Wednesday, March 24, 2010

#1 and #2 on best seller list - YA Fiction at Smashwords


Great news, and I'm excited, to say the least! My books are at #1 and #2 on the best seller list for Young Adult Fiction at Smashwords.


ROBERT'S RIDE has moved up to #2, exactly five weeks after being published.

If you have not read SONS and BROTHERS in SEATTLE yet, you can still get it for FREE by using code NQ44T at Smashwords checkout until 5/5/2010. This is the special second edition with bonus extra chapters from the sequel.

Happy reading,

Wil

2 comments:

  1. Wil, congrats on your success at smashwords. I am planning to go that way as soon as I finish the 3rd reiteration of my book. Will this ever end???? As of yesterday, I have a plan, so maybe someday.

    How do you even learn to speak to Young Adults, let alone write for them?

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  2. Thanks for this comment, Susan. I have to say that I’m energized and awestruck, but somewhat humbled, by this bit of success. The idea that so many people are looking at my work most certainly intimidates me.

    I see that you've got a lot of writing behind you, Susan, and I'm impressed that you've chosen to write about the great musician, Leroy 'Hog' Cooper. Good luck with your continuing reiterations; I'm sure you'll come to a successful conclusion and complete the book to your own satisfaction. Knowing when it's done is certainly not easy, I've found.

    As to your question about speaking to young adults and writing for them, I'm not entirely sure what my answer is. I could say that I just do it, but that's not an answer.

    I suppose listening is key; listening and observing. More importantly, though, is the way I try to put myself into the minds of my characters when I write. What would go through the mind of a younger person in a classroom, trying to cope where they don't fit in? What about a young person all alone on a long bus trip; what goes through their mind and how do they deal with things that happen?

    How about a character, a young person, who happens on a winter accident scene with his younger brother? With no adults around to do anything; what does the young person do and how do they deal with the situation? How do they deal with the conflict of knowing that their way of life may well be in jeopardy if they get involved? Will they do the right thing?

    I guess one of the things I know is that young people are able to do much, much more than the ‘adult world’ gives them credit for. Many young people constantly feel that they have to prove themselves, and many of them consider it unfair that adults judge them so harshly as a group without giving them a chance as individuals.

    I guess I write about what I know could happen, and what I want to happen. I write for myself. I am hopeful that many people will like my stories, but in the end, I’m writing the stories I want.

    This has been a rather long-winded response to the comment and the question, but it’s not something I’d really thought about in this way before today, and I’m glad to have had the chance to think about it and respond.

    Thanks,

    Wil

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