Serendipity...the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way...
Well, I am the recipient of a serendipitous event. When I first wrote, "My Days with Nell', the cover of the book was different than subsequent covers. Originally, the beautiful Biltmore House was on the cover with the three main characters looking on at her beauty and grandeur. As per an agreement with the wonderful folks at Biltmore and their attorneys, we agreed to use that cover for the first printing only. After our first printing sold out in 8 weeks, we ordered more. The next cover was gorgeous as well... as the girls now overlooked the beautiful Deer Park and Pisgah Mountain in the distance. As those sold, it was time for another printing. My publisher and I were so excited to place the order for our third printing. However, due to a mistake in the ordering process, this order of books arrived with the House back on the cover. It was truly an honest mistake and my publisher was devastated at her mistake. She mourned over it for days before she told me what had happened. After all, it is expensive to have books printed, especially hard back, full color books. Knowing that we could not sell the books or profit from them in any way, the publisher knew she had two options...1. The books would have to be destroyed. 2. Offer them to Biltmore as a gift. There was no other way. She wrote a lovely letter to Biltmore explaining what had happened, and to our delight, they accepted the entire third printing for their stores to sell. Financially, this was not the best thing for the publisher or me since we will not receive any compensation or royalties at all. However, as far as I am concerned, writing "My Days with Nell" was never done for monetary reasons. I just want my book in Biltmore's hands. I am honored they have consistently carried the book since 2013, when it was released. It was a dream come true for them to embrace my children's book and I am and will always be grateful to them for accepting my work. For everyone else, you will have the opportunity to purchase the book as it was in its original form.... with our Lady on the Hill proudly on the cover. Virginia Palmer, my wonderful friend and illustrator, is so very talented and her work is unbelievably beautiful. So if you're at Biltmore, you might want to pick up a copy... cause when these are gone... They're gone!
