Stories and Secrets: January 2008
Lee Child, best-selling author of the widely acclaimed Jack Reacher series, agreed to be the debut authors’ guest mentor to address the critical issue of character development. He remembers his own debut with humor, and his normal low-key style. “I was in a pub. The barman took a call behind the bar. It was my agent. He had tracked me down via my daughter at home. He told me I had been offered a two-book deal, for excellent money. I told him to bite their hands off at the elbow. Then I actually paid for a round of drinks. What I didn’t know was that my agent went back to the publisher and rejected the offer and had 50% more money on the table by the next day. Which is exactly why we need agents.”
Not much surprises Lee, but what about his readers? “The obvious thing, i.e., I’m British, writing what are seen as very American books.”
The funniest thing that he can remember about his own debut is a conversation he had with his dad. “I’m not sure whether it qualifies as funny, but I remember that when I told my dad I had lost my job and was going to be a novelist, he said, ‘I’ll lay ten thousand to one against it working.’ He was a CPA, and now I often tell him it’s a good thing he was a bookkeeper, not a bookmaker. But in principle, he was right. It’s always a long shot.”
What would he do differently now that he looks back on his debut? “I would pay more attention to it. It only happens once.”
It’s obvious that Lee believes an author’s debut is important. He has spent the past two years as the ITW Board Member Sponsor for the debut authors, giving unselfishly of his own time to help new authors make the jump to publication.
Thanks, Lee.
Lee Child, best-selling author of the widely acclaimed Jack Reacher series, agreed to be the debut authors’ guest mentor to address the critical issue of character development. He remembers his own debut with humor, and his normal low-key style. “I was in a pub. The barman took a call behind the bar. It was my agent. He had tracked me down via my daughter at home. He told me I had been offered a two-book deal, for excellent money. I told him to bite their hands off at the elbow. Then I actually paid for a round of drinks. What I didn’t know was that my agent went back to the publisher and rejected the offer and had 50% more money on the table by the next day. Which is exactly why we need agents.”
Not much surprises Lee, but what about his readers? “The obvious thing, i.e., I’m British, writing what are seen as very American books.”
The funniest thing that he can remember about his own debut is a conversation he had with his dad. “I’m not sure whether it qualifies as funny, but I remember that when I told my dad I had lost my job and was going to be a novelist, he said, ‘I’ll lay ten thousand to one against it working.’ He was a CPA, and now I often tell him it’s a good thing he was a bookkeeper, not a bookmaker. But in principle, he was right. It’s always a long shot.”
What would he do differently now that he looks back on his debut? “I would pay more attention to it. It only happens once.”
It’s obvious that Lee believes an author’s debut is important. He has spent the past two years as the ITW Board Member Sponsor for the debut authors, giving unselfishly of his own time to help new authors make the jump to publication.
Thanks, Lee.
