I came back from Italy to a bunch of good news! First, The New York Post featured City of Ashes as a recommended book, and even mentioned my event at Books of Wonder tomorrow.

Secondly, City of Ashes debuted at #3 on the New York Times Children's Bestseller list!




Which is huge! And awesome! But then, just as cool, City of Bones is back on the Times list, this time on the paperback list:



Not to mention that City of Ashes hit the USA Today bestseller list at #96 which is pretty damn awesome considering that the USA Today list counts every single book for sale in the entire country, including self-help, cookbooks, and those Whatever For Dummies books.

Listing with my first book was fantastic, but listing with my second book is in some ways even better, because it means people liked the first book enough to run out and buy the second, and the fact that CoA has moved higher up the list means the audience is only growing. So thank you guys, everyone who went out and bought the book, or forced their parents or loved ones to buy it for them, or put it on reserve at the library, or tortured your local bookstore into carrying it. It's all down to you.

*** Last year when I listed I posted a What Happens When You Hit the Bestseller List" post, including all the phone calls I made that day. Sadly, when your second book hits, mostly only your friends in publishing realize why it's still a big deal. I called my dad after I found out, and he said,

Dad: But you were already on the list.
Me: So every time someone has a birthday, do you say, "Who cares, you already had a birthday?"
Dad: No, I say, "Congratulations on not dying partway through the year."
Me: Well, that's encouraging.

And now, off to celebrate.