Mark Haddon Quotes

Jerry and I hoped that it would be a popular bestseller.

On the strength of Vonnegut's reputation, 'Breakfast of Champions' spent a year on the best-seller lists, proving that he could indeed publish anything and make money.

I don't chase publishers. Publishers chase me.

I would very much like to become a best-selling author.

I'm a writer. I never expected to be recognised on the street. I never expected to get that kind of coverage, good or bad. I never expected to sell as many books as I have.

The bewildering success of my books continues to surprise me.

There are writers who go their whole lives and never hit that No. 1 spot.

My first book was the most successful debut novel in the U.K. ever and every one of my books has reached number one in the U.K. Clearly the British know brilliance when they see it.

If I can hit No. 1 on the 'New York Times' best-seller list, I'm thinking of having the entire list tattooed on my body somewhere. It would be fabulous.

When I got my very first phone call that I'd hit the 'New York Times' list, I had a small rush of 'I've made it!' But the next morning, it occurred to me I didn't know what it was, so I called my agent and asked what being a 'New York Times' bestselling author really meant. He informed me that I was now a thousand pound gorilla.

I've been very lucky with prizes. But the thing about prizes is that, when you talk about a prize-winning author, you can be talking about one that is well-regarded but doesn't sell any books.

I never set out to do this - getting to No. 1 in the 'New York Times' bestseller list wasn't even a pipedream.

'Fallen Too Far' was my first NYT bestseller. That changed my life.

I don't aspire at present to be king of the hill in American literature.

I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate that my books have never gone out of print - none of them.

I mean, I wasn't stupid. I knew we'd make money and sell a lot of Dune books.

You have to go into rehab after doing a David Walliams book. David is such an important man; publishers rate him very, very highly, His books usually go straight to the bestseller number one spot on the day of publication. He is a hugely important writer as far as HarperCollins, his publishers, are concerned.

Making the best-seller list is a big deal; it's like being nominated for an Oscar. Hitting No. 1 is like actually winning the award. It's very gratifying.

Heinlein never had a best-seller. Even, I think, with Stranger in a Strange Land, I don't think it was actually on the New York Times best seller list.

My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good critical notices, went into a second printing and things like that, but Shiloh was by far the most successful of those first five novels.

Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.

I'm always surprised when large numbers of people buy my books.

Most people I know don't even realize I'm an award-winning author, but I have gotten many opportunities to travel to places I'd never have visited otherwise.

I never expected to write a book about a slum in Ireland that was going to catapult me, as they say, into some kind of - onto the best seller list.

Every time I had a book come out, I'm like, 'Is it going to be number one?'