Question of the day: Looking back, what helped your books become so popular?
Ha ha! Well, first of all, let's be clear (and the reason behind my giggling): there are a lot of writers out there whose books are far more popular than mine and for whom I hold the utmost respect/reverence. I just wanted to say that up front because there are still a lot of milestones that I'd like to clear, sales-wise! But thank you very much for the compliment! Truly. It feels impossible to answer this question without coming off like an egomaniac, so again, PLEASE know that I'm just answering the question - NOT buying into the "popular" adjective being used above.
So, with that disclaimer out of the way - to answer your question - a few things helped, I think. Well, one - which is probably something you can't control all that much - is that the book (Time of My Life) seemed to resonate with the collective consciousness of where we are as a society today. What I mean by that is that Time of My Life came out right when things really started to implode economically in our country, and people were looking for an escape. You saw this in box office receipts, you saw with with television ratings and you saw it with book sales. Downers didn't go anywhere - fun escapism did. So that was one thing, and obviously, I had no control over that. For two - I think (and some people will disagree with this, and that's totally cool) that Time of My Life tapped into what a lot of women feel but don't often say. (This previous statement sounds totally narcissistic - I don't mean it THAT WAY AT ALL. Read on to see what I mean! I promise!) Sort of like when you go on an anonymous message boards, and think, "Aha, someone out there feels like I do!" I tried to write as honest a book as I knew possible, even if it meant that people would judge me (and my marriage and my life) because of it. That's the risk you take - that people will look at your picture on the back cover and think that everything inside the pages is autobiographical - but I wanted to write that book - the one that gave voice to what a lot of us can't (and don't) say out loud...what if I'd made different choices? And it seems to have paid off. So, I think, in that sense, this one IS under an author's control: be as emotionally truthful as possible in your writing, whatever your subject.
Another thing that helped me, I think, is that I've made myself pretty accessible to readers, not just because it helps with book sales but because I truly enjoy it. I love twittering with people I don't know, replying to emails here on the blog, posting things to my Facebook fan page. Writing is a solitary life, which very much suits my personality, but that doesn't mean that you don't want to have connections with the world out there. And when authors connect with readers, I dunno, I think they sort of root for you - are more likely to pick up your book or spread the word about it...sort of like how we find certain actors more appealing when we know that they're accessible/nice/easy-going/could be our friend. (I'm not equating myself with a celebrity, btw! Just trying to explain why I think this has helped.)
And yet another factor was that I surrounded myself with people whom I trusted inherently. I've mentioned here before that book publishing is a TEAM effort, and after my debut, my agent and I sat down, collected our thoughts, and tried to map out our career-long strategy. This meant changing publishers, turning down a few so-so advances, ditching a book that I was half-way through but totally uninspired by. I trusted my agent to guide me, and she trusted me by asking what imprints I'd like to work with, which editors were my dream. We landed at one of those, and the wise and smart people at Shaye Areheart/Crown were certainly a BIG factor in Time of My Life's success.
Finally, I got lucky. Yup, really. My book happened to get picked from many, many good books to be featured on The Today Show and in People Magazine in the same week. That this happened was fortuitous...it propelled the book onto the Times list, and from there, buzz kept going. Never in a million years could I have controlled that factor, which is what makes one aspect of this industry so random.
The bottom line: write the best book you can, market yourself in a way that your readers will respond to, and then, hope for the best. I really think that's all you can do. Readers - agree/disagree? Any other tips for success?