Last week, self-published author Hugh Howey announced via his blog at HughHowey.com that ‘Wool’ has been picked up by Random House UK.

While I’m an author myself, I won’t pretend that I have the faintest clue what that means other than people in the UK can buy hard copies of his book. Luckily, he explains a lot of it himself.

Do you know what this means? Oh, man, so much. I’m absolutely giddy over here thinking about this. First of all, it means books will be available to fans in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. I’ve shipped dozens of books to these regions, and it ain’t cheap. Soon, readers will be able to go to the store and pick up a copy, tell their friends, spread the good news. It means WOOL will be read by more people in places where it’s less accessible right now!

Even better, this means I’ll get the best of both worlds. I now have a native-language (mostly) publisher while remaining indie here at home. With feet firmly planted on both sides of the fence, I’ll get a taste of the traditional route without signing over my life. I can still write what I want over here. I won’t lose the sales that allow me to write full-time. And foreign book contracts, let me tell you, are much more progressive and author-friendly than domestic ones. This is like eating Marie Antoinette’s cake and having it, too!

If you’re stateside, you’re probably wondering how you’ll get a copy, but it sounds like maybe Hugh will bring a bunch home and possibly put them up for sale for his fans? He’s been tweeting about a special added scene he’s writing for the UK book, so it’s definitely something you’ll want to get your hands on.

The tentative plan right now is for them to do a hardcover release in January 2013, so there’s a while to wait. Still, amazing news! Big congrats to Mr. Howey!