Book Success Quotes

After the book took off, I bought a whole new wardrobe.

Seeing my book on a billboard in New York was a bucket-list-type thing, but also a deeply surreal moment. I had to keep reminding myself that, oh, yes, I wrote that book.

'Bag of Bones' was a big, distorted yet wonderfully entertaining novel that rode high on the bestseller lists in 1998.

I wrote one book, signed with a good agent, and sat back and waited for the phone to ring. I was sure that the great news would come at any moment. Four books later, I finally got that call.

It's great that in the German language I've sold almost 30 million books. Isn't that amazing?

The idea is to become a best-selling author first and then the rest of my books will be slam dunks.

I look at my books the way parents look at their children. The fact that one becomes more successful than the others doesn't make me love the less successful one any less.

Learning hath gained most by those books by which the printers have lost.

I have tons of fans in Canada. I've sold hundreds of thousands of books there.

It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on the Best Seller's List.

I think one reason my books have found mainstream success is that they're written from a skeptical point of view.

It came right on the heels of A Room With A View. And that was such an enormous success, so I think people were hoping that Maurice would also have that kind of success.

'Youngblood' #1 was my first brush with Internet bashing. Message boards were just emerging, but the criticism was drowned out by millions of copies flying off shelves.

My experience is that books take on a life of their own and create their own energy. I've represented books that have been sold for very little money and gone on to great glory, and I've seen books sold for an enormous amount of money published to very little response.

I cranked out a book. I didn't expect it to do much, but it's sold 80,000 copies.

'Fault' became the book everybody and their mother had to read, and 'Paper Towns' is one that's beloved, but it's a bit of a smaller book.

Just for me - obviously, not all writers think this - but for me, I feel like seeing my book in Target and Barnes & Noble is pretty successful.

I really told my story as I saw it in 'Cross to Bear,' and I was pleased - and a bit surprised - by how well it was received and how it sold. No. 2 on the 'New York Times' bestseller list? I'll take that any day, my man!

I have high hopes for Renee Ballard's literary life, and it can't start out better than the top of 'USA TODAY''s best-seller list.

I want my books to sell, to be read. I'm not interested in being obscure.

They like my books better in England than in France; a translation would be very successful there.

Publishers are in business to make money, and if your books do well they don't care if you are male, female, or an elephant.

Typically, a book is published and gets one season in the sun. Eventually, you write another book, and maybe your old books get a bump, but my books seem to keep being discovered and recommended to new people of all ages.

I didn't make 'The New York Times' bestseller list until 'Charmed Thirds,' and then again for 'Fourth Comings.' It gave me a certain validation, and it certainly helps position me for future books, but it's not something I think about on a daily basis.

Too many writers think that all you need to do is write well-but that's only part of what a good book is. Above all, a good book tells a good story. Focus on the story first. Ask yourself, 'Will other people find this story so interesting that they will tell others about it?' Remember: A bestselling book usually follows a simple rule, 'It's a wonderful story, wonderfully told'; not, 'It's a wonderfully told story.'