Yesterday turned out to be a very good day for writing news.

It began with two different, highly positive reviews of The Snow Queen’s Shadow [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. Over on the DAWBooks LJ, Joshua Palmatier calls it the best book I’ve written to date, saying, “the end of the book–and ostensibly the end of the series–is perfect.” And at the Green Man Review, Michael M. Jones says the whole series has been, “consistently enjoyable, and one of the best fairy tale updates I’ve seen in many years.”

That right there would have been enough to make my day, but there was more. My agent e-mailed in the morning to let me know that my German publisher would be picking up Snow Queen. Woo hoo! (And are you listening, France?)

I wasn’t sure if this was public or not, but I figure if my agent Tweeted about it, it’s safe to share. He’s also been talking to DAW about doing a 3-in-1 omnibus edition of my goblin books, which would be most nifty. Nothing is in place yet, but when and if this deal becomes a reality, I’ll let y’all know. In the meantime, just the fact that the discussion is happening is pretty darn cool.

Apparently the universe wanted to cram a month’s worth of good news into one day, because that’s not all. I also spoke with my editor yesterday, who confirmed that Libriomancer is going to be my first hardcover original from DAW.

Basically, I view this as leveling up I’m flattered and happy that DAW has enough confidence in me and my writing to take this book to the next level, and I can’t wait to hold the finished product.

I admit that in some ways, I liked having my stuff come out as mass market paperback originals. Or, as I’ve been known to say, “I like being cheap and easy!” On the other hand, a hardcover release should mean a bit more review attention, a potential boost in library sales, and better royalties, all of which are also good things.

I assume the new plan will be to release the hardcover in August of 2012 and do a paperback about a year later, perhaps coinciding with the second book in the series. I don’t have any details, but will share them once I do.

And then I went home and ended the evening with ice cream and the Phineas & Ferb movie.

All in all, I’d say that was a pretty good day!

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.