… 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).
Felicia says
Pre-ordered, and told everyone on Facebook! Congrats guys. I can’t wait to get the book, and maybe even meet you two in person!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Felicia!
xo,
s
Sasha Andersen says
Congrats :D Jubii.. Love love love the cover. it’s so perfect :) I feel you guys on the whole idea of it not being to serious, I mean some of the books of homes are just a little to formal – read boring ;)
I’m so happy that it is on ore-order in uk, cause was worrying how to get a hold of it ever since you first started talking about it ;). I live in Denmark, but will be moving to London to study in September, so a lateish moveing present to myself ;)
Keep up all the good work on the blog, love following your work :)
Best wishes Sasha
Maureen says
Just ordered mine. Can’t wait!
Janel says
Already pre-ordered and it couldn’t come at a better time. The husband and I just bought our first house THIS WEEK and close right around the time your book comes out. I’ll need all the decorating help! Have already pinned so many of your design inspiration pics. Congrats guys! Can’t wait to read it!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, that’s sweet! Good luck with everything Janel!
xo,
s
Jean and Walt says
My husband and I have been such huge fans of your site for quite some time, but we have had so little time to actually sit down to write a reply, but when we heard your book was due out the same day as our anniversary, we felt the need to figure out a way to squeeze a reply in. A HUGE congrats to you both! Your blog and home is such a wonderful inspiring thing and has been SUCH a fantastic reference for us for all our house projects! We can’t wait for your book!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jean and Walt! Happy anniversary!
xo,
s
Trude says
That is SO EXCITING!! Added it to my wish list. :) Love the cover design, I’m so glad it’s true to your personalities! That’s what makes this whole thing work, more than anything, is the way you guys write. Big hugs. <3
Katie J. says
This is awesome… So excited for you guys! I can’t wait for the book… And can I just say I totally love your dorkiness. I mean that in the most endearing way possible.. It’s probably why I’ve been reading YHL for 4 years! Keep doin what ya do. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, dork power!
xo,
s
Kate says
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! **Squealing**
That is so exciting! I’ll have to pre-order…. At this point are you just selling in the USA? Any chance the book will be out in Australia? xx
YoungHouseLove says
It’s actually out in Australia! We hear Oz folks are getting it through a site called bookdepository. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Chrissa says
I am embarrassed to admit, I cried when I read this.
As a follower of 3 years, I think you are two of the sweetest,most wonderful people. I am SO happy for you. Seriously. xo
YoungHouseLove says
Oh Chrissa! Now I’m all sniffly. You’re so sweet and we seriously couldn’t have done it without you guys! You guys encourage us and make us laugh and spur us on every day!
xo,
s
Tara says
I just ordered mine.. It will feel like a suprise gift when Amazon sends it to me. Yours is the only blog I always read. I start and stop a few others, but yours is like my old friend. I have been following yours since you before you announced you were having a baby. Young House Love is the best written, and most entertaining Blog I have yet to discover.
Keep up the good work, and Congrats on the book!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Tara! You’re so sweet!
xo,
s
Kaitlyn O. says
Hooray for pre-orders! Yours will be my first “fancy” coffee table book and even though I don’t want summer to end, I cannot wait until November, LOL!!!
Alice says
Woooooot!!!!!!! Pre-ordering!
Isabelle says
I hope you can make it to the San Francisco area on your tour! I can’t wait to pre-order the book :-)
Colleen says
Congrats, you guys! That’s so stinking exciting. I love how you stuck to your guns about your voice/vibe/personality. Thanks for sharing this journey with us…I feel so invested, and, at the risk of sounding condescending, PROUD! THIS IS HUGE! Are you doing a book tour? If so, are you gonna have a Burger paw stamp for signings? I’m feeling a “yes” on both counts.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes on the book tour (more on that once everything gets confirmed) but not so sure Burger will come along for the ride. Jury’s still out on that one…
-John
Amy says
I’m so excited, I can’t wait to get the book!!! You kids are just amazing. :)
Jessica says
Love the book cover, very fun and eye catching. The photoshop drill is hilarious, what a great story to tell your children!
Emily says
What happened to the furniture and projects you worked on for the book? Is any of that stuff on sale to us locals?! :)
Congrats on the book! I can’t wait to read it. I hope you have a big signing/release party in RVA.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we’re trying to figure out how to do a charity auction! Will keep you guys posted! We have some fun Richmond events so we can’t wait!
xo,
s
Shaz says
Hve pre-ordered. Can’t wait for it to be sent to me in Australia. Congrats and thanks for all the hard work.
Jen Fernandez says
Congrats!!! So excited for you guys!!! Hopefully you’ll pay a visit to New Jersey. Keeping my fingers crossed for a Princeton Area scheduled book signing. I’ll definitely be the first in line :) Keep us posted!
Jen
Raelynn says
First of all, congratulations. I hope this book is just as, if not more successful as your site. You two (well 4) have inspired so many. I’ve pre-ordered my book, and can’t wait to get it.
Hope to hear more about it in the weeks to come!!!
Qaseh Gifts says
Congratulations! Can’t wait to see it!
tanu says
hi,
first of all, a big congrates for your book. I am basically from india, and from last one year i have been following your blog. I am always amazed that even a simple solution can make a home look a lot better. We just bought home, and now thinking of decorating our home, and i am really taking lotz of inspiration from your blog. And surely going to buy your book.
best of luck to you and your family for this next step
Sunita Thomas says
If we have a say in your book touring …how about India, Pune to be more specific :).
Also, I do not think Amazon ships to India yet but that is ok, I have already lined up friends to pick up and a friend’s friend to get it to India.
The amount of hard hard work really makes you guys totally out of this world. You so totally deserve all the success.
Congratulations!!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Sunita! We’d love to come to India- that would be amazing! As for getting the book, I think they have it on a site called bookdepository, which offers free shipping worldwide, so maybe if you search for Young House Love on there it’ll turn up? Here’s hoping!
xo,
s
Jessie says
I have NEVER pre-ordered a book and have never bought a home book (so much free info online…) but I did today! I love your blog and in return I want to support you guys on this new endeavor!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jessie! You’re so sweet!
xo,
s
Tiffany says
I’m a long time reader but first time commenter. I pre-ordered your book even though I don’t even have my own place yet! I’m defs gonna be keeping it handy for the future! Love your works and can’t wait to get it in the mail!
YoungHouseLove says
Thank you Tiffany! Hope you love it!
xo,
s
Kristen says
Congratulations!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! And of course I can’t wait to own it. Preording now! I am so freaking happy for you guys.
Maureen says
I’m ordering in the UK, but saw that you guys were #1 on amazon.com renovation category! Your own gold medal :) congrats on birthing this baby!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Maureen! We can’t believe it!
xo,
s
Anna says
I came across your blog a couple of years ago when I was searching online for tips on how to dry citrus fruits to use as Christmas tree decorations. What I found was a very sweet video of the two of you sprucing up your tree! I played that video like three times and felt like a complete weirdo for watching it(at the time the blog seemed to be intended more for family and friends than for complete strangers) but I came back the day after and have been a reader ever since.
Around that same time I moved into my very first teeny tiny apartement. I was a student and money was tight as can be. Your knowledge on DIYing and your willingness to share every little detail were so, so helpful to me in getting the diamond style that I fancied for a dime! Plus, I just enjoy reading the blog.
My fiancé and I will be moving into our first grown-up house next year, so of course I pre-ordered your book and can’t wait for it to get here come Christmas as it will surely inspire us in our decorating choices.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh Anna, you’re so sweet. Thanks so much for the kind words and for ordering our book!
xo,
s
Marianne says
OK I a number 1287 to tell you how much I love the idea of a Young House Love book. So I just added it to my wish list on Amazon.co.uk ( I live in The Netherlands) and hope November will come soon. I might be able to calm myself down with it while our new bath room is being made upstairs, as the publishing date co-incides with the start of the work LOL
Cate says
So excited for you!!! I cannot wait to read it and add it to my book shelf :) Your blog has taught me so much and I am super excited for more tips and tricks! Congratulations again!!!!!
Katrina says
Ordered my Christmas presents!
Misty says
I am so excited about this! After reading your blog for all these years I feel like I know you, I’m so happy for you guys! I pre-ordered two copies and may have to get a few more, I’m already planning for Christmas gifts! Thanks for that, I’m NEVER this ahead of schedule!
P.S
I see a very tiny smiley face on the background I never noticed before, how cute! Any hidden meaning? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Misty! That smiley face actually tracks our traffic (every time it loads it counts that as a page view). We love that he’s friendly. Haha.
xo,
s
lrlockwood says
I am SO EXCITED for you 2, well 4…. I am sure this was WELL worth the wait. I would love to see you do a book signing here in Delaware. You know, you vacation here so it would only be fitting… right?? If not, guess i’ll just have to jump in the car and head to the nearest one. Can’t wait to see the schedule! Congrats!
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to stop there! Fingers crossed!
xo,
s
Cady says
Huge congratulations!! I’m so excited I came across your website and book. We’re in a small condo now with a baby on the way. Your website/book give me so much confidence that my husband and I can find and create the perfect home for us. Thank you and congratulations!!
Raazia says
Congratulations on your book!!! I just pre-ordered it yesterday and can’t wait for it to come out…
Holly says
I was tickled when I read this post, like many others I see…and didn’t have time to comment right away. You guys are wonderful and never cease to amaze me. I read daily but comment only every now and then.
You are so inspirational, seriously! So down to earth but obviously extremely hard working and dedicated and it shows. So so so happy for you and can’t wait to read the book!!! Someone once told me, ‘it’s nice when good things happen to good people’ –I think this applies most definitely to the two of you!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw that’s do sweet Holly! Thanks!
xo,
s
Alyssa says
Just pre-ordered my copy! Cant wait to get it! Best – Alyssa
Allison @ House of Hepworths says
Congrats Sherry and John! You guys are so awesome. I just preordered your book and am looking forward to November 7th!
xoxo
Allison @ House of Hepworths
Kristen Sutton says
My 30th bday (whomp whomp) is Monday, so the preorder will be a nice gift to myself!!! So excited its finally almost here :)
Hope you guys sell a ton!!!
Becca says
Congrats! So excited for you two! I know this was a lot of work and effort and it is definitely paying off. I also thought it was pretty funny that you are birthing this book and your due date is Nov. 6th, because that is our little Baby G’s due date. I pointed at the screen and said “Coincidence? I think not,” to my husband and he said YES to buying the book. But then we realized we have our current address on file and don’t want to update it until we move at the beginning of Sept. So, I have it on my list of to-do’s to order one once we move in. Since I will now be a stay at home mom, I am looking forward to (a little) more time to do some DIY projects and can’t wait to see all the book has to offer! Congrats again!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw Becca that’s so cute! Happy baby birthing!
xo,
s
Angie says
Congratulations! I’m already looking forward to holding it in my hands – so at least one copy will end up in Germany ;)
JoDi says
You guys are awesome and your book is going to be awesome! I have it in my cart now. (Just have to add a couple more things to get free shipping. LOL) So excited for it to come in November!!
We all knew you could do it. You should be proud – I don’t know where you get the energy!
Jess says
congrats, you guys, on your book baby!! i couldn’t be more excited to get my hands on a copy. and a book tour… what a fun adventure for you! you are going to meet so many people who adore you.
off to pre-order! (p.s. – come to boston!!!)
:)
karen says
Love your blog, can’t wait for the book!
SoulandGrace says
I have pre-ordered your book and I am so excited!! I spend a ridiculous amount of time on your blog but I am pumped to have you on my bookshelf too. Congratulations on the book release!!
Nichole says
Pre-ordered, along with our pre-order of Dexter Season 6. Cannot wait!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha we’re honored to be ordered with Dexter! Can’t wait either!
xo,
s
Jenna says
I love your blog and have tried so many DIY projects thanks to you guys…ordered the book this morning and can’t wait to try out many more! My poor poor husband has no idea what’s in store for him ;) Congrats!
Emma P says
I am so excited for this! It is released on my birthday… can you say birthday present!!!! Congratulations on finishing the book and I wish you so many successes with it!
Lena says
Please, please, please make sure that when you do a book tour, you come out to Los Angeles. You guys are absolutely amazing – and I am so proud of your success. Plus the book signings at Barnes and Nobles usually include stories and I would love to hear you talk about your work versus just reading about it. I have never bought a home book, and I am excited that yours will be the first.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Lena! We’d love to end up over there!
xo,
s
Natalie says
Oh my goodness I am so excited for this! I’m going to preorder it right away. I am so excited for the book tour, too! I’ll be 1 week from my due date when the book is released…so I’ll be the LARGELY pregnant chick, or the “crazy-lady-who-brought-a-baby-to-a-book-signing” chick. :) either way I’ll be geeking out to see you guys!
Congratulations, to all of you! I know this will be a huge success!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Natalie! You’re so sweet!
xo,
s