Tina Leonard | Making Lists, or the Mystique of Popularity

I love lists. I am a list-maker, a list-keeper, a doodling scribe of anything on any surface. My kids have picked up a dinner napkin as we left a restaurant because I had jotted a few ideas down on the paper. Bless their hearts, they were afraid to leave behind one of Mom's Big Ideas. Lists keep me organized, make me aware of how much I get done in a day or not done as life may have it.

I also love bestseller lists, especially when one of my books or a friend's book makes its way onto the hallowed spaces. Recently, my four- book series, The Morgan Men, was fortunate enough to make a few lists, one book being first on the eharlequin.com list, and another staying on same list for about eighteen days in various spots. Throw in a Waldenbooks/Borders list for three weeks in a row for my March book—culminating in the #2 spot in the third week!--and I began to ponder the scattered good fortune in the universe. (Remember, I am a student of listing—I try to figure out these random occurrences, whether or not I can find an answer being irrelevant). Greater minds than mine have written about the quirky fate in making bestseller lists, but my house is on the market so I have time to scattershoot while I'm scrubbing floors and cleaning out shrub beds.

Gratitude and thankful prayers aside for making those lists, I tried to think of all the reasons the series might have sold well. Great packaging? Check. The covers were awesome. Hunky heroes? Seems a good thing. And so on. But I've written many books, some which made lists, and some which also had great covers and hunky heroes, and they didn't even crack a list. Years ago, in the beginning of my career, I had a single title book make what I believe was called an Ingram's book list. (I don't know if these exist anymore, and I'm too lazy to dig the list from my prodigious files). Someone called me up and asked me how I'd done it, and especially debuting at #25—and what we were all thinking was how that could have happened when I had no track record to speak of in the business. I still have no idea how it happened, but it sure was fun! Another time, I had a baby on a cover that was so sweet, I just knew that baby was going to get grabbed up like crazy. I was so worried when it didn't. My editor said the book sold well, but I couldn't help worrying that if that were the case, wouldn't the book have made at least one little tiny list somewhere?

Turns out that lists are compiled from different sources, and who knows where my readers were shopping at that time. Also, having read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, we all know that sometimes good sales and conversely bad sales can be inexplicable. Which means we put all our hopes and dreams into a book, and then pray for a Tipping Point moment where our book is the Next Hot Thing. Reviews, strangely enough, do not always seem to have a corollary effect on sales, nor do covers, although I have picked up a book because of a great cover.

To further muddy the water, my fifteen-year-old son brought me The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho last fall while we were in Barnes and Noble, and I bought it for him, not sure exactly why the book with the rather non-descript cover intrigued him. (Later I discovered that this was a long-time favorite which deserved reading). Yet when I asked my son why he chose that book out of all the books in B&N, he said, "The title caught my eye." He was glued to the book, and has since read several more of the Brazilian author's excellent works, discovering an author who really speaks to him.

So the title, something that seemingly simple—and important--can generate sales. I've bought books based on titles, and refused to pick books up because of titles as well. This theory works the same for movies, at least for me. Yet, the one thing that is a guarantee of pulling dollars from my purse is word of mouth. It's my favorite reason to go to a movie, and it's the same with books. I will RUSH to the store to buy a book my friends say is a must-read. So was there some word of mouth involved with my latest series? Was I so fortunate that somewhere, someone—or several someones—were saying good things about The Morgan Men series?

I don't know, will never know. But I do know this—the hope of great word of mouth popularity is something all writers secretly dream of, pray for, strive for. It's the real award, the silent applause, the heady accolade that keeps a writer returning to the pen, and hoping for more bestseller lists in the future.

In June THE TEXAS TWINS will be in stores, Tina's two-in-one collection about twin brothers who never knew of each other's existence, which she definitely hopes will make a bestseller list! She is grateful for the many wonderful readers who apparently say good things about her work.