Author Shelly Peiken: Confessions Of A Serial Songwriter Nominated for 2018 Grammy Award

"Thank you, universe! I guess I WASN'T crazy thinking I could write this book." That was hit songwriter Shelly Peiken's first thought after hearing news thatthe audiobook of her Confessions of a Serial Songwriter had been nominated for the 2018 GRAMMY® Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Her response recalled the warnings, "You think breaking into the music industry was hard? Wait until you get a taste of the PUBLISHING industry." Peiken says of her drive to write "the little book that could," "I just had a feeling. I believed in the story so strongly that I think the universe conspired to make it happen."

Peiken-whose songs have been recorded by Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Keith Urban, Mandy Moore, Brandy, Celine Dion, Joe Cocker, INXS, Meredith Brooks, Backstreet Boys and Reba McEntire, among many others--was rewarded when the book attracted a robust following. Readers frequently noted the intimacy Peiken had achieved; they expressed their feelings with comments like, "It was kind of like sitting on a couch with a glass of wine listening to her telling all her best juicy stories."

Legendary songwriter Cynthia Weil ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'") referenced "the conversational tone of your BFF" in her blurb for Confessions of a Serial Songwriter. Another blurb, from acclaimed music writer David Wild, namechecked Nora Ephron. This sentiment was enormously meaningful to the author, so she decided to see if she could further her audience connection with an audiobook.

Though Confessions of a Serial Songwriter is Peiken's first such work, this is not her first GRAMMY® nod. She was nominated forBest Rock Song for "Bitch," co-written with artist Meredith Brooks. Though DJs were instructed not to use the song's title, "Bitch" soared to #1 on Billboard's Pop Songs chart.

Among Peiken's other chart peaks: Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" and "Come on Over Baby," both #1 onBillboard's Hot 100 ("What a Girl Wants" was the first #1 of the 21st century), Mandy Moore's Hot 100 topper "I Wanna Be With You," and Brandy's "Almost Doesn't Count," a Top 10hit on Billboard's Rhythmic chart. She's also written for or with such luminaries as Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Keith Urban, Jessie J, Natasha Bedingfield and Chrissie Hynde. Peiken's songs have sold more than 50 million records.

She hadn't done much voice work before recording Confessions of a Serial Songwriter. "I realized pretty quickly that I couldn't read from the actual book because the mic picked up the page-turning. Duh. My iPad was a must, and I made sure to keep it charged," she says of the learning curve. "I had to preserve my voice so I'd sound like the same person in Chapter 20 as the one in Chapter 3. And I had to remember to get my two cats out of the vocal booth before I closed the door."

Now she finds herself mentioned in the same breath as fellow Best Spoken Word Album nominees Carrie Fisher, Bernie Sanders, Bruce Springsteen and Neil deGrasse Tyson. "I'd like to win, but I know it's a long shot," Peiken concedes. "Honestly, I feel like I've already won: To support the book I started blogging and was then invited to contribute to the Huffington Post. I became a founding member of Songwriters of North America (SONA), which has given me a formal avenue for my work on behalf of creators' rights. I've been speaking all over the country. I've even been contacted about the possibility of a one-woman show and a musical based on the book!"

"It's all about trying new things," she says of her recent endeavors. "I believe as you get older if you stop learning, you stop growing. So I keep expanding," something she has in common with the universe.

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