'Home' run: Jodi Picoult's Sing You Home, which enters USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list at No. 1, truly hits home for this best-selling author. The novel, which makes a passionate case for gay rights and gay marriage, grew out of Picoult's own dismay that "gay rights is even an issue in this country."  Jodi Picoult's latest novel is the author's first No. 1 debut.  Jodi Picoult's latest novel is the author's first No. 1 debut.  While she was researching and writing, her son Kyle, now 19 but 17 at the time, came out to Picoult and her husband. Picoult says that Home then became even more important for her to write. "It became the mission of a mother," she tells USA TODAY. "Because when Kyle is ready to get married and have kids, I don't want him to have to jump through hoops." This is the first time Picoult has had a No. 1 debut.  Robo-thrills: Jason Kaufman, the Doubleday editor who discovered Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), says he was a "little intimidated" about meeting one of his new authors: Daniel H. Wilson. "I knew he had a Ph.D. in robotics, and I thought he might be too brainy," Kaufman says. "But he's just a guy who loves robots." At a preview lunch in New York last week, Wilson, 33, mentioned meeting another guy who loves robots: Steven Spielberg, who's slated to direct the film of Wilson's thriller, Robopocalypse, to be published June 7. It's set in the near future as technology spins out of control. Wilson says he's still adjusting to the idea that Spielberg optioned his novel — based on a 100-page sample — before he even signed a book deal.  'Help' is here: Kathryn Stockett's debut novel, The Help, published in hardcover in early 2009, has been so wildly successful that the original release date of the paperback edition — February 2010 — has long come and gone. "It is extremely rare when a first novel becomes a word-of-mouth phenomenon the way The Help has done. We wanted to allow time for this word of mouth to resonate — and it has," says publisher Amy Einhorn. The novel has sold 3 million copies, including e-books, and this week it's No. 34. Now, the wait is over. Berkley Books will publish The Help as a trade paperback ($16) April 5. It retains the same cover as the hardcover, but a movie tie-in cover is in the works. The movie is due out in August.  , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to  We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button.
Plus: Daniel H. Wilson's novel about robots has already been optioned by Steven Spielberg, and 'The Help' is finally coming out in paperback.