Changing The Story

I can’t begin to tell you how proud I felt in 1989 at the launch of my first published novel, An Uncommon Friend. Perhaps you can see it in my face. For the story I was so keen to share, had been transformed into a book that could be read by others everywhere! It was as if my dream of becoming a writer, finally, had come true.

To be honest, Im not sure what went wrong. I wonder if the publisher, Heinemann, hadn’t distributed my book well, or perhaps it was overshadowed by other novels by well-known authors, released at the same time. Right from the start, I had been worried that both the title and the cover were wrong. But perhaps it was nobody’s fault, and my novel simply suffered the same dismal trajectory of the vast majority of books. Anyway, whatever the reason, the fact of the matter is that my book did not sell. After a couple of years, all those unsold and unread copies of An Uncommon Friend were pulped, and I felt completely shattered.

For a long time, I didn’t write, not creatively, at any rate. I confess too that I barely read experiencing a painful stab of jealousy every time I turned somebody elses page. Besides, by then I was caught up with other things, my life having turned in a completely different direction. New people in my life were unaware of my background as a writer, and old friends annoyed me if they referred to my book as an achievement. For in truth, I felt that I had failed as a writer.

However, as you all know, I did eventually return to writing and have recently released my new novel Nikki vs Jess. This time around, Ive been determined to succeed, desperately wanting a different story for this book, and for me as a writer. With this in mind, I have trawled through copious amounts of advice from a variety of book marketing experts about successful strategies that will get my book onto Amazons best-seller list.

In the midst of this research, a little while ago, I received a photo via Messenger from a friend of mine. In the photo, her daughters hand was holding up a battered, old copy of An Uncommon Friend. The accompanying sentence was simple: Melissa is reading this book of yours for the millionth time . . . she loves it!

Suddenly, I realised that I had been telling myself the wrong story for all these years. I had not been a failure as a writer. For I’d written and published a book to share with others, and this novel had touched a teenage girl so deeply that she continues to this day to re-read and treasure my pages. Without realising it, I had been a success as a writer.

So finally I know what my book marketing goal is for my new novel, and it has nothing to do with commercial success. My goal now is to find a reader . . . or even several readers . . . who will love Nikki vs Jess as much as Melissa loves An Uncommon Friend!