… 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).
Kate @ The Other Baby Book says
I am so excited for your book, and its release on my birthday. Coincidence? I think not! Happy Birthday to me!!!
Congrats on your first book, such an awesome accomplishment. :)
Kate
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, happy birthday Kate!
xo,
s
Amber Smith says
Pre-ordered your book from Amazon yesterday and I can’t wait to read it!! Even my boyfriend who doesn’t read your blog (sorry!) was telling me he was excited to use your project guides to spruce up the house :)
Love you guys!!
Melissa says
Congratulations to you both! I am so excited for the book! You are so inspiring and I love your home!
Thank you!
Melissa
Amy @ PaintWineRepeat says
Wahoo! Just pre-ordered it from Chapters/Indigo in Canada!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Amy!!
xo,
s
Betsy says
WOW!!!! So, I only started following you guys back in January, so I am kind of a late comer, but you guys are the first blog I ever “followed”!!!!
So, it is sort of silly that I would say that my heart is doing a little happy dance for you when I see this!!!! I put your book on my Amazon wishlist a month or two ago and if no one pre-orders it for my birthday at the end of this month, I will most certainly just get it myself!!!
YAY! C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S!!!!!!!!! Wish you all the best!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Betsy! You’re so sweet!
xo,
s
Lindsey Rockers says
You guys are so TOTALLY pregnant! I will be waiting some what impatiently for the announcement. And then, when I hear it, I will dance around my living room because- A. I will be happy for you, and; B. I will have called it.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, I hate to let you down Lindsey, but I’m not! We’re just not ready so we’re waiting a bit more. But you know we’re over-sharers so when that day comes we’ll sing it from the rooftops!
xo,
s
Melanie Royals says
Congratulations on this HUGE accomplishment! I know this is going to be one of those books that people actually READ too because you guys are as fun to read as you are design-talented. Hope you make it to San Diego :)
Lisa says
I am sooooo proud of you guys!!! I cant wait til the book arrives….so I’ve hatched a plan to help make time fly. I have several things around the house to spruce up, take down, and re-do. So I’m going to make a to-do list and give myself the deadline of your release date. I have to get my list done before I get the book. Better get on it!!! Thanks for all the inspiration! >>>|<<<
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, that’s so sweet! I love that idea.
xo,
s
Cheri @ I Am Momma says
CONGRATS! You guys must be beyond thrilled. I LOVE the cover – especially the tweaks you guys made to it. Perfect. It’s also amazing that you’ve been able to store up projects that you haven’t shown here. Wow! Way to go!
Ana Silva says
Cannot wait to get it! This will be the first time I pre-order something. Congratulations. I can’t imagine it being an easy task by no means. Glad all that hard work paid off. I will display it on my coffee table :) YAY!
Nicole M. says
WOO HOO! Congrats…all your hard work and dedication has paid off. I can’t wait to get my hands on it :) Love the cover and am looking forward to all the goodness inside!
Secret says
I justt pre-ordered your book! I am SO excited and can’t wait to see all the LOVE!
Gabrielle says
My roommate and I have been talking about how excited we are for the book for months. We’ll probably end up with two copies in our little first apartment.
Your site has been so very inspiring, and I’m really excited to pore through all the tips and tricks in the book.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Gabrielle. You’re so sweet! Hope you guys love it!
xo
s
Taylor says
Just pre-ordered this! SO EXCITED!!!!!!! (hence the extra exclamation points)
Alison says
pre-ordered aaaaaand… DONE! So excited right now. Not as excited as you, I’m sure. ;)
Kelly says
The cover looks amazing! Congrats on this huge accomplishment. I work for a printing company so I’m really curious, knowing that you’re such an eco-friendly family, did you have any say or demands in the paper stocks and ink process to ensure that the book is printed as green as possible? There are a ton of great recycled papers on the market but I know (because this is what I do every day) that it can be tricky to negotiate using a recycled stock for large print runs AND when color photos/art is involved (because of recycled “specs” making their way into the pages).
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting Kelly! We weren’t privy to choosing paper and all that stuff (that was all the publisher’s domain) but we actually are getting our book printed here in the US instead of China (which we hear is pretty rare)! So it not only saves a lot of money on shipping/emissions, it also will support American jobs – we were really excited about that!
xo,
s
pattilouwho says
yay yay yay! :)
Lara says
Yea! I just pre-ordered :) How exciting! Congrats to you two. I’ve been following ever since a friend caught you in a google search and sent your link to me. I read your blog instead of the paper every morning. It’s become a ritual over the past 3 years. Y’all are inspiring – I’ve painted a few rooms and have a couple of other projects in the works for my little one bedroom apartment. Can’t wait for the book!
Jodi says
I pre-ordered my copy yesterday too! I am SO excited! I read your blog every day..and also refer to you guys like you really are ‘my’ neighbors! Too many sentences start out with “John and Sherry did that…” or “John and Sherry are doing this…”. It’s too funny! I wonder if you really realize just how many people feel like you’re REAL friends with them?? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I wonder if you guys realize how many of you we feel like are our REAL friends! We get to know your comment names and at night we say things like “aw, Cappy said the cutest thing today.” You’re all our real friends!
xo,
s
Jenny says
Prepare for even more fame! Now when I say to my husband, “John and Sherry” or “$herdog” said… He’ll instantly know what I’m talking about… So will thousands and thousands more of people. Gosh, does that make you guys feel giddy or insanely nervous?
YoungHouseLove says
Nervous! Haha.
xo,
s
gemma@thesweetestdigs says
MAJOR congratulations, guys. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. You should be SO proud!! All of your readers are :)
Nivina says
Delivery date Nov 7 :) I. Can’t. Wait.
Ashley S. says
2 years ago I got my twin sister hooked on your blog (those faux built-ins in the master bedroom, and we were both goners). Yesterday, we got together for lunch and she told me she pre-ordered your book for our birthday (tomorrow) and I was so excited! And really glad that I hesitated on pre-ordering it! Can’t wait to see it in the mail :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, that’s so sweet! Twin power! Haha.
xo,
s
Georgina says
eeeeeeee! So excited for you guys! And super pumped to get my copy in the mail! :) thought about waiting to maybe get this as a Christmas gift…but the wait has already been too long, so I’ve pre-ordered! Ha.
Christine says
I’m so excited! I had been stalking for a while on Amazon, waiting to pre-order. The book is in my cart now!!
Debbie @ Pink Texas Chick says
WOW! I mean a big wow! You guys are too cool and I totatlly want to buy a copy. Any book signings in Austin? I’ll totally be there. :)
Congrats and all of your success is well deserved. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s hoping! We’ll keep you posted for sure!
xo,
s
Dianna says
If you reach some sort of record breaking pre-order numbers we want to know about it.
I just pre-ordered two! I’m sure there will be someone I want to gift it to for Christmas.
Cheers on your new baby (the book)!
Veronique says
Love that your newest baby is almost here! I’ve been enjoying all the comments and preorders and, wooohooo!, loved seeing your new Menu Bar Book Item show up along with your Paws-on-a-Book spot in the right hand column this morning! Congrats for all your hard work and it’s thrilling to see how it’s all paying off!! Sending some LOVE from Colorado!
Jaime says
A-freakin-mazing! So excited for you both. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!
Bernadette @ B3HD says
And of course I pre-ordered with my amazon prime shipping to boot. Be here before we know it…just like Christmas. Wait…it will be Christmas pretty much…Christmas TWICE this year. That’s awesome!
Giordana says
Just wanted to let you know a faithful Canadian fan preordered your book yesterday and is so excited for November… you guys are awesome and should be very proud of what you’ve accomplished!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Giordana!
xo,
s
Abby says
Just told my husband what to pre-order for my birthday. ;)
I love reading your blog and seeing how creative you two are. I can’t wait to get the book!
Sam says
So excited to get the book! Your blog is so inspirational and I’m certain that the book will be as well. Plus it will be really nice to have it on hand to bring around. It’ll live on my bedstand until I finish reading it cover it cover. Then I’ll haul it around with me on hardware store trips. “See this honey? I want it to look just like THIS.”
Janet says
Nov 6th is my birthday! I will be asking for your book this year. Can’t wait!
Eunice says
I’m super excited for your book! I can’t wait to get it in the mail in November!
Since you don’t have your book tour schedule confirmed yet, may I suggest Hawaii? more specifically, Oahu?! =) I think you’re due for another vacation after all your hard work on the book! can’t wait to indulge in it!
YoungHouseLove says
We would LOVE that!!!
xo,
s
elizabeth says
Congratulations you guys! I have put your book on my birthday wish list!!! I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Being a fellow RVA’r, I am very proud!!!
Meghan says
So I just went to Amazon.ca (for us Canadians) to pre-order your book and had a good chuckle. Under the title on the website it says “Sherry Petersik (Author), John Petersik (Artist)”… Apparently on the Canadian website you are an artist John!! Thought you’d enjoy that!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha we’re both cracking up!
xo,
s
Kim says
Indigo says it’s “by Sherry Petersik” and “Contribution by: John Petersik”!
It also says November 16, which I’m hoping is a typo since I only noticed it after I submitted my order!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! It says John is the “artist” in Germany! Hahahah. Poor John!
xo,
s
Angela says
Pre-ordered! Excited to see what stops you’ll make on the book tour. I am totally dragging my 18 month old twins with me. They love to help DIY. You know, as much as an 18 month old can. Mostly this consists of excited clapping when the light turns on when they pull the drill trigger.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha I love it!
xo
s
Nancy Holec says
Pre-ordered mine!
Sylvia says
Ordered my book today from Amazon. So excited for y’all.
rivka says
I am SO EXCITED and thrilled for you guys! I’ve been reading your blog forever, daily, and just love it and love your family! Can not imagine your excitement and , and I hope, pride. I’ve already pre-ordered it.
You are too humble….but your NAMES need to be LARGER on the cover!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw you’re so sweet.
xo,
s
Sara VT says
Congratulations! I can’t wait to see the end result. What a big dream to accomplish what you set out to do. I hope you celebrate and enjoy the result!
Tipling says
I have been following your blog for about a year now and as my hubby and I just bought our first house, we are putting many of your tips/tricks to use. I just pre-ordered this book and can’t wait for it to get here! Side note….where did you get the teal & white flower-ish pillows that are on your couch behind the stacks of papers? Very cute!
YoungHouseLove says
Those are from HomeGoods a while back!
xo,
s
Beth says
Woohoo! Just pre-ordered it, and can’t wait to read it. Please come to Boston on your book tour! :) (I’m in NH but it’s the nearest big city).
Momcat says
So many comments to go back & read (and I will!) but I wanted to say…… I totally saw the bunny ears over your head in the very first photo of the cover!! I was like, seriously? Does anyone else see that? Did John & Sherry see them?!?! I read your entire post until you finally confirmed them there at the end. Whew! So totally hilarious & quirky & perfectly YOU.
I’m pre-ordering RIGHT NOW. Thanks for the links, I don’t even have to work to find it now!! What a great birthday gift it will be for myself in November!! So considerate of you to bring it out then (wink!!).
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes, there are totally bunny ears on the cover. We’re keeping it fancy. Haha.
xo,
s
Becky says
I preordered!… but I have to admit, I hesitated, because now I can’t get y’all to sign it…. maybe I’ll just carry it around with me all time in case I bump into you in town!!!! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we’ll totally sign it for you!
xo,
s
Jennie S says
Hi John and Sherry!! Congratulations on the book, I am anxiously awaiting its relase date. My work BFF and I love your blog to the point that our coworkers are always making fun of us for it. We would like to request that you come to Winston-Salem, NC on your book tour.
YoungHouseLove says
Wahooo! We’d love to! Here’s hoping…
xo,
s
Nicole says
Pre-ordered. Can’t wait!
Anca says
You guys rock! I can’t wait to get the book! It will have a good spot in my treasured book nook for sure ;)
Fran says
Yayy! I’ll be pre-ordering as soon as my paycheck hits the bank! I’ve been reading your blog for almost 3 years and I can’t wait for this book :)
Any chance you’ll stop by Seattle in the tour? eh? eh?
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s hoping! We’ll definitely share all the details when we know more!
xo,
s