A first novel for YA readers that came in on the slush pile at the desk of Jodi Reamer at Writers House—and was spotted by a sharp-eyed assistant—became an object of great interest to no fewer than eight publishers willing to bid on it. Unfortunately for them, Megan Tingley, associate publisher and editor-in-chief at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, got an early look at the manuscript, reading it on a business flight to the Coast just before Thanksgiving, and was able to come in swiftly with a large six-figure offer, the biggest the division has ever made to a first novelist, for a world rights three-book deal. The title in question was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, a teen vampire novel being described as "Anne Rice for teens."