The Fault in Our Stars: writing, title and publication (2011)

project history · status: completed · last event: milestone (2014-02-18) · last mentioned: 2026-09-22

John's novel The Fault in Our Stars, drafted by December 2010 and revised through 2011, was published on 10 January 2012 after Penguin moved it up from May. It topped the Amazon, Barnes & Noble and New York Times bestseller lists, was named Time's top novel of 2012, and returned to number one in 2013 and 2014.

Told alongside: John works in Miami to finish an overdue draft of his book (2010) · John writes a novel about a desert island with a girl narrator (2010) · A bookseller ships over a thousand copies of The Fault in Our Stars three weeks early (December 2011) · Turtles All the Way Down: announcement and publication of John's novel (2017) · John reading his new novel's audiobook in a young woman's voice: 'And then I took off my bra' (2011) · Paper Towns: writing, revision and publication (2007) · The Fault in Our Stars film adaptation (2012) · John: how Looking for Alaska was written, revised and won the Printz Award (2006)

About: John's untitled novel (2011), Hazel Grace Lancaster, Julie Strauss-Gabel, The Fault in Our Stars, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Penguin Books, Rodrigo Corral

date	event	what	video
2011-03-09	announced	John says his new, untitled novel comes out in almost exactly one year; it is about two teenage cancer survivors and narrated by Hazel.	DANDY LIONS! It's Question Day 00:00:54
2011-03-28	announced	John has just learned his new novel is definitely coming out in March (of the following year); it is still untitled.	Participatory Geometry 00:01:20
2011-05-18	milestone	John reports finishing the big revision of his novel in the last 24 hours.	The Education Continuum WARNER CHILCOTTED 00:00:04
2011-06-06	milestone	After more than a year of revision, the manuscript of John's new book arrives with his editor's notes on the pages: the book has reached line edits.	Men Running on Tanks and the Truth about Book Editors 00:01:09
2011-06-29	milestone	With its title announced, The Fault in Our Stars is number one on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble on pre-orders.	THE FAULT IN OUR STARS 00:00:29
2011-07-01	milestone	Hank says The Fault in Our Stars has been number one on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller charts four days running with almost no publicity.	Humping the Town 00:00:29
2011-07-08	milestone	John thanks Nerdfighters for continuing to make The Fault in Our Stars a bestseller on Amazon and Barnes & Noble: 'you're made of awesome'.	Kill the Dollar Bill! 00:02:29
2011-07-27	announced	Penguin moves the publication of The Fault in Our Stars forward five months, from May 1 to January 10, 2012.	150,000 Autographs 00:00:17
2011-10-19	milestone	John reveals the cover of The Fault in Our Stars, designed by Rodrigo Corral, with Julie Strauss-Gabel's permission.	Question Wed — THE COVER OF THE FAULT IN OUR STARS! 00:00:30
2011-10-28	milestone	John reads Chapter 1 of The Fault in Our Stars on the channel from a page proof, including its dedication to Esther Earl, epigraph and author's note.	Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars 00:00:26
2011-11-21	milestone	John has narrated The Fault in Our Stars at Brilliance Audio; there will be two audiobooks, Kate Rudd's (the real one, sold everywhere) and John's (only in a limited-edition DFTBA box set).	Old Man Narrates Young Girl 00:00:35
2011-11-25	milestone	John reads Chapter 2 of The Fault in Our Stars on the channel with Penguin's permission, following his Chapter 1 reading; the book comes out January 10th. → refers to Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars	Chapter TWO of The Fault in Our Stars 00:00:07
2011-12-05	milestone	The finished, printed The Fault in Our Stars arrives in the mail: 'the real book', with all its pages.	5 Worst Typos of History 00:00:07
2012-01-10 (said on 2012-01-09, implied)	outcome	John marks publication day of The Fault in Our Stars (January 10, 2012), filming the day before.	The Fault in Our Stars 00:00:00
2012-01-13 (said on 2012-01-10, implied)	outcome	Hank reports The Fault in Our Stars' reception after release: every review fantastic, everyone on Amazon loves it.	TFiOS PARTY! 00:00:42
2012-01-27	milestone	Hank introduces John as the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars.	In 'N' Out-Erview 00:00:51
2012-03-20	milestone	John says The Fault in Our Stars is currently number 2 on the New York Times bestseller list, behind only Hugo Cabret.	Sharpie Face Question Tuesday 00:01:41
2012-03-27	milestone	John says the Dutch edition of The Fault in Our Stars has been published; his Amsterdam trip supports it.	Wrong but Right: Thoughts from Places Amsterdam 00:01:13
2012-11-13	milestone	John reports that Amazon.com named The Fault in Our Stars one of the ten best books of 2012, among all books rather than teen books.	I Was a Child Poet. And a Bad One. 00:00:05
2012-12-04	milestone	John reports Time Magazine has named The Fault in Our Stars the top novel of 2012, ahead of Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith, Junot Diaz and J.K. Rowling.	Time for AWESOME 00:00:00
2013-01-15	looked back	John looks back on writing The Fault in Our Stars: his friendship with Esther Earl and becoming Henry's father made it possible, and Esther's good short life was central to it. (hedged)	An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall 00:54:11
2013-02-19	milestone	John reports The Fault in Our Stars returned to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list 56 weeks after publication.	Doing Things, On the Importance of 00:00:00
2013-04-23	milestone	John reports The Fault in Our Stars has returned to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list fifteen months after publication.	DOCTOR GREEN 00:02:22
2014-01-21	milestone	John says the Brazilian edition of The Fault in Our Stars has sold hundreds of thousands of copies in Brazil, more popular there than in Germany or the UK.	Are Poor Countries Doomed? 00:03:16
2014-02-18	milestone	John reports The Fault in Our Stars is number one on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists this week (week of 17 February 2014).	18 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read 00:00:01
2016-09-20	looked back	John says The Fault in Our Stars, his fourth novel, sold more hardcovers in its first week than his three previous novels had ever sold combined.	Failing to Follow Up The Fault in Our Stars 00:00:20
2019-04-23 (happened 2011-04)	looked back	The Fault in Our Stars was very nearly titled 'The Sequel' or 'The Sequels'; in April 2011 emails Julie told John, politely, that it was not a good title.	untitled 00:01:27
2022-01-11 (happened 2012-01-10)	looked back	The Fault in Our Stars was first published ten years ago yesterday.	The Fault in Our Stars - Ten Years Later 00:00:00
2023-01-10 (happened 2012-01-10)	looked back	John notes The Fault in Our Stars came out 11 years ago today and calls it a strange 11 years.	Introducing: The Format 00:00:00
2023-11-07 (happened 2010-12)	looked back	John completed a draft of The Fault in Our Stars in mid-December 2010 after attempting NaFaDoYBIMSCoM.	NaFaDoYBIMSCoM 00:02:14
2025-04-15	looked back	John explains the title writes against Shakespeare's line that the fault is not in our stars: there is much fault in our stars, bad luck and structural injustice.	Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? 00:19:38
2025-06-03	looked back	John says that before The Fault in Our Stars he confidently said on the channel his next book would be about kids on a desert island; he wrote most of it, but it had no reason for being, so he wrote the book that became The Fault in Our Stars.	My Lies 00:01:21
2025-10-07	looked back	John was especially lucky with The Fault in Our Stars: Nerdfighteria and his publisher backed it, adults were reading YA, Time called it the best book of the year, and the movie did well.	Luck vs. Work vs. Skill vs. Privilege 00:03:16
2026-07-07	looked back	In The Fault in Our Stars John invented Peter Van Houten, an author who meets a dying young reader, knowing readers knew the book was partly inspired by his meeting Esther Earl.	On the Death of the Author 00:04:25
2026-09-22	looked back	John recalls that when The Fault in Our Stars came out 14 years ago, a few hundred people got it a month early, and he was devastated, expecting the plot to leak online.	I Want You to Know Nothing About This 00:03:14

Dates are upload dates, which set the order. Where the speaker gives a different recording date in the video, it is added as "said on YYYY-MM-DD, implied" (derived from the date said in the video).

What is said about it

39 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).

2011-03-09 · DANDY LIONS! It's Question Day — announcement: John says the novel is about two teenage cancer survivors obsessed with a reclusive novelist, and also about Swedish hip-hop and the meaning of life. — 00:00:57
2011-03-09 · DANDY LIONS! It's Question Day — announcement: John confirms the novel is narrated by a girl, Hazel. — 00:01:07
2011-03-09 · DANDY LIONS! It's Question Day — John says the novel has no title yet: he changes it about every day and all the titles are bad. — 00:01:09
2011-03-28 · Participatory Geometry — John says his original title was The Hectic Glow, after a Thoreau quote, but it is the rural juror of book titles: people mishear it as The Metric Snow or The Hectic Blow. (playful) — 00:01:55
2011-03-28 · Participatory Geometry — John says he then considered Omnis Cellula e Cellula, but Penguin told him Latin doesn't smell like a bestseller, so he still has no firm title. (playful) — 00:02:14
2011-04-20 · Tulipomania — John says he is really in Amsterdam, not before a green screen, for two months finishing his new book; the reason for Amsterdam will become obvious when you read it. — 00:00:03
2011-04-25 · Meeting Greg Mortenson — announcement: John: Hank turns 31 on Hanko de Mayo, May 5; because John is desperately trying to finish his book, he outsources Hank's birthday to Nerdfighteria. — 00:02:42
2011-04-29 · Peanut Butter Face Question Tuesday — John: Asked whether he should be writing his new book right now, John says yes, he should. — 00:03:19
2011-05-13 · Winkels to the Left, Winkels to the Right: Thoughts from Places, Antwerp — announcement: The description says John spent the day working on the revision of his new novel, which comes out in March. — video description
2011-06-06 · Men Running on Tanks and the Truth about Book Editors — John: The manuscript of John's new book arrived from New York with his editor and publisher Julie Strauss-Gabel's comments on the pages. — 00:01:09
2011-06-06 · Men Running on Tanks and the Truth about Book Editors — John: After more than a year of revising the book together, John and Julie have reached the fun stage of notes on the manuscript, like how to spell 'stormtrooper'. — 00:01:18
2011-06-10 · Then I Took Off My Bra — announcement: John says he and Hank will go on tour in the United States when his new, as-yet-untitled but soon-to-be-titled book comes out. — 00:02:15
2011-06-10 · Then I Took Off My Bra — John says the probable title of his new novel, and its central observation, were taken from a Nerdfighter, and thanks Nerdfighteria. (hedged) — 00:02:30
2011-06-15 (said on 2011-06-14, implied) · Question Tuesday! Paula Deen Riding Me (and critical reading) — announcement: John: The title of John's new book is still not totally decided, so he can't say yet, but soon. — 00:01:14
2011-06-29 · THE FAULT IN OUR STARS — announcement: John can finally reveal the title of his new novel: The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:00:00
2011-10-10 · Animal Mating and Librarian Talking — John says today is the last day he can make meaningful changes to The Fault in Our Stars, so he'd rather spend it with the book(s) than with Hank. — 00:00:00
2011-10-19 · Question Wed — THE COVER OF THE FAULT IN OUR STARS! — announcement: John: With his publisher Julie Strauss-Gabel's permission, given two minutes earlier, John reveals the cover of The Fault in Our Stars and hopes viewers like it as much as he does. — 00:00:30
2011-10-19 · Question Wed — THE COVER OF THE FAULT IN OUR STARS! — John: The cover was designed by Rodrigo Corral, John's favourite book designer, who designed the covers of Oscar Wao, Super Sad True Love Story, The Glass Castle and The Marriage Plot; John is grateful and in love with it. — 00:00:30
2011-10-28 · Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars — John says the book is the story of Hazel and Augustus trying to come to terms with Hazel's opening soliloquy that everything will end in oblivion, and of their life together. — 00:27:15
2011-11-16 · Top 5 Zombie Apocalypses OF ALL TIME — John's description apologises for uploading late: he is in Grand Haven, Michigan, recording an audio version of The Fault in Our Stars. — video description
2011-11-21 · Old Man Narrates Young Girl — announcement: John: There will be two audiobooks of The Fault in Our Stars: the real one narrated by Kate Rudd, available everywhere, and John's, only in a physical limited-edition box set from DFTBA. — 00:00:41
2011-11-25 · Chapter TWO of The Fault in Our Stars — announcement: John says The Fault in Our Stars comes out on January 10th, in about 48 days, and hopes viewers like it. — 00:22:24
2011-12-05 · 5 Worst Typos of History — John shows the finished copy of The Fault in Our Stars that came in the mail, one of the few unsigned copies. — 00:00:03
2011-12-05 · 5 Worst Typos of History — John: Gaiman's Law held again: John found what he thinks is the book's only typo, in the author's note, immediately. (hedged) — 00:00:29
2011-12-23 · There Will Be NO SPOILERS!!! — announcement: John: The book is not due out for three more weeks; for the past year Penguin and John worked hard so everyone could read it at the same time. — 00:00:00
2011-12-23 · There Will Be NO SPOILERS!!! — announcement: John: The Fault in Our Stars has been with John in some form for more than a decade; he wants it out on January 10, for reasons Looking for Alaska readers may know. — 00:02:21
2011-12-23 · There Will Be NO SPOILERS!!! — John thanks Amazon and every independent bookstore for not shipping their pre-orders after the leak, which lets the January 10 publication date stand. — 00:02:50
2012-01-10 (said on 2012-01-09, implied) · The Fault in Our Stars — John says TFIOS grew from his work almost twelve years ago as a student chaplain at a children's hospital; he has been trying ever since to write a funny, honest story about it. — 00:00:28 · also in: TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH
2012-01-13 (said on 2012-01-10, implied) · TFiOS PARTY! — Hank tells John he is really proud of him and of The Fault in Our Stars: every review has been fantastic, everyone on Amazon loves it, and Hank loves it. — 00:00:42
2012-01-27 · In 'N' Out-Erview — John: Asked how being number one feels, John calls it ridiculous, says he loves Nerdfighteria and that, much as he'd like credit, it has nothing to do with him. — 00:00:51
2012-01-27 · In 'N' Out-Erview — Hank says Time Magazine said John was 'damn near genius', then teases him about the 'near'. — 00:01:27
2012-03-27 · Wrong but Right: Thoughts from Places Amsterdam — John says the trip supported the publication of the Dutch edition of The Fault in Our Stars; he gave a series of interviews in the hotel library. — 00:01:13
2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says none of those books addressed what he saw at the hospital, which left him feeling only nihilism; then he became friends with Esther Earl and became a father. — 00:53:28
2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says Henry's birth showed him he'll be Henry's dad as long as either lives; that love is in this sense stronger than death was very important to TFIOS. — 00:53:48
2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says Esther, a Nerdfighter reader very sick with cancer when they met in 2009, taught him what Augustus learns: the real hero's journey goes from strength to weakness. — 00:54:11
2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says the realization that Esther's short life was still a good, rich and full life was central to The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:55:41
2013-04-23 · DOCTOR GREEN — John says The Fault in Our Stars, fifteen months after publication, is back at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, passing Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, now No. 2. — 00:02:22
2014-01-21 · Are Poor Countries Doomed? — John says the Brazilian edition of The Fault in Our Stars, whose title he butchers in Portuguese, has sold hundreds of thousands of copies in Brazil, more than in Germany or the UK. — 00:03:16
2014-02-18 · 18 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read — announcement: John reports that The Fault in Our Stars is number one on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists this week (week of 17 February 2014), which he calls bananas. — 00:00:01