Where Were You When…Part 2
Interviewsauthor interviews3 Comments
Making the New York Times remains one of the landmarks of an author’s career. Enn Bocci, publicist, reached out to a number of authors to ask them where they where when they received the news of this occasion and I thought it would be fun to share these series of stories with you.
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Author Name: Kim Karr
Book that you FIRST listed with: Torn
Who called you? Kerry Donavon (my editor) and Amy Tannenbaum (my agent)
Where were you? Driving home from picking my daughter up from cheerleading.
Were you alone? with family? in public? I was with my daughter and was completely shocked.
Author Name: Wendy Leigh??
Book that you FIRST listed with:? Prince Charming: The John F. Kennedy Jr., Story?
?Who called you? My agent
Where were you? July, 1999. I was living in London close by the bookstore where Julia Roberts first met Hugh Grant in the movie, “Notting Hill.”
Were you? alone? with family? in public?? ? At home alone watching Wimbledon. I’d just separated from my husband, Steve. While I was euphoric, being able to call myself a best seller, I so sad, Steve wasn’t there to celebrate the success of the book with me.
Author Name: Helena Hunting
Book that you FIRST listed with: PUCKED
Who called you? My agent, Kimberly Brower, texted me the numbers, then sent along screen caps while I freaked out.
Where were you? At The Romantic Times Convention in Dallas, May 13, 2015
Were you with alone? with family? in public? I was with my roommates, Shannon Lumetta and Katherine Stevens and my awesome author bestie, Debra Anastasia. We were in our hotel room, getting ready to head to a panel when I received the exciting news. I immediately tried to call my husband, but I couldn’t get in touch with him for almost three hours. I found my agent and we hugged it out. It was an amazing moment and my closest friends in the author world were all there to share the excitement with me.
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Author Name: K. Bromberg
Book that you FIRST listed with: CRASHED (Book #3 of the Driven Trilogy)
Who called you? My agent, Amy Tannenbaum
Where were you? Sitting at my kitchen counter
Were you with alone? with family? in public? My 9 year old daughter was sitting next to me.
My agent called me and told me that I’d hit #2 on the NYT for both e-book and combined. I sat there stunned. I knew I had good sales numbers for the week but I was just hoping to make the list let alone have any expectations of where I’d rank. I sat stunned for a moment. It had been a hell of a week with Crashed’s release and my son being hospitalized with a rare syndrome so I sat there in disbelief for a bit. I texted my husband and then my Mom to tell them. Then my kids started fighting and I had to go take care of them and then get ready for soccer practice. Life went on around me and I couldn’t stop to let it sink in. Kids don’t understand the magnanimity of it all. Only later that night when I was able to log back onto the computer and see all of the love from the online book community did it hit me that I had achieved the one goal I never set for myself when I decided to self publish my first book 10 months before that.
Author Name: Laurelin PaigeBook that you FIRST listed with: Forever with You
Where were you?: I was sitting alone at my computer in my office, responding to social media when USA Today came out and I was thrilled to find I was #47. Emma Hart, a dear friend who has been with me since the first book in the series released, PM’d me on Facebook to say, “You hit #47. You’re going to hit the Times.” I didn’t believe her. I thought I was way too high, but she said that she’d been that high when she’d hit. It hadn’t been in my radar before that so for the next half hour I was freaking out, trying to figure out how I’d see a copy of the list. Eventually Emma said, “Ask Lauren Blakely. She always seems to know.” I’ve learned since that Lauren Blakely DOES always know. I was about to PM her, but I didn’t have to. Lauren posted a congrats on my timeline with a copy of the ebooks list where I’d hit #14. I was stunned. Speechless. Didn’t know how to feel or what to say. It was very surreal. My husband came in and asked what was wrong with me. I just pointed to the screen. I’m not a crier. But I may have shed a few tears. It’s definitely a day I’ll never forget.
I enjoy these types of posts. Thanks for sharing.
@library addict: It reminded me of our old “First Sale” posts which I fondly remember.
@K Bromberg: “Kids don’t understand the magnanimity of it all. ”
*sigh*
And this is why self-published authors need — unfairly — to be very very careful about what they say in public.
I might give a trad published author with a good reputation get away with a howler like that; but with a self-pub author, my kneejerk reaction is going to be, “Does she invest in careful editing? Pass.”