Interview with Wendy Wax, Author of The Accidental Bestseller

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Wendy has come a long way since her days at Sunshine Elementary School. As a child she read voraciously, was a regular at her local library, and became fast friends with Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables. Her love affairs with language and storytelling paid off beginning with her first shift at the campus radio station while studying journalism at the University of Georgia.

After returning to her home state and graduating from the University of South Florida she worked for the Tampa PBS affiliate, WEDU-TV, behind and in front of the camera. Her resume includes on air work, voiceovers and production of a variety of commercial projects and several feature films. She may be best known in the Tampa Bay area as the host of Desperate & Dateless, a radio matchmaking program that aired on WDAE radio, and nationally as host of The Home Front, a magazine format show that aired on PBS affiliates across the country.

The mother of a toddler and an infant when she decided to change careers, she admits it was not the best timing in terms of productivity. "I´m still not certain why I felt so compelled to write my first novel at that particular time," she says, "but that first book took forever." Since then she´s written six more books, including Single in Suburbia and The Accidental Bestseller. Her work has been sold to publishers in ten countries and to the Rhapsody Book Club. Her novel, Hostile Makeover, was excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine.

Wendy lives with her husband John and her baseball-crazy teenage sons in the Atlanta suburbs where she spends most of her non-writing time on baseball fields or driving to them. She continues to devour books and is busy producing Accidental Radio, a new feature on her web site.

You can visit her website at www.authorwendywax.com.

Thank you for this interview, Wendy. Can you tell us briefly what your latest book, The Accidental Bestseller?

The Accidental Bestseller is about four writers who meet at a writers´ conference, support each other through the joy and pain of getting—and staying—published, and ten years later end up taking on the publishing industry to save one of their own when her career and personal life begin to unravel.

Mallory St. James is a workaholic whose novels support her and her husband´s lavish lifestyle. Tanya Mason juggles two jobs, two kids and a difficult mother. Faye Truett is the wife of a famous televangelist and the author of bestselling inspirational romances; no one would ever guess her explosive secret. Kendall Aims´s once promising career is on the skids—and so is her marriage. Her sales have fallen and her new editor can barely feign interest in her work. Worse, Kendall owes her publisher one last book that she simply can´t deliver.

Mallory, Faye and Tanya refuse to let Kendall face this struggle by herself. Together they collaborate on a novel none of them could write alone using their own lives as fodder, assuming no one will ever discover the truth behind their words.

Which might have worked out OK if the book hadn´t become a runaway bestseller.

Can you tell us what (or who) the inspiration behind writing your book was?

The writers I know are among the strongest, most resilient and supportive people I´ve ever known. I had wanted to write about a group of writers, especially a critique group, for some time. No one understands what you´re going through like someone else who´s on the same path. Your family and non-writing friends may know and love you, but they don´t necessarily relate to the unique highs and lows that are a part of writing a novel and staying afloat in the publishing business.

About three years ago I went through a somewhat turbulent time professionally that made me take a long hard look at the publishing industry and what it takes to be a working writer. I knew the time had come to write that book.

The Accidental Bestseller is about the bond between writer friends and the lengths they´ll go to for each other. It´s also as true a look at what it is to be a working writer in today´s publishing industry as it was possible for me to write without straying into nonfiction. In most cases, ´the names have been changed to protect the innocent!´

The Accidental Bestseller is dedicated to ´every writer—aspiring and otherwise—who has a story to tell, a love of the written word, and a burning desire to see the fruit of their labor on a bookstore shelf. In a prime position. Cover out. With full publisher support behind it.´

Is this your first published book and if so, can you tell us your experiences in finding a publisher for it?

The Accidental Bestseller is actually my seventh published novel. I know most people think of making that first sale as reaching the ´end´ of the journey, but what I´ve found is that it´s actually the first step on a very long road. The Accidental Bestseller is my attempt to show what kinds of twists and turns a writer can encounter along the way.

How has Berkley been to work with?

The Accidental Bestseller is my first book for Berkley, which is a part of The Penguin Group. Everything´s been great so far. I´m actually getting to work with my former editor from another house, so that´s been a real treat.

Do you have an agent?

Yes. I´m with Stephanie Rostan of the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency.

Can you tell us how long it took you to write your book and also how long it took from the time Berkley sent the contract and the time it was released?

I probably spent about nine months writing the manuscript and then some time revising it. It was over a year after they bought the book until the book´s release. Publishing can feel downright glacial!

Do you have any words of inspiration from other writers who would like to be wearing your shoes?

Just keep in mind that getting and staying published is not a sprint; it´s a marathon. Results never come as quickly as we´d like!

In The Accidental Bestseller, I used writing quotes that I found meaningful to begin each chapter. One of them answers your question far more eloquently than I could. It´s by James Baldwin who said, "Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck—but most of all, endurance."

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in June via a virtual book tour. Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

I think it´s a great way to reach readers and writers. The online community is varied and active, and I´m excited to have this way to reach out and talk about The Accidental Bestseller.

What´s next for you?

I´ve just finished revisions on Magnolia Wednesdays, which is my next book for Berkley. It´s due out next March.

Thank you for this interview, Wendy. Can you tell us how we can find out more about you and your new book?

Thank you! Please stop by my website at www.authorwendywax.com for more info and to read an excerpt of The Accidental Bestseller. While you´re there you can tune into Accidental Radio and listen to bestselling authors sharing the accidental moments that changed their lives. You can send me your favorite accidental moment too; I´ll be posting them all summer.