The Accidental Bestseller

by Wendy Wax

Book Overview

From the USA Today bestselling author of While We Were Watching Downton Abbey ... Once upon a time four aspiring authors met at their very first writers' conference. Ten years later they're still friends, survivors of the ultra-competitive New York publishing world. Mallory St. James is a workaholic whose bestsellers support a lavish lifestyle. Tanya Mason is a single mother juggling two jobs, two kids, and too many deadlines. Faye Truett is the wife...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425227677
• ISBN13: 9780425227671
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Great read!

This book is a great read about 4 best friends that support each other. Women relating to women. All from different walks of life.

FRIENDSHIP -- CAN IT SURVIVE?

Four aspiring writers who met at a writers' conference maintain their friendship several years later. Their individual writing careers are varied, but problems of one kind or another plague each of them. Mallory St. James has "bestseller" status, but she has hit a glitch. Writer's block. Kendall Aims has failed to win an award that would have made a difference, and her publisher is dumping her. And so is her husband. But she has to write one more book, in the midst of the chaos of her life. Tanya Mason, single mother, juggles two jobs, two kids, and a difficult mother. Faye Truett is the wife of a famous televangelist and writes inspirational romances, but beneath this pristine exterior is an explosive secret. Imagine the furor that arises when the four collaborate on Kendall's final novel for her publisher, and then the secret of this effort ( and so much more!) is unveiled in a most unfortunate way. And the fallout extends throughout all of their lives. One of the most captivating aspects of this novel is the author's ability to rein the reader into the lives of the characters, detailing every moment and unfolding snippets of backstory and motivation at just the right junctures. When we are totally invested in events, she drops each bomb for maximum impact. Reading late at night and waking up early each morning, I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Winding down to a very satisfying conclusion, I was poised for more. There has to be a sequel! For The Accidental Bestseller, I vote five stars--definitely!

A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE PUBLISHING WORLD

This will go down as one of my favorite books of the year. I've been fortunate enough to go to several RWA conventions and this book starts with a fictitious convention resembling the RWA conference. Kendall, Tanya, Mallory and Faye met at a conference a decade ago and they are all now published writers. Kendall is a mid-list contemporary romance author, Tanya writes for a line of Masque (think Harlequin), Faye writes inspirational romances, and Mallory is now a NY Times Bestseller who puts out books about as often as Nora Roberts. As the book opens Kendall is up for a "Zelda" award (think RWA's Rita's). She loses the award and is shortly afterward told by her agent that she is being dropped from her publisher after she writes the book left on her contract. She is so upset she leaves the conference early, only to find that her husband is having an affair. She knows she has to write the one book but she is absolutely unmotivated as she retreats to her family's cabin in North Carolina to get away from it all. What happens when eventually her three friends come to her rescue shows the power of friendship and reveals secrets the others have been trying to hide for years. Wax is a wonderful author and just when the reader thinks they have things figured out she throws in another twist. It is also a wonderful glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes in the world of book publishing. Very entertaining and highly recommended.

The Accidental Bestseller

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked up The Accidental Bestseller, but whatever it was, I got so much more! This book is just fantastic. It's really a story about friendship among women, courage, living up to your true potential, and honesty. It's a page turner--I just couldn't wait to find out what happened to the four remarkable women in the book. This is the story of Kendall who is a mid-list author with failing sales, Mallory who is a well known New York Times bestseller list author, Tanya who writes romance novels and Faye who is married to a televangelist and writes inspirational novels. They've been good friends for 10 years, having met at a writer's conference, hitting it off immediately. When Kendall's life starts falling apart--she finds out her publisher is dropping her as soon as she completes the last book in her contract, at the same time finding out her husband wants a divorce--she scurries off to her mountain retreat to hide out. Her three friends come to her rescue to help her get that book written. The story of getting that book written and what happens when it's published is just incredible. I loved every page of this book and could hardly wait to find out what was going to happen next. There is great character development making each of the four authors very easy to visualize. These were women I wanted to know, wished that they lived next door to me. Wendy Wax has written a wonderful book about the strength of women's friendships and I hope she writes a sequel to this story. Ms. Wax writes with great insight into the publishing industry, not always a pretty picture. Each chapter begins with a quote from an author about the hard work involved in writing. Some of these quotes are laugh out loud funny, but all are interesting. One of my favorites: There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. -W. Somerset Maugham. While I was reading the book, I kept talking about how great it was so when I finished it, my husband asked to read it. He's never read women's fiction, so I handed it over with some trepidation. But he liked it too and also found it to be a page turner. Now we're both looking for more books by Wendy Wax.

Wow, what a story teller! What a book!

The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax Wow! Just wow! I just this moment finished this book and I'd like to say to Ms Wax BRAVO! If you are a published author, you will appreciate the insiders look at some of the quirks of the industry and perhaps you will even recognize someone you've had to deal with in the past. If you are a pre-published writer, you may appreciate the look into what other authors have to do to get over those dry spells. If you are simply a book lover like me you will appreciate everything about this book. And if you are a woman, you will appreciate the author's views on best friends who will help you out when life seems to be too much; no matter what it costs them. And in this book they all have the potential of loosing it all. Years ago four women from varied back rounds met at a writer's conference and formed a bond. None of them had been published, but they sure hoped to be one day. Well that "one day" happened for all of them. Each woman writing a different style of books: Faye writing Inspirational Romances, Tanya writing contemporary romances books for a Harlequin-esque company called Masque; Mallory striking, confident and very prolific with her novels. Yet as successful as they are on the surface, each one holds a secret close to their hearts. And then there is Kendell. Kendell is having problems in the literary world and has tumbled into mid-listdom, not only that, a new book deadline is quickly approaching with nothing yet written, and to add insult to injury her husband has left her for a younger woman. Kendell is the main protagonist of this book, or is she really? We find her escaping to the mountains to lick her wounds. And of course Kendell's BFF's come to help her through this rocky time and hope to kick-start the creative juices that seem to be missing from Kendell's messed up life. I won't spoil anything for you more than has been already, but a plan is hatched, goes into effect and they collaborate on a novel using their own lives and unfortunately their own writing voices. What no one would fathom is the book becomes "The Accidental Bestseller" (literally) and true to life - what may go well one minute, collapses the next. We learn the secrets behind each of the masks each one wears and I found my stomach in knots praying that this would work out well for at least some of them in the end. But I'll leave that up to you to find out. Very fast paced, deeply absorbing, well plotted and written. It has finely drawn characters that you can imagine as your own bet friends. Do not by any means mistake this as a "chick-lit" genre book, it most certainly is not. This book is unique and a breath of fresh air . Something that you will not regret spending your hard earned book buying dollars on. I know that I haven't.

entertaining contemporary fiction

A decade ago Kendall Aims, Mallory St. James, Faye Truett and Tanya Mason attended a wannabe writer's conference and became friends. Still BFFs, each has gone down differing paths. Mallory has become a bestselling author whose husband feels they have no relationship as she is too busy for him. Faye writes inspirational romances as expected of the wife of a televangelist. Tanya is a failed author who works two jobs while raising two kids as a single mom. Kendall is falling off the cliff as her writing career has tanked with falling sales and a new editor who wants to dump her; her marriage is in worse shape than her vocation. She needs a hit rather quickly to meet the deadline for the final book on her contract. Her three BFFs join with her to write a book about their lives. Each assumes no one will tie fiction with fact. To the surprise of all, the book becomes a bestseller racing up all the charts. However each of the BFFs fear scandal as readers, fans, and the media dig deep into each character. The key to this entertaining contemporary fiction is that each of the four BFFs comes across as genuine real people but with differing personalities, desires and fears. Character driven as the quartet learns how simpler it is to convert personal truisms into fiction as proven by THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER, fans will enjoy the importance of friendship. Harriet Klausner