From iUniverse to Simon & Schuster

Lisa Genova never imaged that, after earning her doctorate from Harvard University and becoming a successful neuroscientist, she would leave it all behind to pursue a career in writing. Lisa’s background in neuroscience and knowledge of brain disorders served as the basis for her three New York Times bestselling novels: Still Alice, Left Neglected and Love Anthony. She self-published her debut novel, Still Alice, with iUniverse. Simon & Schuster acquired Still Alice and it debuted at No. 5 on the New York Times bestseller list and spent over 40 weeks on that chart. Today, there are over 1 million copies in print, and it has been translated into 25 languages.

The Story Behind Still Alice

When Lisa’s grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, she felt it was her duty as a neuroscientist to research the disorder as much as possible. The family learned a lot of useful information but couldn’t find a resource that told them how it felt to live with Alzheimer’s. This notion was the seed for Still Alice.

“The more research I did, the more important it became to me to tell the truth about living with Alzheimer’s,” said Lisa.

After sending out several query letters and receiving rejections in return, Lisa decided to self-publish her book with iUniverse. Through a series of events, Lisa acquired a literary agent who sold the rights to the book to Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Life After Acquisition

Lisa is currently writing her fourth book about a family living with Huntington’s disease. She speaks at events around the world and has appeared on several national TV shows. Still Alice is currently being produced into a major motion picture – starring Kristen Stewart, Julianne Moore, Kate Bosworth and Alec Baldwin – and is set to release in 2015. For more information about Lisa Genova’s books and speaking engagements, visit www.LisaGenova.com, her blog, Facebook and Twitter.