In an unusual move last October, Morrow picked a self-published novel, The Lace Reader, to be one of its big summer books, and is now sending out thousands of slick-looking ARCs, boasting a letter from senior v-p and publisher Lisa Gallagher that praises the book's “extraordinary power.” A one-day laydown of the hardcover is scheduled for July 29. The announced first printing is 200,000 copies.
The story of how The Lace Reader went from self-published sleeper hit to the headlining summer book of a major New York publisher is any debut author's dream. Barry, 47, worked on The Lace Reader, about a family of women in Salem, Mass., who can read the future in a piece of lace, for about six years. She and her husband decided to self-publish the book and created Flap Jacket Press, hired a book publicist and got Blu Sky Media Group to distribute. The book was well received and established a foothold among reading groups in the Salem area, eventually selling 1,200 copies. It wasn't long before Barry hooked up with agent Rebecca Oliver at Endeavor, and in a heated auction during last year's Frankfurt Book Fair, Morrow paid more than $2 million for the rights to publish The Lace Reader along with a second—as yet unwritten—book. Rights have now sold in 21 countries.
Gallagher said that when it comes to self-published books, “there's always a slight negativity and an assumption that every publisher in town turned this down.” But she stressed that Lace is different because the author chose to self-publish. Laurie Chittenden, the book's editor, has spotted self-published debut novels with potential before, having acquired megaseller The Christmas Box when she was at S&S.
Morrow is banking on strong reading-group appeal; it has developed a guide, a set of questions and a map with a walking tour of Salem. Barry will do a 25-city radio satellite tour and 10-city author tour, and will sign books at BEA.
