i haven’t felt so alive in years

Posted on By Wil

Yesterday, (well, today, actually. I’m composing this at 8:16pm on Monday, while Anne and Ryan assemble a desk, because I won’t have time tomorrow to write this up) while I was digging a hole in my yard, I thought to myself, Man, there’s been a big build up to this. People are expecting a major announcement, and there’s no way it will live up to expectations.
One of these years, I’ll find some way to not be so goddamn insecure. It’s in my nature. Just part of being a nerd, I guess.
So, without (much) further ado . . .

WIL WHEATON dot NET PRESENTS
The Epic Announcement!
brought to you by Slurm

There’s been a lot of speculation about the epic announcement. Ideas have included:

  • Anne and I are hatching a kidlet of our own.

  • Several different variations on the “Wil’s gonna be back on Star Trek” theme.

  • I’m doing a voice over for a television show, like The Simpsons.

  • I’m doing a voice over for a Pixar Movie

  • I discovered a bunker in my backyard, and it’s filled with a thousand cases of Guinness.

There were some who thought it was acting related, and a few who thought it was literary related.

If you were one of the very few in that last group, you totally win a pizza and a trophy, because . . .
I have totally signed a three book deal with a major publisher. O’Reilly & Associates, to be precise.
Okay, I’m totally trying to play it all cool, but . . .
HOLY MOTHER OF CRAP!! WOOOO!!!!!! ROCK!
YEAH!!! KICK ASS BABY!!! UNGH!!! UNGH!!!
*pant*
*pant*
Sorry. I’ve been getting those massive rushes of excitement with alarming frequency. I hope you all understand.
This is a very exciting relationship for me, for several reasons. First, I am a huge geek, and without O’Reilly, I wouldn’t know HTML from LMNOP. I never would have been able to get Linux running, and Perl would be one of the not-quite-as-good-as-Mrs.-Garrett replacements on Diff’rent Strokes.
This means I will be able to get my books into more stores than I ever was with Monolith Press. It means I’ll be sent out on a real book signing tour. It means I’ll be on national television and radio to promote my work, and maybe even get a review in major newspapers or magazines.
Dancing Barefoot sold 3,000 copies in less than five months, without any of that, and I can’t wait to see how it does when it’s got the power and budget of a major publisher behind it.
It also means that I will never royally screw up days worth of orders again, and I will be free to work like crazy on Just A Geek because I won’t be running the business any more.
I spoke with my editor at O’Reilly this morning (” . . . my editor at O’Reilly!” that sounds so cool!), and he told me that O’Reilly is so excited to carry Dancing Barefoot, they’re going to have a printing available in time for the holidays. They are currently working on a plan with Powells to get it out there right away, and I understand that they are in talks with Amazon as well. If you’ve been kicking yourself in the pants, or punching yourself in the back of the head because you wanted Dancing Barefoot for a holiday gift and missed out, you can stop the madness right now!
It should be in most major book stores very soon and y — Oh my god! I’m going to walk into Vroman’s and see my book on the shelf!!! AHHH!!! That RULES!
RAWK! \m/
Oops. There it goes again. 🙂
O’Reilly will also publish Just A Geek in Spring of next year, and I’m going to write a currently untitled technical book on personal website design that I think will come out in Summer.
So, you see, when I made my audioblog post back in July, I had just gotten off the phone with Brett from O’Reilly, who had called to tell me that none other than Tim O’Reilly himself had come back from OSCon talking about “the Wil Wheaton phenomenon” and instructed Brett to tell me that he wanted to be my publisher. Since that day, we’ve been working out the details. They were actually finalized a few weeks ago, but we all decided to wait until today to release this epic news, because I guess December 2 is a good day to release news, and there’s a good chance some mainstream media outlets will pick this up.
I want all of you who read WWdN to know that none of this would ever have happened without you. Many of you have been here since the early days of Where’s My Burrito?. In this strange, impersonal-but-personal way, you’ve gone with me through the ups and downs (mostly downs) of my Sisyphean struggles in the acting world. You were excited with me when I was added to Nemesis and cried with me when I was cut. You have been there when I’ve loved, and when I’ve lost. I’ve introduced you to Ryan and Nolan, Ferris, and Anne, who is more than my world . . . she’s my entire universe.
You’ve supported me so much . . . I can’t tell you all how wonderful it feels to share my tremendous joy with all of you now. Everyone who has read Dancing Barefoot, or come to see me at a show, or left a comment on this site, Soapboxers, Farkers, Slashdotters . . . I’m sure I’m forgetting people . . . but every single one of you owns a piece of this amazing new chapter in my life.

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Comments (484)

  2. This is my first time posting, even though I’ve been reading for a long time.
    Congratulations, Wil! This is such exciting news! What made me go ahead and comment was to let you know that I work at a Barnes & Noble, and if your books are available to us, as soon as I read them, I can do a staff recommendation. That way, they’d be in a display location in the store with the other staff recs, with a nice discount to encourage sales. 😀

  3. Score! This is truly stellar news! And to think I couldn’t figure out what to post today on my blog. I’ll definately have to spread the word for you, and I’ll be waiting with that guy whooping at 8:05 in downtown Seattle a couple steps up if you do grace us with a book signing.

  5. I just called my local independent bookstore (Kepler’s in Menlo Park, a truly excellent bookseller) and asked them if they’d carry it, punctuating the request with a non-special order. They didn’t have the book on their distributors’ lists yet, naturally. So y’all can do what I did, which was refer them to the O’Reilly’s online catalog, which includes that crucial ISBN number:
    http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/barefoot/index.html
    Go Wil!

  8. Congratulations!
    It was good seeing you at Loscon. During the reading you did there, it occurred to me that you could sell recordings of your books that you read yourself. The only reader that I can think of that I would rate better than you is Harlan Ellison. If you haven’t heard him read, check out some of the books he’s recorded. But you are a close second, at least when it comes to reading your own works. I would buy them if you recorded them. You add so much to the written word when you read.

  10. Congrats Wil! Now it should be easier for us Monkeys to buy your books! A three book deal, NOW you’re a BIG SHOT!!! 🙂

  11. I just got my copy of DB yesterday and finished in an hour. It left me wanting more and I am thrilled to hear that you got this deal! I am so very excited for you Wil, you and Anne must be doing the happy dance of joy! Now, take a deep breath and let some self confidence overflow your veins and gain some permanent ground there. And please, don’t forget about all your monkeys when you are a rich and famous author pumping out 1-2 books a year. *grin*

  12. *{:^)\/\/[] Now that the surprise is out of the box…Congratulations, Wil!!! Your great talent, hard work, and perseverence these past months have definitely rewarded you well! BIG TIME, BABY!!! :^) Woo-hoo! **happy dance for Wil** :^)

  13. Wil, someone asked above if buying directly from you would net you more money than buying from the store, but I’m curious, would buying from the store help you in the bestseller rankings? And if so, which would you prefer?
    I was thinking, if a lot of us buy the book online the day it comes out, maybe we could get you onto Amazon

  16. That’s SO COOL to hear, Wil! Major Congratualations to you! Can’t wait to get my copy of Dancing Barefoot and to read the entire JAG book 🙂

  18. Dude! DUDE!! D-U-U-U-U-U-U-D-E!!!!!!! That is so uttterly, totally, overwhelmingly AWESOME!!! I am going to have the head of my local PC User Group contact you for an interview about your book! He hosts one of the longest-running computer talk shows in the country, and I’m sure he is well-acquainted with Tim O’Reilly! (If you want more information about this show, log on to http://www.lets-talk-computers.com. The names of the co-hosts are Alan and Sandy Ashendorf.)
    You know what you deserve now? You deserve to have not one, not two, but ALL of your co-stars from ST:TNG to be in attendance at your first signing under Mr. O’Reilley’s auspices–and none other than Patrick Stewart should be at the head of the line! On top of all that, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from ST:TOS should also be present! Hey–it could happen–especially to a geek who’s also a dork, a doofus, and a schmuck (just kidding about that last one!)! Seriously, Wil, you’re now beginning, I hope, to appreciate the true meaning of the phrase, “delayed gratification”–because, 99 times out of 100, anything REALLY worth having IS worth waiting for–and now you’re beginning to get it!! I hope this proves to be ONLY the BAREST beginning of MAJORLY good times in store for you and yours in the days, weeks, and months ahead! “Living well is the best revenge,” as the old saying goes, and you’re now starting to get your own sweet revenge on Berman and Company–so take TOTAL advantage of it! Congratulations and take care!
    Sincerely,
    Tom Nichol

  21. Congratulations, Wil! An epic deal for the most deserving guy.
    Looking forward to grabbing a copy of Dancing Barefoot soon.
    ::Guinness clink:: Cheers!

  22. WOOOHOOOO! And I second the motion for you to come to Australia to promote your books (‘your books’… doesn’t that sound cool?!)

  25. Wil:
    It’s an honor to share in this joy with you and yours’ and the rest of us “viewers” and now “readers”…
    Your writings [often] have inspired me and I am very happy for you finally seeing that ship come to harbor.
    You are truly blessed! It has all been worth it – yes?
    -sam

  30. Wow, this is the best Internet news I have read in a long time. I was lucky enough to wrangle myself a copy of dancing barefoot from Amazon when they still had stock and I read the entire book in about 45 minutes straight. I went on a breathing strike until I had read all 117

  31. Congratulations! This is great news not just for you, but for your fans as well. I can see why you are flying at the moment. I think I would be, too!

  32. Way to go!!! Go with the flow I always say… It has been said if you do what you love the money will follow… now everything is as it should be! ROCK ON DUDE!

  33. I guess the sheer volume of comments so far will put those qualms about living up to expectations to rest, huh, Wil?
    Congrats again, man. I’m going to order my copy online for the holidays.

  34. I’ve been an on and off viewer, and allow me to ramble a bit here, but now I’m here frequently. This is some epic news here and quite exciting! Congratulations! I look forward to reading more exciting news and your awesome stores.

  36. I’m so happy for you, Wil – tears are welling up in my eyes, seriously.
    You have helped me more than you could ever know through your weblog – namely showing me that I really could be an author if I wanted to. I always wanted to write for a living and I had discarded it as a fool dream.
    These things that you thank *us* for are small in comparison to the things you give us every day. I cannot think of someone more deserving of this than you.
    THANK YOU, WIL!
    Angelica

  38. 50 billion comments later….
    PLEASE make your lovely book available to those of us in the South Pacific. I’m talking specifically New Zealand here, but I suppose Australia deserves something…that’s assuming you even read this far down. But just in case you did, dear Wil, pretty please with chocolate sprinkles on top?
    P.s, the World Premiere of ‘LOTR: Return of the King’ rocked. Like totally.

  39. Huh. For a minute there, I read wrong, and thought all the things on your list were true… bummer. If I bothered to scroll up I might find out that I’m not the only person whose eyes tricked them. Or maybe I am.
    But the real news is great, too! Congrats.

  41. WOW!!
    Late to the party here – and buried at the bottom of TONS of good wishes… But I’ve just got to add more.
    This just ROCKS Wil, congratuations!!!
    Hey….any chance that book tour will include Canada?! 😉
    Jen

  42. So what did your mom, Mrs Crusher, say….was she excited? How do you get the copy of your new book to your publisher if you are in another star system…is there space internet?

  44. Fan-Fucking-Tastic Wil! Congratulations and here’s wishing you a long lasting (happy) relationship with O’Reilly! This is great!

  45. Congratulations, Wil, you truly deserve this. I am so happy for you and your fam. I just got a worldwide distribution deal goin’, so I can relate to the joy.

  47. That’s very cool, and such good news. I know a few people who didn’t get your first printing, and I’ve refused to let them borrow my First Edition copy of DB. Now they can get their own. 🙂 Congrats on the good news!

  48. Congratulations wil!
    I hope this means that I can actually get the book here in Asia. Amazon charges the earth for international shipping.

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