Writing a bestseller isn’t easy. The market is unpredictable and misses are far more common than hits. It’s almost impossible to know what’s going to take off. Who would’ve thought boy wizards could enchant entire countries or that angsty vampires would drain parents’ pockets worldwide. Who expected to be tantalised by badly written S&M? All the basis of blockbuster books, but could anyone have guessed?
Graeme Simsion probably didn’t guess the world was going to adore Don Tillman, the looking-for-love genetics professor with undiagnosed Asperger’s in his debut novel, The Rosie Project. He might not have intended to, but Simsion wrote a bestseller through a combination of planning, support and hard work. Oh, and a little talent as well.
