In 1982, he started writing more seriously, developing a manuscript he titled Echoes of the Fourth Magic. He created the setting of Ynis Aielle for the novel, writing it in longhand by candlelight. In an interview with comic book website Project Fanboy, Salvatore said he landed the deal for his first book when, after finishing the script for Echoes of the Fourth Magic in early 1987, he sent the work to TSR and several other publishers. TSR was looking for an author to write the second book in the Forgotten Realms line and asked Salvatore to audition. In July 1987, Salvatore won the spot to write the book. His first published novel was The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988. The first hardcover novel from TSR was Salvatore's The Legacy (1992). After Passage to Dawn (1996), TSR's management picked a new author to write stories about Drizzt; Mark Anthony's Drizzt novel The Shores of Dusk was completed by the time Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR, but Wizards opted not to publish that one and instead brought Salvatore back to write about Drizzt, beginning with The Silent Blade (1998). The Silent Blade won the Origins Award that year. Salvatore went on to publish several series of books in the Forgotten Realms campaign world, while lately his popularity surged due to his Demon Wars sagas and his two Star Wars books.