🎉 How it Felt to Hit the USA Today Bestseller List!
I'm still FREAKING out - here's why:
Hello, you.
The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland came out two weeks ago and GUESS WHAT?
It hit the USA Today Bestseller List! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
How did I feel?
Well. It’s been 15 years since my first book came out, and I have a couple of dozen books published.
This is my first time hitting a big, well-known list.
Imagine every happy gif (Elaine dancing, Kermit flailing, the Minions bouncing, Rachel and Monica clapping) and multiply that by 1000 more gifs, and that’s getting close to how I felt. I screamed. I cried. I woke my wife up so she could be happy too (she was, and she made the CUTEST excited-and-trying-to-wake-up squeals).
Hitting the USA Today Bestseller list has always been a dream of mine. Unlike the NYT bestseller list with its rather opaque curation, the USA Today rankings come from aggregated sales data “without editorial subjectivity.”* It’s the list of the people. The list of the readers of commercial fiction.
And I can now forever say that I’m a USA Today Bestselling Author. Wow.
The Celebratory Chair
I have wanted this particular chair for more than a year and a half. I fell in love with it in an Airbnb in January 2024 when I was on writing retreat. I spent almost every waking (non-swimming) minute in it:
I figured out which chair it was (in a small country like New Zealand, you can Google Image search anything and find the store it came from), but it wasn’t cheap, and we didn’t need it.
But last weekend, there it was, the hardware store’s shop model, on sale, deep discount.
I got it. It’s my celebration chair.
Perhaps it’s a bit less glamorous on my porch without that water view, BUT:
Honestly, I love this view even more!
For a long time, I’ve wanted a place to watch the clouds without getting rained on or blown over, and now I have it, just outside my office on the little covered porch that until now has only served as bike and recycling storage. No more! It now stores me and whatever book I’m reading!
It’s my USA Today Bestseller chair, and I adore it.
The Best Compliment Yet
Not that long ago, I was out driving with my little sister, and we were talking books.
“I just can’t be harrowed,” I said. “No harrowing books. I need cozy and kind and sweet. High stakes are fine as long as I know everyone will be okay.”
She said, “Oh, my gosh, I read something like that recently, and it was great. What was it? I think you’d love it. It’s just what you’re looking for. What was it? It was so good!”
A pause.
Then she started laughing and didn’t stop for a while.
“What?” I said. “What book? Tell me!”
“Yours. The Seven Miracles. You gave me an advanced copy, remember?”
So my sister tried to recommend me my own book, and I can’t think of a higher (or cuter) compliment.
The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland
Available all the places (paperback, ebook, and audio):
Bookshop/Indiebound | Amazon US | Kobo | Apple | Nook| Audible | Spotify
Writer’s Retreat in Italy!
Oh! If you’re interested in writing (at any level, from pro to haven’t-written-since-high-school) and also interested in Italy, please come with me in May to Ancona, central Italy. All the details are HERE and you can hold your place HERE. Limited spots available!
Okay, back to reading in my chair now. It’s blustery out, and I’m sheltered, and happy. I hope you are, too.
❤️ love always,
Rachael
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PS - Have you read something gentle and delightful recently? Share your recommendation here! And send this to a friend who needs it!
PPS - Fun fact that I often mention - my professional bio states that I am an international bestseller. I say this because it’s true. In the past, I have hit smaller lists in both New Zealand and Australia. That made my bestseller status “international.” But I have to say, I prefer this new status. 😁