First, massive gratitude to our insanely badass agent, Jessica Faust. Thank you so much for taking a chance on us, wholeheartedly championing this book and for being such a fierce advocate throughout this entire process. When we signed with you, we felt we’d make a good team, and now that we’re over a year into this, we see that was an understatement. Clicking Send was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. SHTDI would not have made it here without you and the rest of the amazing people at Bookends Literary: Sabrina Castillo, James McGowan and Jenissa Graham.

Of course, we have to thank our inimitable editing team, Brittany Lavery and Sarah Murphy. Brittany, thank you for your endless congeniality, for your commitment to the true essence of this novel, for never being frustrated with us during any part of this process even though you absolutely should have been. You were always extremely patient and kind with your feedback, and you definitely deserve some kind of award. Not to mention, like, three weeks in the Maldives. Having an editor who truly gets the story you’re trying to tell is something writers dream about, and we feel so ridiculously lucky to have had you been a part of this journey with us. Of course, without you, none of this would have ever happened; in other words, thank you for existing.

Sarah, thank you for being so nitpicky and never holding back. Your sharp, thoughtful edits elevated our storytelling and genuinely pushed us to make SHTDI so much stronger, though they made us want to rip out each other’s hair in the moment. Don’t worry, we’re fine. Totally fine.

Special thanks to Melanie Fried, Leah Morse, Diane Lavoie, Quinn Banting, Kathleen Mancini and everyone else at Graydon House who worked behind the scenes to get SHTDI on the shelves. We are so grateful to have had such an incredible group of talented, supersmart women working on this project with us.

Thanks, Mom, for being our number one from the beginning. Also, for these words of encouragement after hearing the news of our book deal: “This shit is unbelievable! But I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Y’all worked so hard.” If there was one person we could count on to not question why we were still writing after eight years of steady, relentless rejection, it was you.

Thanks as well to Sadé Grandberry for encouraging us to join our high school’s book club. If it weren’t for you deciding to write your own story—which spawned our rampant jealousy that drove us to write our first short stories—we would have never made it to SHTDI. Thank you for believing in us even when we didn’t and for your endless support. (This includes listening to us rant on and on about how we think we’re trash and won’t sell any copies of this book.)