Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003.[16] The dream was about a human girl and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood.[16] Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the draft of what became Chapter 13 of the book.[17] In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a complete novel,[1] though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilight and was writing for her own enjoyment.[18] Her sister's response to the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Meyer to send the manuscript to literary agencies.[14]
Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House.[19] Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in a 2003 auction.[19] By November, Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company.[20] Twilight was published in 2005 with a print run of 75,000 copies.[19] It reached No. 5 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books within a month of its release,[21] and later rose to #1.[22] Foreign rights to the novel were sold to over 26 countries.[23] The novel was named the Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Editor's Choice