Tink-tink-tink... Can I have the attention of everyone in the bar?

Most of you don't know me. That's okay; I'm the most famous person nobody has heard of.

I didn't know anybody in the industry, but I had the audacity of hope that I might write a good crime fiction novel. After 13 years of hard work, learning the craft, without an agent, I sold my first novel, How the Strong Survive. Since then, I've sold two more novels that are in the production pipeline.

Now to the news: How the Strong Survive was translated into French by Pascal Galodé éditeurs (Saint Malo, France), and it debuted on an Amazon France "bestsellers" list
( http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/books/112858011 )
at #14 on 6 Feb, '09. It fell as low as #95 (out of 100) before bouncing back to #19. It's spent the last week bouncing around in the 30s. After 22 days, it is still in the top 100, now at #51.

A member of a French literary association notified me that I have been nominated for one of their prizes this year!

Not bad for a guy who still doesn't have an agent.

TYIA (thank you in advance) to those of you who will cheer with me. And to those few of you on CrimeSpace -- and you know who you are -- who told me I was a no talent wannabee cretin when you hadn't even read my novels, all I can say is that perhaps you should reconsider being prejudiced. Don't be small minded. Open up a little!

To all you real folks on CrimeSpace, thanks for hearing my news! If I could, I'd buy everyone in the bar a round of drinks!

Blessings on your path,
Newt

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Congratulations, Newt--great news. Couldn't find the book at your link, though--what's the French title?
The link is to the top of the list. Near the bottom of that web page, there is a "greyed-out} "[1 - 25]" and links to three other pages: "[26 - 50]" and "[51 - 74]" and "[76 - 100]" When I checked a little while ago, I was #51. Of course I wasn't on the first page that only lists up to #25.
Ooops! Now I'm #52. Here is the direct link to that page:
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/books/112858011/ref=pd_ts_pg_3?...
I don't mean to rain on your parade, brother, but you appear to be #52 in books about art, music and cinema. You're #130,716 en Livres, overall. Still, cool getting your stuff translated into French.
I didn't say I was the top of the top. I said I made a bestsellers list. Go to the link, and read the words "Meilleures ventes Livres" which is French for best selling books.
Look at the link: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/books/112858011
The programmers of the Amazon web site write their code in English. See the word "bestsellers" is in the link before the word books?

My parade isn't rained on. I made a bestsellers list. Yes, it is in a sub category, but it is still a bestsellers list.
Are you saying that 22 days on this list means nothing?
The important thing is that it means something to you. Congratulations again.
I guess I edited out the French title from the original post. I'm still getting used to this dinky keyboard on the netbook, and the touchpad is where my thumbs tap, and stuff seems to get highlighted and disappear by overtyping.
The French title is La Voie des Braves.
Congrats, Newt. I would still argue that most writers are better off trying to find an agent, but best of luck.
I've tried to get an agent.
So far, less than half of my 73 agent query letters sent out had the enclosed SASE returned. I'm not very impressed with their attention to detail.
I'll bet that if I win an award, coupled with the three novels I've sold, agents will suddenly like me. Maybe I will get some of those lost SASEs returned? When they can see a revenue stream that they can suck 15% to 20% from without doing more than making a phone call to a buddy, I expect that some of the ones I sent queries to and didn't even return the SASEs will suddenly claim to be my best friends. I will find it hard to believe that they are sincere, or worth the money they will take from me. I hope to be persuaded, but I'm skeptical.
Congratulations. Where have you been? You haven't been on here in a while.

That's kind of wild that you jumped from 95 to 19. Anything in particular cause that jump?
For the jump from #95 to #19, I guess somebody ordered a small box of books. As our esteemed colleague Mr Loomis pointed out, the book is 138K in rank, so maybe selling 10 would be able to make that move. Maybe Loomis is right, it's not as impressive as having a book from Minotaur, but when I finally make it to the top, I can sing Frank Sinatra's hit "I did it My Way." I am making steady progress uphill in the industry, and I'm happy for every little increment.

I also want to encourage other writers who like me aren't lucky enough to get a big agent from the start, to keep believing, and as ELO sang "Hold on Tight to Your Dream."
Good luck! You never know what will happen. And it was the French, after all, who discovered Faulkner.

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