Tea at Trianon: The Secrets of A Book Smash

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Secrets of A Book Smash

I'm learning as I go, and so articles such as this one are of immense interest. (Via Claire King. ) More HERE.

The Wall Street Journal looked into the recent surprise hit by science journalist Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, to divine how the book went from zero—kicking around a number of houses and editors—to the top of the charts when her publisher, Crown, had to reprint 100,000 copies to keep up with demand created after it sat in the top 25 at Amazon (AMZN) for weeks.

Karin B (Looking for Ballast) said...: That's a really inspiring story and the book sounds *really* good. I kept thinking about Malcolm Gladwell's principles in the book The Tipping Point as I was reading, too.

Here's to your finding your own trifecta of book success!!; February 25, 2010 at 6:49:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Karin, for your good wishes and for mentioning Malcolm Gladwell. It is all quite interesting to me. Since I always seem to be swimming against the current of the zeitgeist I don't expect that same kind of success. It would not be realistic. It is intriguing, however, that so much of book marketing depends more and more on the author's own efforts. And then there is that moment of grace in which we respond to what we are called to do and let the rest happen in God's time.; February 25, 2010 at 9:14:00 AM EST
Julygirl said...: You seem to be on the right track regarding promoting your book. People need to know what is 'out there'. The thing you can be proud of though is that what you write is not here today and gone tomorrow considering 'Trianon' has been selling steadily for 10 years, and continues to do so.; February 25, 2010 at 9:38:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you, Julygirl, that is very true. And it makes me glad.; February 25, 2010 at 9:43:00 AM EST