British writer romances Apple iBooks US charts with self-published love story
19 year old budding British author Billy Taylor is smashing Apple iBooks US charts against all odds with his self-published love story. Just Friends has made it into the ‘Top 10' of the Apple iBooks US charts and is showing no sign of going anywhere fast. The story's immediate popularity with American readers has seen it net over 25,000 sales in just two months.
The popularity of Taylor's love story quickly attracted the attention of Apple iBooks US who contacted the young author to officially launch the book on their homepage. As well as sales gaining momentum there have been over 1300 reviews rating the story over five stars. Fans in the US are already pleading for it to be made into a movie, and it seems that Taylor's luck is ready to extend to the UK market.
IMAGE: 19 year old Billy Taylor and his first, self published novel, Just Friends
A spokesperson for Apple iBooks US said, "We recently launched a feature title, Best Books of 2016 So Far and we selected Just Friends to be featured in our "Standout Debuts". We were very selective about what books we chose and I'm so thrilled Just Friends is one that was really a no brainer for us".
Taylor's romantic novel is based on two best friends who find themselves wrapped up in magic, fame, fortune and an un-explainable miracle in a car accident. With a 4.5 star rating on Apple iBooks UK site too - the young, British, self-published writer is hoping that he will see similar success in the UK in the coming months.
Billy Taylor, author of Just Friends said, "The first idea for the book originally came from a dream, when I sat down and started making notes and putting bits together, I realised I actually had what I thought was great storyline. I researched what I would need to do to publish it myself and then I started to write. I was working at the time, so every break I had I was sat at my laptop typing. I took a leap of faith and quit my job to focus on finishing the story".
Taylor continues, "On March 31st 2016, Just Friends was released. I was publishing the romantic novel myself; so set a goal of selling 1,000 books. Just 1000. That, to me, would have been enough for me to feel that the story was a success. Now, 3 months on, I have sold over 25,000 copies. To say that I am overwhelmed is understatement!"