Midlist Author Yells At Cloud

Baby author me at Book Expo 2017

My first book sold in 2016. Ten years later, I’m still astonished by how everyone romanticizes the debut, the first-time novelist, the bright-eyed new kid on the block. I don’t just mean people in the business. I have family members who were surprised by my ninth book release last fall. “You’re still writing?” they asked. Book deal announcements, starred reviews, and awards, which once merited congratulatory cards or text messages, no longer impress any of them. My own mother forgot I had a TV deal with Amazon because of how long we’d been keeping the secret. “Show? What show?” she inquired.

Publishing a book only seems to be impressive when you do it once. Do it over and over and it becomes routine. Expected. Maybe even forgotten.

I was so lucky to have had my debut be a lead title. The rise of Asian YA fantasy had not yet begun when FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS was acquired by Penguin a decade ago, when trailblazers like the great Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo were busy paving the way for the rest of us. Still, my book got good marketing push and support, thanks to my status as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and painfully earnest ingénue. I got to speak at events like New York Comic Con and Book Expo America. I went on a national tour. People were illegally selling my signed advance copies on eBay for thousands of dollars. My events were packed with friends, writers from my online community, and family members who flew across the country to attend.

Even with decent sales numbers, I did not become that most coveted of authors, the Big Bestseller, but still my luck continued. I got to go on two more national tours (it would have been three had the pandemic not blown up prospects for my Disney book) and we sold my Team Chu series in a heated seven-house auction right at the height of the MG boom. I have been able to keep writing and building my backlist.

But I lost friends after failing to achieve Big Bestseller status, losing my newbie shine, and sinking firmly into the respectable yet unappreciated midlist. Family members stopped attending events or keeping up with my new releases. Most of my writing community disappeared. These days, I’m lucky if my social media posts and announcements reach anybody. The excitement has all but faded and putting a book out is nothing special, now that I am no longer fresh and unknown and new. I’m old and decrepit by publishing standards.

I have a theory that this is why people tend to assume that an author’s most successful book, even when it’s released decades into their career, is their debut. I’ve seen it happen again and again, where a novel suddenly blows up and articles come out touting it as a “splashy debut” even when it’s not, as though only a first-timer could ever warrant that kind of admiration. Youth — even if not always in chronological years, but in newness to the industry — seems to be more sexy. More exciting. It sells. A few years ago, at a library event in Texas, I had dinner with an author whose twenty-first release (!!!) was their first major bestseller, their only work that had ever taken off. “It’s like no one remembers my other twenty books,” they told me. “I wouldn’t have any of this if I hadn’t had them first!”

I loved hearing that. Because whether or not I end up writing the book that makes my name (if so, fingers crossed it will be a tiny bit sooner than number twenty-one), I already have nine that are worthy of celebration, that have merit, that I truly believe in. I will always be impressed that they exist and celebrate each one because I know the work that went into all of them. I know how hard it’s been to stay, to persevere, and to hang on with both hands as the industry speeds onward, changing every year. I’m going to treat each release like it’s as important as the first. Maybe even more important, because this backlist is irrefutable proof that I have a spine of steel for still being here and that I am growing with every work. And by the time my own “splashy debut” releases, if it ever does, it’ll hopefully be a masterpiece.

Now I’m off to stretch my old, aching back. I may not be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed anymore, but the same truth still holds: these books aren’t gonna write themselves.

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BROKEN WISH is Going To France!

C’est incroyable! Six years after publishing in the U.S., my Disney novel is going to have a French edition! BROKEN WISH is the first installment of a YA fractured fairy tale quartet, all penned by different authors. It’s the story of a 16-year-old girl who can see the future and must enlist the help of an infamous witch in order to avert disaster for her family. In France, it is titled LE SERMENT MAUDIT and here is the cover!

It is out this week from Hachette Livre and can be purchased at this link. I’m so happy that French readers will get to meet Elva and Mathilda and dive into the tangled woods of this beautiful series!

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What I’m Reading, Watching, & Listening To

• INTO THE LAND OF THE UNICORNS by Bruce Coville: Lately, I’ve been craving the books of my childhood and this is a Scholastic Book Fair acquisition of 1994 that has sat on my bookshelf for decades. I loved it as a kid! Talking unicorns, flying dragons, portals to another world — what more could a girl want?

• THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE by Avi: This is another Scholastic Book Fair acquisition that elementary school Julie was obsessed with. I used to dream of stowing away onboard a ship and having an adventure on the high seas, and though motion sickness would make that impossible, this book gets me close enough to that fantasy.

• CIRCE by Madeline Miller: When I teach about how a retelling should be done, I point to a few works in particular: Wicked by Gregory Maguire, the film “Ever After,” and this book. Miller gives the goddess Circe such aching depth and shimmering humanity, not to mention a healthy dose of toxic family drama. It’s gorgeously written and I come back to reread it again and again.

• DO I KNOW YOU? by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka: This was my first adult romance novel written by this powerhouse husband-and-wife writing team (and all-around lovely people) and I really enjoyed the audiobook!

• THE PAIRING by Casey McQuiston: I’m currently listening to this adult second chance romance and yearning to go on a food-and-wine tour in France and Italy. The spice level is quite high, but it also feels like a fun guidebook of all the food I want to eat and all the cities I want to go.

• Bridgerton Season 4: My partner and I just finished all eight episodes. I still like Season 2 the best, because no one does yearning and fierce romance like Kate and Anthony, but the sets and costumes are as gorgeous as ever! And it was really, really wonderful to see so many Asian actors in leading roles.

• Wuthering Heights (Original Motion Picture Score) by Anthony Willis: I saw this film with a friend last week (my take: I enjoyed it for exactly what it was, since it’s not faithful to the novel) and noticed the beautiful instrumental score immediately. It’s lush, it’s melancholy, and most interestingly, it’s horror-adjacent, what with the sliding cacophonous strings and downright creepy, unsettling melodies. It’s giving, “This will be a love story, but a seriously messed up love story.” I’ve added so many tracks to my NOW COMES THE MIST playlist.

That’s it for now! I hope you all stay safe and warm and get plenty of sleep to prep for springing forward.

Until next time,

Julie