The Accidental Bestseller

Written by Wendy Wax

Narrated by Khristine Hvam

Once upon a time four aspiring authors met at their very first writers' conference. Ten years later they're still friends, survivors of the ultra-competitive New York publishing world. Mallory St. James is a workaholic whose bestsellers support a lavish lifestyle. Tanya Mason is a single mother juggling two jobs, two kids, and too many deadlines. Faye Truett is the wife of a famous televangelist and the author of 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 are dismal, her new editor detests her work-and her husband is cheating. Barely able to think, let alone meet her final deadline, Kendall holes up in a mountain cabin to confront a blank page and a blanker future. But her friends won't let her face this trial alone. Together they collaborate on a novel using their own lives as fodder, assuming no one will ever discover the truth behind their words.No one is more surprised than they are when the book becomes a runaway bestseller. But with success comes scrutiny and scandal . . . as these four best friends suddenly realize how little they've truly known each other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Nov 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452680125

Reviews for The Accidental Bestseller

[judithdcollins · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it! I have read Wendy's newer books (Ocean Drive and Ten Beach Road-which I enjoyed); however, missed this one –so purchased on NOOK and could not put it down. I lived in Atlanta for 17 yrs, so always nice to hear from Atlanta author - read about the familiar places and things in the area and North Georgia (which I love the mountains) as it definitely gets the creative juices flowing as loved Dillard, Clayton, Highlands, Cashiers and Big Canoe.

Wendy has a way of bringing BFFs to a new level! I particularly loved the publishing and writing aspect (as I was a publisher for many years in Atlanta and NY-for commercial real estate and finance), so the editing and publishing was great as there is always lots of drama and deadlines; however, would love to be an inspired writer (only write for websites, design, and articles, blogs), but always an inspiration for a novel one day! The characters were raw, and full of personality and you fall in love with each one of them, as hard to pick a favorite. Great writing – would love to see a sequel here…look forward to reading some of Wendy’s older books! Highly recommend!

[sleahey_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining audiobook that will appeal to readers who are fascinated by the lives of contemporary authors, their editors, and publishers. Actually anyone who is intrigued by relationships with secrets will find this engaging, if a bit predictable and over-long.

[tracey8824_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the "inside look" into the publishing industry. I also liked the friendships between the 4 women. I'm a sucker for this type of thing. The ending was very cute. This is a great good feel read.

[readingfiend_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Four female authors with very different backgrounds have been friends for about 10 years after meeting at a writing organization convention. Fast forward and one is struggling with her personal life and writing. The friends pitch a plan to help her out. Enjoyable book and I was very curious as to how it would all work out. I wanted to smack a couple of them a few times though!

[readingrebecca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked up The Accidental Bestseller, but whatever it was, I got so much more! This book is just fantastic. It’s really a story about friendship among women, courage, living up to your true potential, and honesty. It’s a page turner—I just couldn’t wait to find out what happened to the four remarkable women in the book.This is the story of Kendall who is a mid-list author with failing sales, Mallory who is a well known New York Times bestseller list author, Tanya who writes romance novels and Faye who is married to a televangelist and writes inspirational novels. They’ve been good friends for 10 years, having met at a writer’s conference, hitting it off immediately. When Kendall’s life starts falling apart—she finds out her publisher is dropping her as soon as she completes the last book in her contract, at the same time finding out her husband wants a divorce—she scurries off to her mountain retreat to hide out. Her three friends come to her rescue to help her get that book written.The story of getting that book written and what happens when it’s published is just incredible. I loved every page of this book and could hardly wait to find out what was going to happen next. There is great character development making each of the four authors very easy to visualize. These were women I wanted to know, wished that they lived next door to me. Wendy Wax has written a wonderful book about the strength of women’s friendships and I hope she writes a sequel to this story. Ms. Wax writes with great insight into the publishing industry, not always a pretty picture. Each chapter begins with a quote from an author about the hard work involved in writing. Some of these quotes are laugh out loud funny, but all are interesting. One of my favorites: There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. –W. Somerset Maugham. While I was reading the book, I kept talking about how great it was so when I finished it, my husband asked to read it. He’s never read women’s fiction, so I handed it over with some trepidation. But he liked it too and also found it to be a page turner. Now we’re both looking for more books by Wendy Wax.

[nancyjak · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Four female authors with very different backgrounds have been friends for about 10 years after meeting at a writing organization convention. Fast forward and one is struggling with her personal life and writing. The friends pitch a plan to help her out. Enjoyable book and I was very curious as to how it would all work out. I wanted to smack a couple of them a few times though!

[sheila1957 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story of 4 authors who help one of the group who has a deadline due but no story. Each takes from her own life and puts it in the one's book and it becomes a best seller. The fallout begins between them and their families. I loved the support that they gave each other. Each woman was well defined. The others in their lives were also well defined. What I most especially loved was that each woman became stronger through this experience. They all needed to learn to communicate with each other and the others in their lives. Each also had to do soul searching as the fallout alienates them in so many ways. I liked that some stuck to their guns and did not break and give in. Others had to soften their positions and try new ways of living. I enjoyed this very much.

[january_f_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting read into the process of writing a book and the publishing industry. It was very 'meta' to read a book about writing a book and the fiction book that was being written was the book you were reading. The characters were interesting, and it was easy to relate to them and feel their pain. A good read.

[mchwest · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was just not as good as the others that I have read by this author. I know fiction is fiction but the premise of this book made me nervous knowing that the authors would get caught plagiarizing and cheating their publishers… so alls well that ends well but it still left my behind.

[love2rdinnh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book changed the way I walked through Barnes and Noble. I found this book on a separate 'look at me!' table. (I enjoyed the book about the writing process, the relationship between the women, etc.) When I went back to find other books by this author, there were none. My guess is the publisher got behind this new work, selling its 'place' at a prime spot. This was not the same with her previous books. Interesting. More interesting still is this book made me think about all of that!

[quzy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mallory is a workaholic whose novels support her & her husbands lavish lifestyle. Tanya Mason lives in a trailer, juggles 2 jobs, two kids and an alcoholic mother, Faye is the wife of a televangelist and author of inspirational romances, and Kendall has a career heading down the toilet and a cheating husband. But the one thing positive in all of their lives is their friendship with eachother. They all met at a writers conference when they were all unknowns and starting out. They've grown as writers as well as grown close as friends. The only thing these women have in common is their love of the written word, but we see the beauty and depth of the friendship they share and how no matter what they will always have eachother. This story is wonderful. Wendy Wax has created characters that you would love to be friends with. That you could relate to, that would react to their situations just like you would! Her writing is wonderful too! And I enjoyed taking a peek at the behind the scenes of the publishing industry and am happy that authors go thru all that stress to bring us an escape from our daily lives.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Opening at a writer's convention, Kendall is hoping to win a coveted Zelda award. Instead, her publishing company drops her and even her three long standing writer friends can't keep her from fleeing to her home where another bombshell drops on her. Her husband has been gone all weekend and Kendall must face the fact that he has been cheating on her and wants a divorce. In short, her life is falling apart around her ears. Fleeing for a second time, she high tails it to the cabin in the North Carolina mountains that she has always loved. It is here that Mallory, Faye, and Tanya ultimately find her, hiding from the world, completely emotionally paralyzed, and unable to write. Her three friends decide to help her write the final book of her contract so she can get on with her life. But when they do this, they expose the long buried secrets they've kept from the world and from each other. Even worse, this book that was supposed to be ignored, a chore to be gotten through before Kendall can move on to other things, becomes a bestseller and opens all four of the writers and friends to the scrutiny not only of the world but to each other and to their loved ones.An interesting premise, this does share a bit of the seamy side of publishing and exposes a fickle and subjective profession. It also gives a few insights into some of the ways in which writers write and how they feel about their chosen profession. Mostly though it is intended to be a book about friendship and secrets. The characters are quite different from each other and their secrets are mostly fitting given their personal lives. But the bond of friendship between the women needed a bit more development to be completely believable. It can be hard to balance an ensemble cast in a novel, making certain that each character receives enough time on the page and enough development to feel authentic but Wax does manage that balance here, telling each main character's story by turns, allowing the reader to understand each home life and a bit of why the secrets are so important, even potentially devastating. The secondary characters, the children and men in the womens' lives, were quite flat and undeveloped but necessary to the plot. But this was a minor weakness. While the women could be frustrating and some of the secrets were a bit much, this was mostly a likeable piece of chick lit.