Helen Santmyer published "...And Ladies of the Club" when she was in her 80s. According to Wikipedia, she had been writing the book for decades, and had little publishing experience some fifty years earlier. The story of its success is quite interesting (condensed from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22...And_Ladies_of_the_Club%22):
"The Press published the novel, printed 1,500 copies and sold a few hundred, priced at $35, mostly to libraries. Ladies was awarded the 1983 Ohioana Book Award in the category of fiction, but otherwise gained little attention at the time.
One local library patron, in returning the book, told the librarian that it was the greatest novel she had ever read. Another patron overheard this and checked the book out herself. After reading it, she agreed with the assessment and called her son in Hollywood. Unable to find a copy in California, he ordered one directly from the publisher and agreed that it had great potential. He and a Hollywood friend purchased movie, TV and republication rights. The literary head of the William Morris Agency held an auction for the book, which was won by G. P. Putnam's Sons to republish the book. Before republication, the Book-of-the-Month club chose Ladies as their main selection. Suddenly, Santmyer and her novel were a media sensation, including front-page coverage in the New York Times. The paperback edition, published by Berkley Books in 1985, sold more than 2 million copies between June and September, making it the best-selling paperback in history at the time."
Santmyer died in early 1986 at age 90. It's a moving story.
