Fame & Fortune: Thriller author Harlan Coben He sleeps well by keeping you up nights
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Bankrate: Do you kid each other about it?

Coben: We do it all the time. My wife came home the other day and she was wearing this outfit to my book opening, and she said, "I can't believe I got this top for $14.99" or whatever, and I said "Aachh, who cares anymore?" But she still feels that way; she still wants to find the bargain. It's hard to break that habit.

Bankrate: Do you think you'll ever feel wealthy?

Coben: I think I can. I do look around this house we're living in and we're putting in a pool. It's just not what I'm used to. This house was built in 1865, and I mean my forefathers were being attacked by Cossacks and being chased around Russia then. It's great though. People often ask what are the downsides of being a big writer, and my real answer is nothing. It's a lot better than not being; trust me, I've been both. I had very lean years at the beginning. My first Myron Bolitar book, I got an advance of $5,000 on. I was just happy to be published. Then it's oh, can I get two books, oh can I get a career out of it, oh can I be a best-seller? Now the books are in 34 languages, they've hit No. 1 in 12 different countries. It's really cool.

Bankrate: You worked extensively in the travel industry out of college, right?

Coben: It was a travel club, and my grandfather owned the company. It was nepotism, pure and simple. He was getting older and I basically ran it for him from 1984 when I graduated college, and I stopped in 1992. We specialized in setting up trips overseas. I was paid a salary, and I would go over and find hotels in Rome and negotiate the best rate I could get for 30 people to come for a week, and then I would contact Alitalia or Pan Am to try to work out a deal for airfare and put a trip together. It sounds better than it was; it was kind of lonely. But it was good.

Bankrate: Did you start to write during that period?

Coben: I had started to write. One of the reasons I ended up working there was I started my senior year in college to write a book and I was all set to go to law school at the University of Chicago, and I was sort of talked out of it by my grandfather, who said, "Look, if you go to law school, you probably won't write." So I took the job and I started to write in my spare time. It was a lot better than being a lawyer. I did not take any writing classes. I was a political science major, which was a euphemism for: I have no idea what I want to do.

Bankrate: When did you know it was going to be viable to be a full-time writer?

Coben: Umm, I don't know. I really moved up the ladder slowly. Certainly "Tell No One" was when I knew this was a good financial move, my first New York Times best-seller. I had been making a living at it a year or two before that, but it was tough in the beginning. My first couple books were just mass-market originals, they weren't even hard covers. Now they're best-sellers in all those countries. It's been a difficult climb.

Bankrate: Did you celebrate that breakthrough in any way?

Coben: In every way. I've learned that one of the great things about starting low is you have a true appreciation for everything that happens, that a writer who immediately hits the best-seller list will never understand. For instance, I like going on book tours, because I remember the days when my publisher would never send me on book tour or spend any money on me. So when a lot of people show up for my book signings, I still take time to look at it and appreciate it.

Bankrate: What have you enjoyed most about your financial success?

Coben: First of all, college for the kids is pretty much taken care of. I sleep at night knowing that I really could do whatever I need to do. I'm not one to buy extra houses, buy a yacht or get a private plane. It's just not in my personality yet, but you grow into these things, so who knows? It really is about, when my wife and I are looking at something and thinking we really shouldn't get it, we can just do it. We shouldn't have to worry about it anymore. The hard part, of course, is that you want to make sure you raise your children not to take anything for granted. That's harder than anything else. But I think my parents complained about that with me, and their parents complained about that with them, so I don't think that's a new thing.

Jay MacDonald is a contributing editor based in Mississippi.