Daughter Makes Her Dad's Book A Bestseller By Advertising It To Millions Online Without Him Knowing
Her dad cries after hearing of his book's success.
TikTok A 74-year-old author had an emotional reaction to the newfound success of his crime thriller.
Lloyd Devereux Richards's daughter has made the book a viral success after sharing a video urging followers to purchase her dad's beloved book.
'Stone Maidens' by Lloyd Devereux Richard is now an Amazon best-seller.
After 14 years of writing and 11 years after publishing with no sales, Lloyd’s "Stone Maidens" is an immediate bestseller following his daughter Marguerite uploading a TikTok about his book. The initial video currently has 43.9 million views on TikTok.
“He worked full time and his kids came first. But made time for his book,” Marguerite shared in the video over John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy.”
“I’d love for him to get some sales. He doesn’t even know what TikTok is,” she added at the end of the 16-second video.
Many users posted positive comments.
“I just bought one!” wrote one user.
“Just ordered the book from Norway, can’t wait to read it!” wrote another user.
Numerous people commented that it was sold out on Amazon. However, it is now available again and is number 15 on Amazon’s “Top 20 Most Sold & Most Read Books of the Week” for February 12th.
In the following TikTok Marguerite uploaded, she shared that her dad still did not know of his virality. She then shared his reaction to TikTok of learning the news, which garnered over 7.2 million views.
“He’s so overwhelmed,” she wrote on the video.
Lloyd scrolled through the positive comments uploaded to the initial TikTok video as his daughter told him "Stone Maidens" is currently the best-selling serial killer book on Amazon.
He took off his glasses and wiped tears from his eyes, declaring he needed a nap.
“He’s been saying thank you all morning,” she wrote.
Lloyd’s book follows an FBI anthropologist in Chicago who is trying to solve a case of a serial killer strangling young women and leaving a stone statue as a calling card.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Lloyd shared that the story was inspired by hearing of women disappearing in forests in the Midwest while he attended law school at Indiana University in the mid-1970s.
Amazon buyers have rated his novel 4.8 out of five stars.
In a subsequent reaction video, Lloyd and Marguerite drink milkshakes in a car celebrating his recent success.
“These last couple of days, I can’t understand it,” Lloyd said. “I feel blessed.”
In addition to The Washington Post, Marguerite shared that she and her father have been giving numerous press interviews after going viral.
In an article by People Magazine, they share that Lloyd was skeptical of his daughter’s plan to boost his book sales. Fortunately, Marguerite was adamant that it was worth a try; the rest is history.
The account she created for his book has over 319,000 followers just nine days after uploading the first TikTok on February 7th.
Many people in the comments share how sweet of a person they think Lloyd is and that his success has made them emotional.
“This world is cruel and to see this sweet man get some happiness makes me so happy,” one user wrote.
“I cried with him when he cried seeing the video you made of him,” another user wrote.
Lloyd and Marguerite’s story demonstrates the power of social media. A novel written over a decade ago by a former law clerk has become an overnight success all due to a 16-second video combined with his daughter’s belief in the power of his writing.
In a TikTok uploaded on February 14th, following his book becoming the current best-selling serial killer book on Amazon, Marguerite asked her dad, “What’s your number one writing tip?”
“Write, you rewrite, and write it again,” Lloyd responded. “And never give up.”
Ethan Cotler is a writer living in Boston. He writes on entertainment and news.