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On The New York Times Bestseller List
Sunday, October 30, 2005
The phone rang the other day, and on the other end, were the brass from my publisher, William Morrow Co. Gathered around a speaker phone were president Michael Morrison, senior vice president and publisher Lisa Gallagher, associate publisher Lynn Grady, my editor, Mauro DiPreta, and others.
They were calling to tell me that The New York Times Bestseller List had just been released for the previous week, the one running October 16-22. That would be the first week Marley & Me was on sale. Actually, my book was not on sale the full week. It hit bookstores on October 18, and was available for five days of the seven-day counting period.
It was very nice of them to call to let me know the list was out, but I was wondering, heart in my throat, if there might be something else they had to report.
"And...?" I asked nervously.
"And," my editor Mauro said, pausing just long enough to constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the articles of the Geneva Convention, "Marley & Me is #10."
A brief silence, followed by shouts, whoops and cheers. I stood holding the phone, dumbfounded.
"My book?" I asked. "Number 10? On The New York Times Bestseller List?"
Was this some kind of cruel joke?
"Really?" I asked.
"Really," he said.
I knew it had been selling well; I wasn't expecting this.
"Gee, wow," is all I could think to say. "Damn. Gee."
Yeah, I'm a wordsmith, all right.
Marley & Me falls between Kurt Vonnegut's recent release, A Man Without a Country, and Christopher Kennedy Lawford's memoir (also published by Wm. Morrow) Symptoms of Withdrawal. Company I'm honored to keep.
The list will appear in the November 6 issue of The New York Times Book Review. My book may only stay on the Top 15 list (an extended Top 35 list runs on nytimes.com) for this one single week and then be gone. Many, many big-name titles are coming out for the holidays, and the competition ahead will be fierce. Whatever happens will happen. For now, though, I'm still pinching myself. As my agent told me in a congratulations phone call: "Get used to it. You're officially a bestselling author."
For the moment, at any rate.
Wow. Gee.
posted by John Grogan at 10:22 AM
 
2 Comments:
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Congratulations!
Hi John
Can you tell me why you chose Palm Beach County as the location for Marley and Me?
Are you from Palm Beach County?
I work for Palm Beach County CVB here the UK - I have the wonderful job of promoting this wonderful destination and and would love a quote from you as to why you chose Palm Beach as the location and what you love about it so I can put together a press release for the British Market so encourage them to come to Palm Beach on vacation. Would that be possible?
Thanks in advance for your help. The press release would be going out to Media in the UK to promote the lauch of the film and Palm Beach as a destination.
Cant wait for the release so I can go see it.
Thanks
Lyndsey