I know exactly two words of German: sitzpinkler and spiegel.*

So I cannot say this is true with any authority, but apparently Looking for Alaska (aka Eine Wie Alaska) has been nominated for two prestigious awards in Germany. I am of course thrilled about this, and honored to be nominated alongside people like Kevin Brooks, David Levithan, and Rachel Cohn**.

But for the last day or so, I've been thinking: To what extent am I responsible for this very pleasant turn of events? I wrote the book, but it never would have received critical attention if it hadn't been so well translated by Sophie Zeitz. (I don't know Ms. Zeitz, but I already like her, since she obviously made me good in German, and also because I believe that surnames can never have too many z's.)

And for that matter, Eine Wie Alaska would never have existed if my German publisher, Hanser, hadn't been excited about the book, or if the scouts who brought it to them hadn't recommended it.

This reminds me once again that as much as we love the image of the rogue author sitting alone in her basement sweating over a keyboard, the contemporary novel is collaborative at its very core. My story. Julie's suggestions. Sophie's words. Hanser's book. The thing does not belong to any one of us. But that's a good thing: The work benefits so much from collaboration, and anyway, it's always more fun to share in good fortune***.


*The former is in An Abundance of Katherines; the latter will become clear when Paper Towns comes out.
** I'm sure many of the other nominated authors are great also, but I don't know for sure, because so few European books are published in the United States, which is just another symptom of Why We Aren't Doing So Well, but anyway.)
*** I mean, except when you're winning the lottery. Then you want to hog it all.