Just a girl standing in front of a Reylo fic

...also known as debut author Kate Goldbeck. Somehow. 

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Ahhhh I just finished You, Again and I haven't had a book speak to me like that in ages!! Thank you for writing this very very special book and sharing it with us!

Thank you so much for reading!!

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Check my linktree for all the rsvp info

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Hey are you able to disclose what POV you wrote You, Again in? First or Third?

thanks

Dual POV, close third person (exactly like Doing the Unstuck)!

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I just finished “doing the unstuck” last weekend and cried so many times! It was incredible and I can’t wait for your book to come out

Awwww thank you!!

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Extra Special ARC Giveaway

I’m running that will include a physical ARC, and a box of extra-meaningful little extras related to the book. I’ve been teasing some of these on my Instagram.

Now, if you have not read an advance copy yet, you might be wondering “what is all this crap?” That’s why I’m also sending a signed and personalized advanced copy of the book to you and a friend! Read that first and you will understand why an As Seen on TV vacuum accessory is actually a symbol of true love.

To enter, go to my substack and you'll find all the instructions there.

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You, Again Goodreads Giveaway

U.S. readers! There's another giveaway for physical ARCs over the next two weeks.

AND...I'll be running another extra special international giveaway with extra goodies. Make sure you're signed up for my substack because that's where I'll be posting all the details. 😘😘😘

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Cover Reveal!

Amazing art by Nicole Rifkin. Thank you to Ali for the lovely early blurb.

After 2.5 years of working on this, it's finally looking like a real book? It's out September 12 which will be just about 4 years after I finished Doing the Unstuck (the fic that inspired the book).

It's also up on Netgalley if you want to request an ARC.

"Coming this September, YOU, AGAIN is THE romcom to add to your Autumn read list, especially if you love romance, New York, and classic Fall movies like When Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail.

Meet Ari and Josh (a commitment-phobe and a hopeless romantic) who clash over and over again—until heartbreak and unexpected attraction bring them together in this clever enemies-to-friends-to-lovers debut romance. With sharp observations and sizzling chemistry, YOU, AGAIN explores the dynamics of co-ed friendship and modern love in all its forms."

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Preorder your Reylo books by Friday!

The Barnes & Noble preorder sale runs through Jan 27 and it looks like Random House has knocked an additional 10% off the cover price. Using the code PREORDER25 will get you an extra 25% off!

YOU, AGAIN doesn't have a cover yet (I'm obviously totally calm, cool, and collected about waiting for that) but it's available for you to preorder now, forget about that for 8 months, and then surprise your future self with book mail on Sept 12!

And might I suggest ordering a few other Reylo writers' books and qualifying for free shipping! (Check out Sarah Hawley, Katie Shepard, Jenna Levine, and Julie Soto!)

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Hi there! I was wondering if you could share a PDF of your much celebrated story “doing the unstuck” — thx!!

Yep! Just send an email to slipgoingunder at gmail dot com 💌

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Presenting.... YOU, AGAIN -- coming this October (and already available for pre-order via the large corporation who laid me off several months ago, but also B&N and more places soon) Along with the new title, I have official promo copy! Friendship? Situationship? Whatever they call it, can they still love each other in the morning? A commitment-phobe and a hopeless romantic clash over the years—until heartbreak and unexpected chemistry bring them together in this clever enemies-to-friends-to-lovers debut romance. When Ari and Josh first meet, the wrong kind of sparks fly. They hate each other. Instantly. A free-spirited, struggling comedian who likes to keep things casual, Ari sublets, takes gigs, and never sleeps over after hooking up. Born-and-bred Manhattanite Josh has ambitious plans: Take the culinary world by storm, find The One, and make her breakfast in his spotless kitchen. They have absolutely nothing in common…except that they happen to be sleeping with the same woman. Ari and Josh never expect their paths to cross again. But years later, as they’re both reeling from ego-bruising breakups, a chance encounter leads to a surprising connection: friendship. Turns out, spending time with your former nemesis is fun when you’re too sad to hate each other—and too sad for hate sex. As friends-without-benefits, they find comfort in late night Netflix binges, swiping through each other’s online dating profiles, and bickering across boroughs. It’s better than romance. Until one night, the unspoken boundaries of their platonic relationship begin to blur… With sharp observations and sizzling chemistry, You, Again explores the dynamics of co-ed friendship in this sparkling romantic comedy of modern love in all its forms.

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For like a year I’ve been waiting to announce the new title of my book, The Artist Formerly Known as The Do-Over, or AFKATD-O.

I’m happy to say there IS a new title and I kinda love it? It captures a bunch of facets of the book in just two short words.

Hmmm…

👀 Guesses welcome in the comments.👇👇 (And those of you who do know, 🤫🤫

This lil pizza rat is my mascot and but one tiny detail from @selunchen *gorgeous* artwork.

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Happy pecan pie day to all who celebrate! You are all good melons.

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Instagram Book Giveaway!

Over on Instagram I’m giving away signed copies of two of my favorite romcoms of last year by some lovely NYC writer pals.

I purchased these signed copies from the Union Square B&N for extra NYC authenticity and I want to mail them to you. (Yes, I meant to do this back when I hit 1000 followers on IG, but, you know, life.)

📣 HOW TO ENTER:

🍎 Follow me on IG

🍎 Like and save this IG post

🍎 Drop a comment with your favorite iconic NYC food item (a folded slice of pizza? bagel with extra schmear? pastrami on rye? street meat?coffee in that special greek cup??) AND tag a friend!

📣ADDITIONAL ENTRY IF YOU:

🍎 Share this post in your IG stories and tag me

🍎 Argue with someone's food selection in the comments

Open to U.S. only (sorry, shipping is expensive and I just got laid off). Ends Wed Nov 23!

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very horny Star Wars figurines at this exhibit.

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Choosing new character names

This Debut Author Chat question was about choosing character names. In romance, I always try to look for names that are moan-able with good vowel sounds. [Thanks to @/romcomapologist for the art!]

"Ari" felt right very early on because it sounds a little bit like "Rey." It's not particularly gendered (I know all kinds of people named Ari). It feels light and kind of looks light on the page? It's also very moanable because it's vowel-heavy.

I still think "Ben" is the most moanable name, but obviously it had to go. For some reason "Justin" was the name in my head, but I was roundly shouted down by the entire internet. I prefer "Josh," anyway. I think it has a lot of personality. Find/replacing "Ben" to "Josh" resulted in some disasters, including "Joshefits"...

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Hi! As a fan of Doing the Unstuck, I just caught up on the character introductions for the original novel which I'm so excited for! I see that the character backgrounds were changed from the fic. For example, Ari is now a comedian instead of working in politics. How was the process of adapting your fic to an original novel? Did these changes come from a personal decision to switch things up, or was it at the guidance from an external source such as an editor?

How was the editing process, you ask? How long do you have to listen to me whine? 😆

Changing the backstories was a process that took over a year of reworking with various iterations. This was after the book was acquired, so I had already done a lot of editing with my agent. The fic was very heavy on U.S.-centered politics in a way that just didn't work in the context of 2022 and beyond. Not to mention that it would make the book rather inaccessible to international readers.

Changing that one aspect, meant that so many other things had to change, too. It created a domino effect. That's part of the reason the editing process has been so, so long for me compared to other romcoms. It probably would have been faster to start from scratch.

In the fic, Ben had a conservative/libertarian political bent in a way that was supposed to reflect an actual Star Wars villain. Without the context of "this guy is a villain with serious issues," that backstory was just a real turn-off in a standalone book. (And frankly, I don't want to read or write about that guy at this point, even if he does redeem himself.)

I had to take the Reylo Goggles off and realize that Ben (now Josh) needed a different background and new goals. He's now an extremely self-serious chef dealing with a family legacy (his dad's iconic Jewish deli) that doesn't fit his professional ambitions.

Rey (now Ari) was a political strategist in the fic, so that also had to go. There's a long story of how I got to "comedian" (and what some of her other careers were in various drafts).

One of the cool things about my editor is that she will point out things that aren't quite working and then let me brainstorm and play around with solutions. She definitely helped shape it into an actual book and it really helped that she had no familiarity with the reylo fandom or what the fic was. It was only after we finished the edits that I took a deep breath and really explained reylo to her 🤣

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Could we still get a pdf of the og of the unstuck? I wasn’t into Reylo when this fic was still up and I love reading fanfic to published books to spot the differences and I cannot wait for your book! Already have it on my goodreads shelf 🥰

Hi anon! If you want a copy of Doing the Unstuck, please email slipgoingunder (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know if you want a PDF or EPUB (This is still the easiest way for me to keep track of requests!)

I'm now including an extra document that lists some CWs and additional context to make up for the fact that author notes weren't part of the exported/formatted version.

I think I mentioned in another anon that the book was completely reworked after it was acquired by my imprint. I started with a new outline, new backstories, new subplots, new character relationships. Some favorite scenes are still there in some form, but it's truly a different work and I'm excited for people to read both. ✨

Thanks for the support!