Part 5: Wait, Annabelle Got a Book Deal?

My checklist to publication. And look whose book is beating* Anthony Bourdain's!!! (*for a splendid moment in time)

Welcome back to WAGaBoD?, where I take you deep down the rabbit hole of “The Mango Tree” and how this book came to fruition. Need to catch up? Here are links to parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this series.

In part 4, I told you how I got my literary agent, the talented and luminous Kayla Lightner of Ayesha Pande Literary. Today, I’ll briefly explain how said agent helped me get on the publishing industry’s radar. And THEN some exciting announcements!

But first …

When Kayla and I had our initial meeting, she laid out a very specific plan for our first year together. That plan did not include selling my book. And for that I was grateful. I liked how my book felt in 2021, but I knew it needed more work. I knew it could be better, and I knew Kayla would help.

What her plan did include was a detailed checklist of things she and I needed to do. My Virgo heart loves a checklist, and my obsessive compulsive, rule-following brain loves structure. This was, for me, an ideal arrangement. Kayla said: Do this, this, this and this.

And I did.

Those “this-es” included:

• Start a website. Why? So editors, readers and my fives of adoring fans can easily find me. (The result: annabelleTM.com)

• Launch a personal newsletter. Why? To connect with readers directly and to make me less dependent on The News-Press or Naples Daily News, the media orgs where I previously worked, for building an audience. (The result: You’re reading it!)

• Get my writing into literary magazines and national outlets. Why? So when editors at publishing houses Google me, they find more than my restaurant reviews and chef profiles. So they can get a taste of my voice and the storytelling in my book. (The results: this story in Catapult magazine (which came out exactly two years ago today!), this one in The Washington Post, and this one in USA Today)

• Polish the heck out of my manuscript and put together a spellbinding proposal. Why? As Eminem put it “You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow /
  This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo.” Editors are busy people. A LOT of manuscripts and book proposals cross their desks. If mine wasn’t as fantastic as we could make it, it didn’t stand a chance. (The result: A multi-publishing-house auction for rights to my book and a deal with the editor of my dreams. (More on that in part 6! Stay tuned))

As for those announcements …

1. A(nna)b(elle) and A(nthony)B(ourdain)?!

It has been a wild and wonderful few weeks since we revealed THE MANGO TREE’s cover and launched preorders. In a special bonus edition of this newsletter, I explained the tremendous difference strong preorders can make for debut authors such as myself.

And y’all stepped up.

On Tuesday, my editor sent me an email with three exclamation points in the subject line. Three!!! The body of the email was one word: “Woohoo!” Below that word: a screenshot of Amazon’s “Hot New Releases.” And there was my book, two weeks out from the start of preorders, sitting pretty at No. 30 — NUMBER THIRTY!!! I about died. And then, I died-died. Two spots behind my book was the late Anthony Bourdain’s.

I, for this brief moment in time, on this fairly random Amazon book list, was No. 30. Anthony Bourdain, my hero, my icon, the reason I accepted my medical-school rejections and pursued a career in food and writing 20-some years ago, was No. 32. My name, my book, was proximal to his. It was/is incredible. And while it very well could mean absolutely nothing at all, I’m hoping (!!!) it's a good omen for things to come.

2. I love a sale!

If you haven’t yet preordered, or if you’d like to preorder more copies of THE MANGO TREE (one for the mailman, one for the beach, one for by the pool), there’s no time like today and tomorrow.

Barnes & Noble’s preorder sale is on through Friday, meaning B&N members (membership is free!) get 25% off all preorders made during this window. Just click here and use code PREORDER25. If you have lots of MANGO TREE copies and are looking for more exciting books to keep your future self company, some upcoming releases I’m psyched about include:

The Heartbreak Years by Minda Honey

Wellness by Naples-based author Nathan Hill

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways by Brittany Means

Rules for Rule Breaking by Talia Tucker

That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally

For even more recommendations for books coming out next year, checked out the @2024debuts page on Instagram.

3. I’m doing a li’l food writing again :)

When I took a buyout and parted ways with The News-Press and Naples Daily News in December, I wanted a clean break from food writing. I planned to take a year-long sabbatical from the format. I hoped to let Robyn Holmes and Diana Biederman, the clever and lovely writers who’ve taken over my role as restaurant critic at The NP and NDN, have their space. And then a former colleague made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

For Gulfshore Life’s visitors guide issue this month, I wrote about the strip-mall restaurants that have come to define this part of the Sunshine State. How we as Southwest Floridians care less about what’s on the walls and more about what’s on the plates. Find the story here. As for that former colleague, you’re welcome, and my invoice is in the mail <3