The story is one of commonplace information, but Stephenie Meyer's initial book deal for the first three Twilight series novels (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse) was a staggering one for any author - much less a former housewife with no publication experience.
In this interview, "head of Warner Books Larry Kirschbaum reveals his skepticism about signing then-unknown Stephenie Meyer . . . It’s worth noting that in the end Kirschbaum signed off on the deal that led to the Twilight phenomenon — though he also says he advised another Warner author, Detroit-based sports columnist Mitch Albom, to 'stick to sports' and watched as Albom went to rival Doubleday for the non-sports book that would become megahit Tuesdays With Morrie."
Says Kirschbaum, "I can tell you one great story which is when the books by Stephenie Meyer were submitted to us toward the end of my stay at Time Warner, it was a very very large deal. It was three books for six figures - a very significant six figures - and I was very skeptical . . ."
The story goes to show that Kirschbaum's tendencies to trust editors and their gut instincts is a strategy that worked out well for him.
