Lloyd Devereux Richards took 14 years to write his novel “Stone Maidens”.
Now, 11 years after his book was published, it is the number one book on Amazon in the serial killer/thriller genre – all thanks to his daughter.
Hoda and Jenna’s co-host Jenna Bush Hager told TODAY, “Her path to literary stardom has been nothing short of a social media miracle.”
Just two weeks ago, Richards’ daughter, Marguerite Richards, posted a video on TikTok to “introduce the world” to her father and his novel. Sales of Richards’ novel had plummeted—Marguerite Richards simply hoped that TikTok might help bring “a few more people to read her father’s work”.
The video has since been viewed over 47 million times. Last week, Lloyd Richards went from having almost no sales in nearly a decade to being the author of the number one book on Amazon.
Richards joined Jenna and Willie Geist in Studio 1A on Friday, February 24.
Asked how it feels to have a number one novel and the acclaim of millions of viewers, Lloyd Richards says it is “tremendous, still”.
Lloyd Richards said, “I’m very grateful to him and to everyone here.” “It wouldn’t have been possible without my daughter and her love and my support.”
Marguerite Richards told Jenna and Willie that she “grew up writing to my dad” so she “knew how much time he put into it.”
The proud daughter explained, “He’d work all day, come home, have dinner with me and my brothers and spend time with us and grab little pockets of writing.” “When it was published, we were very excited—very proud of him.”
Over the next 11 years, Marguerite Richards continued, “there weren’t a lot of followers or readers,” but she noted that her father was never negative and “always remained positive.”
“Actually, he kept writing,” she said.
So when her father completed the sequel to his novel, Marguerite Richards said it touched her as well as broke her heart because “nobody had read his first book.”
That’s when he turned to TikTok – or as his father calls it, “Tik-Tak”.
“I was just kind of passing by, making a video without knowing it and I made an account and posted it, and no one knew it,” she explained. “Just in the hope that some people will read his first book – that’s what I was hoping for.”
Lloyd Richards says he is “speechless” when he reflects on the success of his daughter’s TikTok videos and her recent debut novel.
“So many people were talking to me like that, it gave me a completely different opinion,” he explained. “I didn’t know that young people wanted to read a book like me or that they loved reading so much. It’s as if they’re actually reading, and it really touched me — that if people want to read books So our country is in good condition.
The ever-humble author, Lloyd Richards came armed with not only two inscribed copies of his novel for Jenna and Willie, but his own list of book recommendations, which he says are “excellent reads,” based on his own There were “no” like novels. Really well aired.
He highlighted “The Damned in New England” by Joseph A. Citro, “What Remains of Her” by Erik Rickstad, and “State of Redemption” by Richard McKeown.
In addition to being the number one book on Amazon, Lloyd Richards also learned that his book would be featured in the “Shop at 30 Rock”.
“We have an entire window dedicated to ‘Stone Maidens,’ so visitors can stop by and buy it in person,” Jenna revealed. “Then maybe you can come and sing, what do you think about that?
“Certainly,” said the author.
