more pops on the front and back. We also love how there’s a mixture of masculine (the wood letters) and feminine (the scripty ones). And everything from the stitched spine to the paint can and the house keys feels – I don’t know – homey?
Just for kicks, here’s the front, spine, and the back (the back is so much fun up close since our website’s heart background is subtly worked into some of the colored boxes):
Thanks to that teal spine, we think it’ll look so cute on a coffee table, or even stacked between our horse head bookends with the other decorating books that we love. Can’t you picture it squished in here?
As for why the book cover doesn’t look like our blog header, we actually thought that wouldn’t be a good idea since:
- It’s kinda boring if it’s a direct lift from our blog
- The book isn’t just repackaged blog stuff, so we didn’t want the cover to look so much like our blog that people assumed it was just the same stuff (all of the projects that we photographed were secretly done just for this book, so they’re all never-before-seen images)
- We love to redesign the blog every few years, so we didn’t want the book to look dated (to us and our readers) once we outgrew the current design
- It’s actually a really fun process to see what a professional book designer can do with your “look.” They know what they’re doing and have so much interesting reasoning behind certain choices that we never would have even thought about. And it’s not everyday that you get to see yourself through a book designer’s eyes.
So that’s the story of being completely convinced that we had successfully weaseled our way out of being on the cover (we even said we had done it in this post) and then ended up there anyway. But at least we’re not sitting on the sofa smiling. Haha. And there are bunny ears. And I’m wearing red shoes. And we’re little. So if we put a cute little paper weight over that part of it when it’s on the coffee table we won’t even be visible. #crouchingtigerhidden$herdog
Another fun fact? That photo actually wasn’t shot for the cover. It was just a random portrait that we snapped back in February while shooting all of our projects (just in case they needed an author photo for the back or something).
Oh, and what’s the funny thing you notice about John’s hand in the original pic? Yup, no drill. They cut his arm holding a drill from another process photo in the book and stuck it on there. We love that. I don’t know why. It’s like one of those behind-the-movie tidbits about the magic of book cover building. John’s Frankensteined Drill-Arm.
Oh and while Clara and Burger pop up inside, they didn’t make the cover because our editors rightfully pointed out that the Young House Love title was in danger of looking like it was some sort of relationship/family book, and not a decorating book (which is also why the designers chose to emphasize the word HOUSE with wood letters). But we made up for it inside the book. Seriously, Burger is without a doubt our favorite part of the book. He basically walks in and out of chapters and says hilarious Burger-esque things (yes, he talks to us when nobody’s around) and Clara got in there more than a few times too (she even got to do a project with us).
So in the end we feel like the book really represents us and our blog. There’s tons more that we’re itching to tell you about this, but we don’t want your head (ok, our heads) to explode. So we’ll occasionally be diving into more behind-the-scenes details about finishing this book of ours, sharing a video that we shot and edited with some sneak peeks, and finally dishing out the dates and cities for our book tour once that’s all set in stone. For now, all of this jabbering is just to say: holy cow this book baby is actually coming out and we love you all for the amazing support and encouragement that you’ve shown us during this intense and incredible journey. Couldn’t have done it without you. For reals, guys. Love, love, love.
Psst- You can check out a bunch of links to other book-related happenings, like when we announced that we were writing a book, how we picked a publisher, how we prepped for photo shoots, and how we shared a little photo-shoot sneak peek. Plus you can swing by our new book landing page with more info that we’ll update as soon as we know more about things like book tour details (along with other fun behind the scenes stuff).
MISSY says
Awesome work guys. I pre-ordered! Can’t wait for your book baby’s due date!
Kala M. says
I can’t wait. I’m hoping we will have bought our first house by then and then I can really put your book to work. I’ve told my husband that it can be either a late birthday present or early Christmas present!
Sara says
Sigh. Is it weird that I’m proud of y’all? I’ve been reading for so long that I feel like I’ve been a part of it! It’s so awesome that you guys have found a passion that is fufilling personally and professionally, and that it allows you to fit in so much time with Clara. I love my job, but sometimes I read your blog and wish I could trade ya! Then I remember all the work it takes, and decide I’m happy where I am. Congrats guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Sara! You’re so sweet.
xo
s
Janice says
oooh, did I see ‘NEXT time’?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes! We signed on for a two book deal, so we have to do another one. Which sounds sort of like a curse right now (need.sleep) but is an amazing opportunity and we can’t wait to start brainstorming. Just need about a month of normal sleep and we’ll be ready. Hahah.
xo,
s
Kim says
PREORDERED!! CANT WAIT FOR NOVEMBER!!! LOVE YOUR BLOG, SO EXCITED TO CHECK OUT THE BOOK! My husband gets “mad”…he wants to know how WE can become DIY couples for a job just like you;) This might be one book i can get him to read:)
Congratulations on this awesome adventure, wish you loads of success in your book baby!!!
Kate says
YAAAAY! Just pre-ordered mine. Make sure you make a stop in the Buffalo area so I can get this baby signed ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Would love to!
xo,
s
Erin says
On my way to pre-order! Am I a nerd to be just as excited about the color and text of the spine?! It’s going to look so great on my new “brass” Ikea hack. Ha!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, not a nerd at all. The spine is totally my favorite part!
xo
s
Christina @ Homemade Ocean says
Oh my gosh…HOW EXCITING!!!!
I wanted to ask for it for Christmas, but I know I can’t wait that long.
Pre-ordering right now. YAYYYYY!
Linda says
I pre-ordered the first time a poster mentioned the book showed up on Amazon – but I did just tell my back-up that as soon as your tour dates come out, I’m planning to take a day off if you’re anywhere near Chicago.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Linda! Here’s hoping!
xo,
s
Tracey says
Just preordered the book. It will be a to me, from me, love me birthday present since my birthday is a week before the release date. So incredibly happy for you. Thanks for being such an inspiration to all of us DIYers.
OH, here’s hoping the book tour comes to the PHILLY area. If so, (cough, cough) I think I feel a cold coming on. I’ ll need to call off sick. My kindergarteners won’t miss me that much, hopefully. Maybe I’ll have to bring in the book for show-n-tell. He he!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Tracey! Happy birthday! And we hope we can come to Philly! Will keep you posted!
xo,
s
Whitney Dupuis says
So excited! I pre-ordered mine when it first became available on amazon. I can’t wait to get it!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Whitney!
xo,
s
Sara says
Sorry for TWO comments, but I just saw you got a shout out from Gretchen Rubin!? What!? Who do you think you are. She’s one of my faves!!! Congrats, again.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, isn’t that crazy!? John and I emailed her ourselves to meekly ask for a review and she was SO NICE! Such a good person. And we died when she sent back her quote. We were so scared of what she’d think! Haha.
xo,
s
Vivian says
Congratulations! Won’t it be fun to walk into a bookstore and see your book! It will be OK if you let out a big “WHOOP” the first time …. after that it would just be weird! Pre-ordering mine today!
YoungHouseLove says
Uh oh, what if I involuntarily WHOOP every time. Seriously, it could be a problem.
xo,
s
Mariah says
YAY!!! Congrats! I’ve already ordered it :)
Jocelyn says
I clicked the B&N link and pre-ordered the book before I read any further. Ugh! I’m so excited! The best thing is, come delivery day, I’ll probably be totally surprised by the “present” waiting on my doorstep.
Also, we have a 150 lb. mastiff who talks to us. He has a speech impediment which is adorable. And we often wonder if we are huge weirdos who carry on full blown convos with Dooder. So, it’s comforting to know that not only do you do it, but you’ve documented it in print!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love Dooder! Burger sends him a nervous sniff and a semi-aloof lick. Haha.
xo,
s
Laura says
yay! So excited for you, and amazed at how much you two have accomplished. Great job! Pre-ordering mine today!
(Please come to C’ville…check out your old UVA stomping grounds!
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to!
xo
s
Jovi says
Congratulations!!! Soooo excited for you guys and can’t wait to see all of your fab ideas & projects to add to my home. Book tour to the west coast??? I live in the cap of CA but would absolutely be willing to drive miles to see ya guys…let’s saaay in San Fran?? (hint, hint). :o)
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love that! Will keep you posted!
xo
s
LauraC says
Preordered it weeks ago! And I just have to add that you guys SHOULD be proud of yourselves. Not in the “we’re big stuff” way, but in the “we worked our rear ends off and did something we didn’t think we could do!” way. Gotta run, but this long time reader is proud of you (and very much looking forward to getting her hands on that book.) Tell your publisher it should come out Nov 4 – my birthday!!! ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks LauraC! I hope your preorder shows up two days early just in time for your bday!
xo,
s
Belinda says
So many congratulations! For surviving the process, for dreaming it up in the first place, and for keeping it true to you! Mine is on pre-order from Amazon! Can’t wait!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Belinda. Made me tear up a little.
xo,
s
Alicia says
Haha! How funny! Just last night I did a blog post of DIY books that I want and guess which one was first on the list?!?
http://thecreativevault.blogspot.com/2012/08/diy-books-i-totally-want.html
So excited to read it!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, no way! You’re so sweet!
xo,
s
Ashley says
I am so excited about this book, November will be here in the blink of an eye!! I just pre-ordered my own copy, and am already on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to see all of the projects that went underway and have a hard copy of the best DIY secrets known to man, aka, The Petersik’s!!
Emma says
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! I pre-ordered minze from Amazon a few weeks ago. For a very good price I might add. I cannot wait. The book cover loooks great. Congratulations!
Marissa says
So excited to read it!!!
Thanks for all your hard work guys!
Diana says
Very excited about your upcoming book!
That photo of your design books gave me an idea – how about a post on your favorite decorating books? I am always on the lookout for good ones, so would love to hear about your favorites.
YoungHouseLove says
That would be fun! We have one back in our archived (I think called Lucky Seven if you want to search it) but it hasn’t been updated.
xo,
s
Allyson Smith says
Congrats!! I think this is the first book i’ve ever pre-ordered! I’m so excited to hear you’ll be doing a book tour as well… hopefully you’ll be within driving distance of Indianapolis at some point!
Lauren@FilingJointly says
One of my little sisters was talking about taking on a couple Pinterest projects last night when we were at dinner for my parents’ 30th anniversary. So I totally pointed her to your blog so she could at least check out the hundreds of Pinterest link-ups on your challenge posts.
Today she texted me “LOVE that blog btw, made Kevie-poo order me the book for my bday….now I just need a house.”
(Kevie-poo is her boyfriend Kevin.)
Off to pre-order my copy now!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah- I love it! That’s so sweet. Yay Kevie-Poo!
xo,
s
Christina P (NS) says
Congratulations guys!
I have never pre-ordered a book before but I love that it will be a surprise when it eventually shows up!
I cannot wait!
Audrey says
I love reading your blog, it updates here in Ireland at 3pm every day so that’s when I make my afternoon cup of tea and have a read!
Just ordered your book…..expected delivery date is between 4th & 24th of December, just on time for Christmas!!
Best of luck with the sales, I’m sure it’ll do great.
Audrey :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Audrey! That’s so sweet.
xo,
s
Erin @ WriteTasty says
I am so happy for you, and so excited to read the book! I’m about to pre-order it now. Congratulations! Love the little insights into the whole process. :)
Amanda says
Super yay!! Congratulations – I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you guys come to Baltimore for a book signing…I had originally put the book on my Christmas list, but I totally ended up pre-ordering it from Amazon instead of waiting. :-)
cporoski says
So this book comes out two days before my birthday so I preordered it as a gift for myself :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love it. Happy birthday to you!
xo,
s
Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
Wowzas! I can’t wait until all the school shopping is done and my kids release their choke hold on my debit card. I am pre-ordering this baby big time. You had me at “the price can be discounted and it might even arrive earlier than the release date.” Haha! I’m so happy for you guys. And your parents are probably all misty eyed too.
My best, Lynn
pencil and paper proofing huh? I love that! Keeps those computers in check…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Lynn! You’re sweet. Our parents are more hyper than misty eyed at this stage, but maybe it comes in phases? Maybe we’ll all have a good cry when it’s out? Or I’ll just make involuntary loud grunts when I see it in a bookstore. Crazy.
xo,
s
Ashley says
Please tell me you’ll be coming to Orlando for the tour! I’m sure little Miss Clara would love to hang out with Mickey and Minnie for a couple days! :)
YoungHouseLove says
We would LOVE that!
xo,
s
Hannah says
Ahhhh I second that motion! Here’s to hoping that Florida isn’t too far :)
Karen M. says
Congratulations…just ordered!
Heather says
OMG!! Toataly excited for you guys, I just ordered my copy!! I hope you guys can make it to the Kansas City area. What a great adventure for you both.
Shannon S says
LOL! November 6th is my actual due date to have a real baby. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Love it!
xo,
s
Tara says
Just pre-ordered it up here in Canada. Can’t wait to get in and read it! Though I live in an apartment, I’m sure that all your awesome ideas will be perfect for glamorizing my place. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Tara!
xo,
s
Jessica says
Can’t wait to read it! I love the personality in your posts and I’m sure the book will be a blast to read! Plus we’re both “due” at the same time, I’m just expecting a little boy instead of a book. Congratulations you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, congrats! I love that our babies are coming at the same time!
xo,
s
Lori says
Congratulations on making it this far! Amazing, amazing, amazing is all I can say! November 6 is indeed a lucky day – it’s the date my hubby and I got engaged :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, I love that! Must be a good omen. At least I hope it is!
xo,
s
Christina says
Just pre-ordered! Only $16 on Amazon!? What a steal! So excited for you guys!!! <3
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Christina!
xo,
s
Amanda says
$16?! Ooo, heading to Amazon right now! lol
Sara says
Woooohooooo!!!! This is VERY exciting! I’ve been following your blog for a year now and you have inspired me to do so many projects. I love your sense of humour, style and creativity. Thank you for being so fantastic and keep up the great work!! Can’t wait for November 6!!
Tara says
Congrats guys! I can’t wait to get the book and check out all the hard work you guys did. I know it will be great!
Lindsay says
I am so excited, and could not be more proud of you both! I cannot waaaaaaaaaait for the book!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Lindsay!!
xo,
s
Maddie says
Whoo! Just pre-ordered! So excited! I can’t wait to hear more about your book journey.
But, now, what are we supposed to do until November?! Hahaha
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, amen? Anyone have ideas? Maybe we’ll go to bed at a normal time for a few months. That’s going to be awesome, actually. Haha.
xo,
s
Beth L says
Can’t wait to open ‘er up and start dog-earing all my favorite projects!
Do you earn more from any particular retailer, or is it the same amount regardless of what book seller you order from? (I’m clueless about how royalties work in publishing.) Want to make sure I’m supporting you guys as much as possible (Clara’s gotta go to college, and we all want to keep seeing more posts and books some day!) and not just the guys selling the book! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, you’re sweet! It’s all the same no matter where you order it (we get a small percentage of the profit, so we don’t get anything for a while since the publisher has to make back all of their expenses/printing costs/marketing/etc and then once they’re making a profit we get a smidgie of that, haha).
xo
s
Elizabeth says
Love y’all’s blog and super excited to read your book, just pre-ordered mine! :)
Ryan says
I just preordered it from Amazon! I upgraded to one day shipping for $3.99 with my Prime membership and the grand total was $20 exactly. That made me happy for some reason. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, I love that!
xo,
s
kris says
Off to preorder! Wonderful to see all of your hard work pay off, and as a reader, I am so impressed that you didn’t take the easier, ‘blog regurgitation’ route. You both are a real inspiration!
janetl says
Burger’s real name is Hamburger? How did I miss this? :)
So excited for guys. The release is my birthday…perfect timing!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, that’s his formal name!
xo,
s
Chelsey says
Yay! I just got it pre-ordered from B&N. Hopefully this will kick me into “dude, get on that already” gear. BTW- I am a long time follower, but just noticed this year that Clara and my son (Vincent) share a birthday- well almost. Clara is exactly one year older.
I’m in Dallas so I’m crossing my fingers y’all will make your way down here!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so cute!
xo,
s