dolorosa_12 | All those different fragments

Early on in the pandemic, my friend

thecelticist wrote a letter to her students (she's head of the department of the Department of Early Irish at Maynooth University) on her blog. What happened next was a weird kind of lucky serendipity that feels almost unbelievable: a literary agent somehow stumbled on the blog post, and was so entranced with what he read that he signed her — on the basis solely of the blog post — to write a memoir. This memoir then went on to sell for a six-figure advance to Penguin. Over the past two years, I've kept up with the progress of the manuscript, and, later, the various publicity and marketing activities organised by the publisher, as Lizzie has shared her experiences extensively via social media.

The book got the kind of feverish marketing push that only comes along when major publishers feel they have a bestseller on their hands — blurbs from Hilary Mantel and other major literary figures, huge amounts of publicity, vast quantities of money splashed on getting the book prominently displayed in all the major British and Irish booksellers (I saw a photo from today of the book in Grafton Street in Dublin in a display next to Colm Tóibín's latest, to give you some idea). The whole thing is like a fairy story, even more so given that Lizzie has published extensively — but only academic books and journal articles on medieval Irish history and literature, the sort of things where you certainly don't get paid, and basically no one reads it other than a small handful of fellow scholars.

I've picked up my copy of the book, but haven't read it yet. This review in the Irish Independent should give you a rough idea of what it's about: part pandemic memoir, part elegy for her father (who died in January 2020), part wide-ranging musings on her own tumultuous life, interspersed with allusions from everything to medieval Irish literature to black metal. I'm intrigued to read it, and still kind of astonished that someone I know could have this kind of publishing good fortune.

Threaded | Flat

From:

yarnofariadne

It is wonderful to hear about such serendipitous success ♥

kore

Oh, super! I must get this!

chestnut_pod

This is firmly on my list now! Thank you very much for the recommendation, and many congratulations to your friend!

lirazel

Wow! What a story! I want to read a book about the experience of publishing this book!

Good for her!

el_staplador

How very exciting! It sounds like a fascinating book.

rmc28

That does sound like a fascinating book, and I'm so happy for your friend's success - also that letter to students is lovely.

likeadeuce

This book looks wonderful, thank you for sharing and congratulations to your friend!

nerakrose

congrats to your friend!! I can easily see this become a success from the concept and cover alone, but also her agent is Robert Caskie. I realise this means very little to people outside the industry, but he's a very well known and respected agent who's peddled many bestselling and award winning books, and I can see why he'd want to champion this one based on his track record - anyway my point is, the stars aligned for this spectacularly. again, congrats to your friend!!

the book sounds fantastic and I might have to get my own copy. I don't read a lot of nonfiction but I'm trying to change that, so might as well start here!

senmut

That's wonderful!

blackcatofmisery

That's incredible! Like, such amazing serendipitous luck but also the you'd-never-expect-it amazing! Good for them; it's an incredible opportunity and can open some doors to a slightly off-center goal compared to their academic career, but it may get some people interested in their actual focus and passion.

Also just goes to show you never know who your audience is online.

=^..^=~