Photo by "Bruno of Hollywood" · Public domain

Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls (1966) is one of the best-selling novels in publishing history. She followed it with The Love Machine (1969) and Once Is Not Enough (1973), becoming the first author to place three consecutive novels atop The New York Times bestseller list — a feat that made her one of commercial publishing's defining figures, achieved after an earlier career as a stage and television actress.