by Toni L.P. Kelner
Many wonderful writers won't come within spitting distance of the New York Times Best Seller list. In fact, I'd say that most wonderful writers don't. Certainly the majority of my favorites haven't and never will.
It's an arbitrary and arcane list, and nobody knows how the books are weighted or exactly how it works. Well, presumably the people at the New York Times know, but they aren't telling. Making the list requires selling a lot of books at once rather than making steady sales over time. In Hollywood, they talk about a movie "opening" or making it big the first weekend. It's the same deal with books, only they give us a week.
Despite the oddities and odds against it happening, making the list is something writers dream of. And somehow, yesterday I found myself on that list. Many Bloody Returns, the vampire anthology I co-edited with Charlaine Harris, debuted at #30 on the NYT list.
It is one of the biggest things ever to happen to me as a writer. I've been joking that the proud title of "NYT Best Selling Author" will now go on every one of my book covers, stamped across every author bio I produce, and at the bottom of every e-mail I ever send. Chances are that it'll make it onto my tombstone.
I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I'm really, really happy. Disgustingly happy. And you know what makes me happiest? No, not the tombstone part, though that's right on up there. It's knowing that I'm not on the list alone. I've got a dozen terrific writers who are in the book with me:
Kelley Armstrong
Jim Butcher
Rachel Caine
Bill Crider
P. N. Elrod
Christopher Golden
Carolyn Haines
Tate Hallaway
Charlaine Harris
Tanya Huff
Jeanne C. Stein
Elaine Viets
What a crew to be associated with! We've got writers like Charlaine, Kelley, and Jim who are already familiar names on the NYT list, and for good reason. We've got award-winning mystery writers like Bill and Elaine, who'd never done a vampire story before. We've got genre benders like Carolyn, who put ghosts in her mysteries, and P.N. who put mysteries into her vampire books. We've got up longtime successful fantasy writers like Chris and Tanya; and up and comers like Rachel, Tate, and Jeanne. And we've got me, who is as happy as a pig in clover to be be in this amazing company of NYT best sellers.
It just doesn't get any better than this. Unless, of course, we can get a group discount on those tombstones.
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