𝗼𝗼𝗽𝘀, zach herron

one million

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never, ever, in one million years did i think i would be writing this. not once did i even contemplate that this book would have amassed one million reads.

and in under a year. on october the 28th, 2018, 13 and 23 days old jessica sat down in the very seat i'm sat in right now and decided to write a book on my idols. i was surprised when people started to read it, even if it was just 10 reads. but the fact that in under a year i hit one million. i just genuinely can't process it.

when i finished this book in january, it had gotten 358 thousand reads, 5 thousand comments and 8 thousand votes. that alone was crazy. so many chaoters have 10k or over reads and thats just amazing by itself, like wow.

i think it has always been on pure luck and chance that it was that book which became successful, out of all the why don't we books on wattpad. it gave me so much, and when it hit one million at 11:11 on the 7th of august 2019, i have never felt so grateful in my life.

alex and the cast of oops will forever be my ride or die fictional characters. my forever favourites, the first set of characters which i emotionally connected with and felt so much love and joy from writing.

i feel like i have to write a paragraph thanking alex, despite me writing her. she's always had something which drew me to her, which stopped me from giving up on this book. she's gone through so much before meeting zach, her backstory has barely been revealed though.

alex is my little ball of sunshine, all the happiness and excitement i feel about things fit into one characters personality. from the boybands to the love of high school musical. i think she deserves a whole ass chapter on why i love her and why this is all because of her, but i'm emotional enough as it is writing just this, so i'll continue on.

oops didn't just create this amazing universe for people to read and immerse themselves in, but it also made my life a better place. if i hadn't created this book, i wouldn't know one of my friends, tee.

i most definitely have to dedicate a paragraph to her ( -loserherron ) because honestly, most of the time i'm not sure what i would do without her. she's endured my mental breakdowns over boybands, listened to my rants and helped me with so much. without her, i don't know where i would be, but probably not right here writing this.

she's one of the sweetest people i have ever had the chance to talk to, and without this book i would never have been able to take that chance. she's 100% my biggest supporter and i have no clue what would happen with most of my books without her. i remember when her and another good friend of mine, bee, started a comment thread on one of my books about a high school musical song - we're all in this together, to be exact.

then, tee created a chatroom for limelights, where slowly, it grew from me, her and bee to a lot of other people, and we still talk on it now ( although it's a little more dead now ). that was created in january and since then there has been several versions of it, probably hundred of thousands of comments and several friends made from it.

so tee, thanks a lot, for absolutely everything you've done for me, it really means a lot. i'm so grateful for you and you honestly deserve the world.

but overall, one million wouldn't have been possible without you reading it. a million is a crap ton of reads, and just imagining how many individual people that must be makes my brain hurt.

most comments mean the absolute world, as do votes. and in november when i started to get both of them, it was almost like i had reached whatever goal i had set for my book right then. people were reading and enjoying my writing, which was all that mattered.

they enjoyed my writing, even when it was barely developed and i was just trying to get as many chapters out so that people didn't get bored. on chapter eight, i was thanking people for 270 reads, and it feels not only like a lifetime ago, but such a tiny number in comparison to what i have achieved now.

270 to one million. one zero to six. in less then a year.

i set myself a goal, that i didn't even consider i would reach and only made it for a joke. that i would hit one million by my birthday, october 5th. 59 days before that, today, i hit that goal which i made as a joke.

i have so many emotions and so much more which i could write, but it's long enough, and i'm getting emotional. i just want to thank every single one of you, for reading and supporting this book.

get ready for a lot more, because i'm not just stopping at book two or three.

thank you, i love you all, jess.

p.s if you even think for a second that you should stop writing because you're not gaining reads, stop right there. if you like writing enough to continue without the motivation of reads or comments, you have already achieved the goal of one million in my eyes.

don't forget i'm always here if you need to talk, just pm me and i'll be here to talk. i'll read your books for you, help you with anything. i'm here. i promise.

p.p.s shine, dream, smile 💜