At some point in Fall 2004, a group of unpublished writers started chatting online, visiting blogs, posting comments, and generally trying to encourage each other until The Call came. And for many of us, it did. Someone coined the phrase the *thisclose* club to describe our journey. For many of us, the journey met with success. For example:
-Larissa Ione - then unpublished, now has book deals with Warner, Bantam Dell and Red Sage.
-Stephanie Tyler - then unpublished, now has book deals with Bantam Dell and Harlequin.
-Sylvia Day - then unpublished, now has book deals with Kensington (Brava and Zebra), Avon and Ellora’s Cave.
-Sasha White - then unpublished, now has book deals with Kensington, Berkley, Avon and others.
I’ve thought about these talented ladies several times over the last few weeks. Both Larissa and Stephanie recently sold more books and their respective sales were listed on PW. Somewhere in a flurry of congratulations emails, Stephanie (I think) mentioned the *thisclose* club and all of our sales over the last two years. What a great reminder of how far we’ve come. I feel blessed to have learned from these remarkable ladies and remain inspired by their publishing achievements.
Then I was reading about Janet Evanovich’s book How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author in USA Today. In the article, Evanovich talks about rejection. She says:
But success didn’t come easily or early. She began writing in her early 30s. At one point, frustrated and sobbing, she dragged a crate of rejection letters out to the curb and burned them. “Now I wish I had saved them,” says Evanovich, 64. “Some of them were pretty funny.” Evanovich never gave up, and 10 years after she started writing, she was finally published.
Evanovich is a bestseller. The members of the *thisclose* club are writing and selling. It’s trite, but every now and then dreams do come true.
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I think it’s great that a group of would-be writers stuck together and now have made their dreams come true. I bet you all were a great support system.
Congrats to those who’ve published, and to those who haven’t gotten there quite yet – keep the faith.
by Stacy ~ September 19th, 2006 at 6:21 amWhat an inspiring post, HelenKay. So glad I stopped by first thing this morning. Congratulations to you and the ladies f the ‘thisclose” club. You’re there!
by Beth Ciotta September 19th, 2006 at 7:59 amI started reading Steph and Larissa’s blogs before they got “the call”. Steph in particular always impressed me with her “think like a published author” mindset. What I like(d) most about these ladies was/is their utter lack of jealousy and/or cut-throat competitiveness in a business where you know there are people who will step on you to “make it.” I admire all the authors you listed and plan on supporting them as their books are published.
by Angie T September 19th, 2006 at 10:19 amdid you pick a winner at access romance?
by kim h September 19th, 2006 at 11:42 amThat is a very inspring post and I think that it also can be said for a lot of different jobs out there.
by Kathleen September 19th, 2006 at 11:45 am[...] HelenKay Dimon posted this morning about a group of writers who dubbed themselves the “thisclose” club. The idea was offering one another support and encouragement while they worked and waited for “The Call.” Many of them have now sold — HelenKay herself, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Tyler, Sylvia Day and others. Some sold before I started reading writing blogs a year and a half ago, and I saw the excited announcements from others. [...]
by The Mess in Progress » Determination September 19th, 2006 at 12:02 pmInspiring post.
by Estella September 19th, 2006 at 1:59 pmAwww, thank you–and it’s funny because I was recently thinking about this…how it’s like a bunch of us were *thisclose* to being there, like we were in school and waiting to graduate. And it’s funny how so many of us who were at similar places in our journey “graduated” at around the same time.
I remember Alison saying that she had a “class” like that as well, and everyone sold at around the same time.
I love watching people sell!
by Larissa September 20th, 2006 at 8:39 amYep, it was me!
This post really made me smile, because it’s been so cool watching so many of us in that thisclose club get where we wanted to be! Here’s to all our continued success
And Angie T – thanks for those kind words
by Steph T. September 20th, 2006 at 12:11 pm[...] I just think it’s so cool to not only see names on the challenge list who are contracted (because like I said, I remember them when we were all just starting out and struggling to get that first break) but what really made me smile were all the new faces, the ones who said things like, this will be my first book, or this is the first time I’m going to finish a book. Look around at those people if you’re a newbie, because that’s your group – your thisclose club. Whether or not you become friends with them, they’re still your grouping, the ones you rise through the ranks with. [...]
by Stephanie Tyler - Military Romance Author July 8th, 2007 at 12:26 pm