Some books are sleepers. Michael Morpurgo told me that years ago (if you’re not familiar with Michael’s work take a minute and google him). It’s not that I put any less effort into what I call my sleeper books. They take as much effort as any other novel; some come together relatively quickly and others take a long time to jell. But sleeper books start out quiet. They don’t generally make a splash out of the gate; in fact, they might never make a splash. That doesn’t reflect on their quality. They’re good books but quieter ones, often modestly reviewed, rarely gathering much attention or getting nominated for awards.
Those sleeper books, however, have staying power. And Hannah’s Touch is a good example. Hannah’s Touch was first published in 2009. It received moderately good reviews but no real fanfare. A year or two after its first release, it was translated into German, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian. Then an audio version became available. Today it continues to sell, and well enough that the publisher just did another print run.
Thank you Orca Book Publishers. And thank you readers for keeping Hannah’s Touch out there in the world.
That is beyond exciting! Congratulations!
It’s always nice when a book has a long lifespan!
What a heartening example of a solid, reader-based, successful book, ‘sleeper’ or ‘quiet book’ though it may have originally been deemed or described. Word of mouth is still the best publicity for a book, hearing about it from someone whose tastes in reading you trust. All sorts of great and original books, Life of Pi springs to mind, did not get nominated for awards, which are utterly dependent on who is on the jury de jour, i.e., a literary crapshoot. And Hannah’s Touch is obviously a book like this and I’m so glad for you and Orca!
You’re right, Caroline, that word of mouth is still the best publicity for any book. Many of my favourite books appeared in my life via word of mouth! Thanks for stopping by.
Nice! Glad to see your books getting the recognition they deserve.
Ah, thank you!