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Wow, what a story teller! What a book! Jun 9, 2009 (4 of 4 found this helpful)
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.
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The Accidental Bestseller Aug 26, 2009 (2 of 2 found this helpful)
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.
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A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE PUBLISHING WORLD Oct 4, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
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.
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The Accidental Bestseller Jun 16, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
The Accidental Bestseller is a great book from start to finish. Wendy Wax's novel is a light and enjoyable read that focuses deeply on four writer friends. While some authors struggle with giving one main character depth, Wax is able to get up close and intimate with her four, strong female heroines.
Kendall, Mallory, Faye, and Tanya are all published authors in different locations, with varying degrees of success. Above all else, the four are close friends. The book begins with Kendall's faltering career and leads into to the demise of her marriage. As all of these piles up, Kendall decides to flee to her mountain home and shut off reality. Luckily for Kendall, her friends all decide to come to her aid. In the mountain, they devise an outlandish plan to save Kendall's career. No one expected their plan to work, but when it did the results are truly amazing.
Unlike her friends, Kendall's writing career is faltering, about to be dropped by her publisher, she owes them one more novel. The problem is, Kendall is avoiding writing out of the fear that she has lost her gift and out of the fear about what she has to face in her own life. Kendall's friends agree to act as ghostwriters and help her meet her deadline. Each will write chapters for their respective characters. Characters that they choose to model after themselves. Secrets and all. When the news breaks about the collaboration, their worlds are torn apart, considering Kendall is the only one listed as the author and Mallory, Faye, and Tanya all work for different publishing houses. Not to mention that potential marriage ending and personal revelations that are exposed as a result of the novels astonishing success. The four fictional characters are quickly matched to their respective very real authors. Kendall, Mallory, Faye, and Tanya must fight through bad press, hurt spouses, and angry agents. As a result of the unwanted attention and success the four women learn much about each other and themselves.
Wendy Wax does a marvelous job of keeping the four women's stories separate, yet fluidly interchanged. By giving each their own respective chapters, Wax is able to keep their lives and the various people in them, clear and relatable. There is no story confusion even after new people are introduced in. I have read plenty of books before with multiple main characters that were impossible to keep story lines straight. This is not the case here. Kendall, Mallory, Faye and Tanya, all maintain their individuality, and their dignity, even when deep dark secrets are revealed as a result of their brilliant plan. This is a great story about writing, friendship, knowing who you are, and adapting to change.
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From Steve at J. Kaye's Book Blog Sep 30, 2009
"The Accidental Bestseller", by Wendy Wax, could be an example of `no good deed goes unpunished'. Four women became friends at the start of their writing careers. Helping and supporting each other through the years, they became published writers in different genres with different publishers. One of them lost a prestigious award, was told her contract would not be extended, and found her husband of 20+ years in an affair. Suffering serious writers block and facing a mental meltdown, her friends rallied around to help her. However, this good deed backfired and all ended up in serious trouble.
This is a book about women, writing, and relationships. It is also about the writing profession and an insider's look in the business of writing. Wax describes how success translates into money and book contracts, how publishing houses select and promote books, what happens on book tours, and what happens to those who fail to sell enough. This is a very cut-throat business. Only printed books are discussed here, no e-book or other types of media.
I enjoyed this book. Funny, serious, sad, and insightful describes this well-written and fast-paced story. It has humor in tragedy, redemption in loss, and very some very funny scenes. Each chapter has a quote by a famous writer, some serious, some humorous. I will end with this one by Gene Fowler, "Writing is easy. All you do is sit down staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead."