Tracey Gravis Graves did not give up. Her novel "On the Island" was rejected by 14 book agents but she still decided that instead of letting her manuscript collect dust, she would spend $1,500 of her own money to get it published. After all, for over a year, she had woken up very early in the morning before work to write the book about a 30-year-old English teacher trapped on an island with his 16-year-old student. The book has been compared to the steamy "50 Shades of Grey."
From relative obscurity, selling only 100 copies in the first month of publication, Gravis' book has spread like fire thanks to word of mouth and it is now on the New York Times e-books best-seller. Soon, she had big publishers such as Harper Collins and Amazon calling. She ultimately ended up sighing with Plume imprint Penguin Group.
The book has garnered more than 7,000 positve reviews and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon combined and will likely get more readers now that it is signed by a traditional publisher. Moreover, movie rights have been optioned by MGM and the producers of the Twilight movies.
"It is still somewhat of a rarity for self-published authors to get signed with a traditional publishing house," said Elizabeth Keenan, Plume's director of publicity. "The word of mouth on this one went viral, and readers not only want to recommend it, they wanted to review it."
On her blog, Graves writes of always wanting to see her books in a bookstore.
It has always been a dream of mine to walk into a bookstore, or Target, or Costco and see a book I'd written sitting there on the shelf. I'd probably walk up to it and stare at the pretty cover with my mouth hanging open. Maybe I'd linger in the vicinity and see if anyone else checked it out. If they did, I certainly wouldn't swoop in and shout, "Hey I wrote that! That's MY book! Are you going to buy that?" while jumping up and down like a crazy person."
Looks like this dream will be more than fulfilled for the 45-year-old mother of two. Her story illustrates that, with patience, good things can come to those who decide to take the road less traveled, though that road is now getting more and more traffic.
"On the Island" will be available in paperback on July 10, 2012. Graves' second novel, "Covet" will be published in 2013.