In 1993, sitting in a free campus therapy session, Elin Hilderbrand was ready to pack her bags and go home. The constant feeling of no one believing in her writing was overwhelming. The classroom had nude walls with no windows. The desk was made of cold metal that sent chills down your body when it touched your skin.
The professor crumpled the dozens of pages Elin Hilderbrand had in a crisp folder. Elin would find herself crying for hours, comparing herself to classmates, and standing at a dead end in her writing.
She attended a free therapy session that the University of Iowa offered to all students. Elin told the therapist how she missed her husband and their home on Nantucket and didn’t know what to do going forward.
The therapist looked at Hilderbrand and said, “I think you know exactly what you need to do.” Hilderbrand thought the therapist meant to pack her stuff and go home. Instead, she explained to Hilderbrand she needed to write about her beloved Nantucket.
Elin turned in her first story on Nantucket to her professor. A guest publisher came to the class and demanded to talk to the student who had written about Nantucket. The stars had finally aligned, and the publisher happened to have grown up on Nantucket. Elin signed with the publisher that day.
Her writing career was like a flame being lit. While finishing school, Elin had her first baby and her first book. The author's life wasn’t as glamorous as she had imagined it. She was traveling with a newborn. She was paying for her own book tours. Her first book was “The Beach Club”.
The numbers were not meeting the success she needed. It was evident that she was not the most important author to the publisher. This did not stop her. This made her work harder.
Consistency is key.
After signing with a new publisher, Elin felt the support of the Little Brown Books company. They turned the next 23 books into best sellers. The hard work that went into each book paid off in 2019 she became a number one best-selling author.
Hilderbrand felt she had a unique mindset than other authors. It was to write like no one knew her name. Every book she put out had to be better than the last. In the writing process, editing was done more than writing.
Hilderbrand exclaimed, “There are no duds in my catalog. I work, I revise, I revise. I edit, edit, edit. I put so much work into each book until it is perfect.” Some Authors think their fame will sell their next book. Even in bad years, she made sure the books were still like it was the first.
She would feel her fingers glide off the keyboard. Her eyes would feel like a thousand pounds weighing down. The persistence and consistency got her to the top of the charts today.
While these accomplishments are unimaginable Elin is quick to remind you she has had her struggles as well. She is a breast cancer survivor, experienced a divorce after 18 years, and has worked more than she has played.
She has learned to fight like a woman. The scars symbolize winning as they lay on her skin. The pain has inspired her to continue to work harder.
She plans to retire her writing skills after her 30th book comes out. Elin’s final book will be published in the Summer of 2023. This does not mean that her career is over. She will be helping her daughter write books along with still going on book tours.
Elin gets home at the end of each day of writing and begins her most important job. She said,” Being a mother is always first in her heart.” She would have her daughter lay on her chest while she would write as a baby.
A bottle of warm milk in one hand and a pen in the other.
It just became a part of who her children were. Her two children inspire different situations in her stories. She features her son's life experiences in “28 Summers” as the character link. The character tours many southern schools including Auburn University.
This summer Elin and her daughter will travel south to tour Auburn University. Her daughter, Shelby, is now writing about her experiences at boarding school in hopes to continue that into her college career as well.
When both of her children are out of the house, she said she plans to use her free days enjoying Nantucket. Waking up to the warm sun on her skin and hearing the waves crash along the shore is a perfect day.
You can find Elin enjoying a Barre class in the morning and relaxing with a drink at the White Elephant bar in the evening.
The hills and valleys that Elin experiences in life have exceeded what she envisioned sitting in that classroom at the University of Iowa.
