My friend Lisa Genova created one of the coolest (and most successful) World Wide Rave's I've seen. She is the author of Still Alice, a novel about a young woman’s descent into dementia due to early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. I met Lisa at Grub Street Writers, Boston's premier writing school.
After Lisa wrote the book and was ready to get it into the market, she spent a year trying to get literary agents and editors at publishing houses to speak with her. The editors all treated her as yet another aspiring writer not worth their time, and the few literary agents she managed to reach thought her novel wouldn’t sell.
Instead of letting "rejection" mean no book, she self-published, created a web site with valuable information about Alzheimer’s Disease, and worked with the Alzheimer's Association to establish a blog. Still Alice, although fictional, was still a truthful and respectful depiction of life with the disease and her free Web content resonated with tens of thousands of people who talked about her ideas.
As a result of Genova's World Wide Rave, Still Alice sold at auction for a mid six figure US dollar advance in June 2008 to Simon & Schuster. The first print run of the new edition of the book, coming this week, was 250,000 copies and translation rights have sold to ten foreign countries so far, with more in the works. In addition, Still Alice won the 2008 Bronte Prize. None of this success would have happened without Lisa creating her own World Wide Rave.
Thanks, David! This World Wide Rave couldn't be more fun!
Your New Rules of Marketing & PR really did give me the tools to go from rejected manuscript to acclaimed novel that will be published all over the world (I think we're up to 15 countries now!).
Enjoying every second of the Rave!
Lisa Genova
Posted by: Lisa Genova | January 03, 2009 at 10:52 AM
David (and Lisa):
This is a fantastic story of persistence coupled with the power of viral marketing through the Web. I've just ordered Still Alice thru Amazon and can't wait to read it.
Happy New Year!
- D
Posted by: Debbie Weil | January 03, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Hi David and Lisa,
I really like this story. Nice illustration how determination and partnership with an association could bring expertise on a blog.
For those interesting to hear her story, http://stillalice.blogspot.com/2008/08/self-publish-or-perish.html
Posted by: bruno | January 04, 2009 at 02:29 PM