--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My second book, Follow Me Down had some…" description: "\"My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good critical notices, went into a second printing and things like that, but Shiloh was by far the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/shelby-foote-13013_book_my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-s_1499429.png" --- # My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good… ![“My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good critical notices, went into a second printing and things like that, but Shiloh was by far the most successful of those first five novels.” quote by Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/shelby-foote-13013_book_my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-s_1499429.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/shelby-foote-13013_book_my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-s_1499429.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/shelby-foote-13013_book_my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-s_1499429.png) > “My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good critical notices, went into a second printing and things like that, but Shiloh was by far the most successful of those first five novels.” [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author notes that while one work saw moderate success, another earlier novel achieved far greater acclaim. **In simple terms:** One early novel was the most successful. Key Takeaway Recognize early achievements. Themes success literary history comparison humility Mood proud thoughtful Type reflective analytical When to use this quote - marketing strategies - author branding - publishing decisions Key Concepts career trajectory public reception critical acclaim Questions to Reflect On - How do you measure success beyond sales? - What lessons can be drawn from early triumphs? A Different Perspective Success can be fleeting and unpredictable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Critical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critical/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five/) [Follow me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/follow-me/) [Follow Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/follow-success-219455/) [Like Shiloh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-shiloh-5493932/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Printing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/printing/) [Second Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-book-498010/) [Second Printing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-printing-5493933/) [Shiloh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shiloh/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Successful Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful-novels-5493931/) ## Related quotes > [Shiloh is a wonderfully dramatic battle. The leader of one side is killed, and the other one is going on to glory, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/shiloh-is-a-wonderfully-dramatic-battle-the-leader-of-one-side-is/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Inevitable: Best word to follow Success is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nd/inevitable-best-word-to-follow-success-is/) [Nd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nd/) > [Everyone wants to follow a success formula but none wants to make one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/everyone-wants-to-follow-a-success-formula-but-none-wants-to-make-one/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I think we got off the track, as many societies do, who follow successfully one aim, and yet are not capable of seeing at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/i-think-we-got-off-the-track-as-many-societies-do-who-follow/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Successful people follow successful patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sterling-w-sill/successful-people-follow-successful-patterns/) [Sterling W Sill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sterling-w-sill/) > [With me the players will probably have less time free during the week, but at the end of the day I have always said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-di-canio/with-me-the-players-will-probably-have-less-time-free-during-the-week/) [Paolo di Canio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-di-canio/) > [“If I think too hard about it, I get lost...He should probably be here instead of me. But the thing is--I'm really glad to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowell-rainbow/if-i-think-too-hard-about-it-i-get-lost-he-should-probably-be-here/) [ROWELL RAINBOW](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowell-rainbow/) > [“...if he were in his right mind. Shiloh knew that his father had taken a left turn at some point, however, and there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrianna-scovill/if-he-were-in-his-right-mind-shiloh-knew-that-his-father-had-taken-a/) [Adrianna Scovill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrianna-scovill/) > […and I’m thinking how nothing is as simple as you guess-not right or wrong, not Judd Travers, not even me or this dog I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-reynolds-naylor/and-i-m-thinking-how-nothing-is-as-simple-as-you-guess-not-right-or/) [Phyllis Reynolds Naylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-reynolds-naylor/) > [The industrial way of life leads to the industrial way of death. From Shiloh to Dachau, from Antietam to Stalingrad, from Hiroshima to Vietnam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/the-industrial-way-of-life-leads-to-the-industrial-way-of-death-from/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“The door wasn’t closing. Shiloh’s spirit opened up as she considered the possibilities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-hawkins-adams/the-door-wasn-t-closing-shiloh-s-spirit-opened-up-as-she-considered/) [Stacy Hawkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-hawkins-adams/) > [“The ground had opened up and spit out hell, Nell thought, and the detritus was Shiloh.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-brickl/the-ground-had-opened-up-and-spit-out-hell-nell-thought-and-the/) [Kelsey Brickl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-brickl/) > [Foemen at morn, but friends at eve Fame or country least their care: (What like a bullet can undeceive!) But now they lie low,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/foemen-at-morn-but-friends-at-eve-fame-or-country-least-their-care/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Shiloh had as many casualties as Waterloo, and yet there were another 20 Waterloos to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/shiloh-had-as-many-casualties-as-waterloo-and-yet-there-were-another/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [“Shiloh, but it sorely disappointed the Century editors. Written in Grant’s pithy style, it was arid and compact and read like a bloodless report.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/shiloh-but-it-sorely-disappointed-the-century-editors-written-in/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) ## More by Shelby Foote > [A fact is not a truth until you love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/a-fact-is-not-a-truth-until-you-love-it/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Of all the passions of mankind, the love of novelty most rules the mind. In search of this, from realm to realm we roam.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/of-all-the-passions-of-mankind-the-love-of-novelty-most-rules-the/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [“For my part I consider the central idea pervading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us of proving that popular government is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/for-my-part-i-consider-the-central-idea-pervading-this-struggle-is/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I think making mistakes and discovering them for yourself is of great value, but to have someone else to point out your mistakes is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-think-making-mistakes-and-discovering-them-for-yourself-is-of-great/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I began the way nearly everybody I ever heard of - I began writing poetry. And I find that to be quite usual with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-began-the-way-nearly-everybody-i-ever-heard-of-i-began-writing/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [“He is the kind of person I should expect to rescue one from a mad dog at any risk but then insist on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/he-is-the-kind-of-person-i-should-expect-to-rescue-one-from-a-mad-dog/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I never cared what kind of grade I got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-never-cared-what-kind-of-grade-i-got/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [And I'm a slow writer: five, six hundred words is a good day. That's the reason it took me 20 years to write those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/and-i-m-a-slow-writer-five-six-hundred-words-is-a-good-day-that-s-the/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [If you want to study writing, read Dickens. That's how to study writing, or Faulkner, or D.H. Lawrence, or John Keats. They can teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/if-you-want-to-study-writing-read-dickens-that-s-how-to-study-writing/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I've never shown anybody a draft of anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-ve-never-shown-anybody-a-draft-of-anything/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I ran into Ku Klux Klan and the threat of hurricanes, and those two things made me decide not to build on the Alabama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-ran-into-ku-klux-klan-and-the-threat-of-hurricanes-and-those-two/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [I took five years on the first volume, five years on the second volume, and ten years on the third volume.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/i-took-five-years-on-the-first-volume-five-years-on-the-second-volume/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Grant was something rare in that or any war. He could learn from experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/grant-was-something-rare-in-that-or-any-war-he-could-learn-from/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [Getting close to books, and spending time by myself, I was obliged to think about things I would never have thought about if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/getting-close-to-books-and-spending-time-by-myself-i-was-obliged-to/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) > [“Right now I'm thinking a good deal about emancipation. One of our sins was slavery, another was emancipation. It's a paradox. In theory, emancipation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/right-now-i-m-thinking-a-good-deal-about-emancipation-one-of-our-sins/) [Shelby Foote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) [Explore all 52 Shelby Foote quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good critical notices, went into a second printing and things like that, but Shiloh was by far the most successful of those first five novels.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shelby Foote" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-success-got-good-critical/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-success-got-good-critical/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/shelby-foote-13013_book_my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-s_1499429.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/shelby-foote-13013_book_my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-s_1499429.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9f/shelby-foote-13013_book_my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-s_1499429.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My second book, Follow Me Down had some success, got good critical notices, went into a second printing and…” — Shelby Foote", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Shelby Foote", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-foote/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My second book, Follow Me Down...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-success-got-good-critical/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-foote/my-second-book-follow-me-down-had-some-success-got-good-critical/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```