Photo courtesy of Samantha Sotto
Samantha Sotto is nonplussed. On Sunday, Sept. 18, she is set to speak in a panel discussion with fellow Random House authors Andy Mulligan and Alex Yates during the 2011 Manila International Book Fair ongoing at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.
"I just learned about it!" Sotto said last week during a freewheeling meet-up with members of the Freelance Writers Association of the Philippines in a cozy café in Quezon City.
She is unsure what it is she's supposed to talk about but laughed when she realized the absurdity of not knowing.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you must know by now of Samantha Sotto, the 38-year-old "bus driver" of a mom who wrote her first novel, "Before Ever After: A Novel" at a Starbucks in Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City during the space of a school year as she waited for her son to be dismissed for the day at the Ateneo.
Of course, the bigger story is that she eventually sold her novel, to Random House in the U.S.
Paperback released with hardcover
What's just as big a story is the fact that in a rare move, Random House agreed to print the paperback of edition of her novel together with the hardcover because National Book Store had insisted on it, Sotto said. Often, publishers release paperbacks months after the hardcover, a process that has been hastened recently with the advent of e-books.
And as far as e-books are concerned, "Before Ever After" made the e-book bestseller list—leaving Random House wondering why, Sotto said with characteristic deprecation.
Well, why is easy to answer. (National Book Store sold out of both paperbacks and hardcover copies less than a month; so did Power Books. Sotto said Random House shipped in copies for the Book Fair.)
Why Sotto's book sells
First of all, who doesn't love a good story of hard work and serendipity? The first-time author, who said she never wrote creatively before in her life, wrote "Before Ever After" only because she was saddened by the ending of "Time Traveler's Wife," a bestseller written by another first-time author, Audrey Niffenegger. Sotto resolved to write the kind of story she liked.
When the novel was finished—written, J.K. Rowling-style, in a café in three-hour chunks while she waited for her son's classes to end—she researched the ins-and-outs of getting a book published in the U.S., trawled agents, lucked on one, spent another year rewriting the book—"Hindi na pala uso ang adjectives and adverbs"—before it saw print.
Second, Pinoys are extremely proud of their own—especially if they shine on the global stage. Hello, Shamsey Supsup. Hello, Random House, publisher of John Grisham, George R.R. Martin, whose epic fantasies have been made into the cult HBO series, "Game of Thrones," and now, Samantha Sotto, Pinay.
Third, Sotto is a diligent promoter. She has written recipes for recipe club from a recipe that's mentioned in her book. She dispensed dating advise for the singles site eHarmony "kasi love story daw" she said. She also gave an inspirational talk.
Second novel 80% complete
Next month, she will be in Singapore where the book will launch. She may opt out of U.S. launches because "finals na sa Ateneo" and so, must tutor her son.
And finally, her "platypus of a book—history na may magic na may love story, kulang na lang dance number" is sold mainly as a love story even if it isn't conventionally linear. It jumps back and forth in time as the protagonist, Shelley, tramps about Europe in search of a husband she believed had died three years before.
Sotto says that her second book, due last July, was hobbled by promotional commitments but it is 80% complete. "Love story din," she said.
"You're like a brand," she explained. "It's like you don't expect Nicholas Sparks to write a scary book, di ba? Later on you can experiment but when you're trying to establish a name for yourself, you have to go from strength to strength."
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