- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
Best-Seller Quotes
Writers on chasing the list and staying honest.
This page gathers real author perspective on what a best-seller actually means, including one writer insisting the story stays personal no matter how many copies it sells. Pair it with Recognition quotes for more on earning an audience.
- Last Updated on May 30, 2021
- Goodbye
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- Nov 07, 2020
If you don't make the best-seller list, if you don't get shortlisted for any prizes, it's goodbye.
- Feel
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- Nov 07, 2020
Even if you are a best-seller you feel insecure because it is all so unpredictable.
- Book
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- Nov 07, 2020
When I wrote the first Betsy book, 'Undead and Unwed,' I had no idea, none, that it would be a career-defining, genre-defining book, the first of over a dozen in the series, the first of over 70 published books, the first on my road to the best-seller list, the first on my road to being published in 15 countries.
- Living
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- Nov 07, 2020
I do what I love and what I always dreamed of doing for a living. I write love stories, and I have always had a publisher willing to publish them. I have a sizable and loyal audience. I have made best-seller lists and won awards. What more could anyone ask for?
- Mediocre
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- Nov 07, 2020
A best-seller is the gilded tomb of a mediocre talent.
- More
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- Nov 07, 2020
In 2003, I wrote a New York Times best-seller called 'Shut Up & Sing,' in which I criticized celebrities like the Dixie Chicks & Barbra Streisand who were trashing then-President George W. Bush. I have used a variation of that title for more than 15 years to respond to performers who sound off on politics.
- Drugstore
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- Nov 07, 2020
You see, I used to do a certain amount of market research by going to the local drugstore and seeing what the truck drivers would put up. Now it's all just copies from the latest best-seller list and damn little of anything else.
- New
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- Nov 07, 2020
It's like a series of waves hitting you. First, getting excerpted in the 'New Yorker' last summer, then getting published, then the best-seller list, the award, the movie deal, now this, a Pulitzer.
- Myself
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- Nov 07, 2020
I always knew I was a writer. And I always thought to myself, 'Well, why not me?' Someone has to be on the best-seller list, 'Why not me?' Someone has to write for the 'New Yorker,' 'Why not me?' And I didn't really get much positive reinforcement as a kid, so I thought, 'Well let me show you what I can do.'
- Hardcover
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- Nov 07, 2020
We couldn't predict what would happen with 'Roots.' You knew there were powerful moments that were going to affect people. We were making the film while the book was being completed. We were fortunate because the hardcover book was out and on the best-seller list. The heat was still on.
- Mediocre
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- Nov 07, 2020
A best-seller is the golden touch of mediocre talent.
- Money
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- Nov 07, 2020
On the strength of Vonnegut's reputation, 'Breakfast of Champions' spent a year on the best-seller lists, proving that he could indeed publish anything and make money.
- I Can
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- Nov 07, 2020
If I can hit No. 1 on the 'New York Times' best-seller list, I'm thinking of having the entire list tattooed on my body somewhere. It would be fabulous.
- British
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- Nov 07, 2020
So the books have a greater appeal to a British audience, but that hasn't stopped them making best-seller lists in places like Brazil, Japan and at least a dozen other countries.
- Hope
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- Nov 07, 2020