![[Logo]](/images/101ReasonsLogo.png "101 Reasons to Stop Writing")
The first 101 Reasons poll is closed, and the results should be interesting for anyone trying to break into publishing.
The Question: Did you buy any books by debut authors last year?
Simple enough.
The Responses:
45% (14 votes)I bought a few from debut authors, but I mostly stick to familiar crap from bestselling crapmeisters
26% (8 votes)Dozens. I like to support debut authors. (Sooner or later the first edition will be worth money.)
10% (3 votes)If by “debut” you mean remaindered, marked down, found on a park bench or oops! in my pants …
10% (3 votes)Debut authors come to me, begging for a review on my blog.
10% (3 votes)I only buy pornography new.
0% (0 votes)I only buy if the New York Times tells me to.
0% (0 votes)If it doesn’t say “Book of the Film”, I ain’t buying.
Total Votes: 31
Now, you might think that the lesson here is that the the largest proportion of respondents only admit to buying a few books by debut authors (and that 10% have an ego problem and 20% have other social problems, and that I shouldn’t write polls with five different jokey versions of the same answer). But that’s only part of the story.
The real tale is in the hidden numbers. At least 250 different people viewed 101 Reasons while the poll was displayed. Only 12% bothered to click an option, and hit the Vote button.
Fair enough. There was no reward for voting.
But that means only 3% of people who read this blog actively purchase books by debut authors. (I’d venture to guess that the 88% who didn’t vote aren’t terribly likely to give the new guy a chance.)
When you submit your manuscript, you’re hoping it’s going to overcome the Everest of Ennui: the publishing industry. Agents, editors, marketers, reviewers and eventually readers - five levels of “Why should I take a chance on this?”, and thousands of individual decisions not to bother.
Before asking all these people to care about another new author, maybe you should decide if you do.
Loading ...
I get your point, sort of, but I’m not entirely sure I agree with it, unless you’re suggesting that karma works in such a way that if I buy enough books by new writers I’ll eventually “earn” publication myself.
I mean, I wouldn’t buy a book JUST because it was written by a new author. I would have to be interested in it for reasons above and beyond that, you know?
Truth be told, I voted for the “People send me stuff to my blog” entry, but that’s only because it’s true: I regularly get notices from one built-to-flip company after another offering search services for multiple big booksellers, and they all think that offering me a book by some utter unknown is a suitable bribe to get me to hype their little pre-IPO. Naturally, I don’t hear back from them after I relate (a) reading fiction these days nearly makes me physically ill and (b) their services don’t have a damn connection to anything I’m covering on my silly little LJ. (Now, I have been hearing from more than a few writers I used to know years back who suddenly want to send me copies of their books, so I’m starting to wonder what the hell’s going on in publishing. I wasn’t worth the time or the expense to send review copies to when I was writing, and I’m sure as hell not worth the time or expense now, so why the sudden interest?)
Interesting poll results, eh? I buy tons of books and there have been times when I bought a book and didn’t realize it was a debut novel. Think back to Meg (before it hit bestseller anyway). The premise was interesting enough that I bought it, then it hit bestseller and all the hype came along and then I realized it was his first book. Course, that was his one hit wonder. Meg 2 wasn’t nearly as good (and… I have no idea what the author’s name is or was)
If 3% of the US population are actively interested in buying my first book, I think I’ll jump up and down with excitement. If 3% of the online population are, I’m still thrilled. But I think there’s an even more interesting point here, which is the impact of long tail economics on book publishing. It will take a while before it emerges, for reasons I’ve alluded to in my blog (linking to other writers too), but not only is this an exciting market, I think lulu and its friends may have an interesting role to play.
Gareth, there is clearly a massive paradigm shift on the horizon, which the publishing industry seem to be slowly gearing up for. Whether the “traditional” industry or lulu et al drives this remains to be seen.
But the Long Tail may not improve things much for authors at the long end of the tail - it’d be awesome if better distribution meant more sales for more authors, but how far will this trickle down?
Gareth, I should have also pointed out:
The 3% is an extrapolated figure from this blog’s readership. I don’t know the demographics of my audience, but I’d assume that they’re at least interested in writing/publishing, or they’d be getting their fix of sarcasm elsewhere. If only 3% actively consume the type of product they want to sell, it makes sense why the industry prefers established, proven product.
You’re forgetting one more level of gatekeeper: buyers. Chain buyers have a huge level of influence–no matter how well reviewed a title is, if customers don’t find it easily in stores, they’re likely to forget about it. Sure, some will buy it online or in another store but many won’t remember it until they see it in the remainder bin. Great for the people buying/selling remainders. Not so great for the people who’d prefer the book to have a chance at full price first.
For trade buyers to take a chance on new writers, the publisher rep has to make a great pitch. Or so I assume–since I’m not a trade buyer–but I do know some of them and I know that their estimates on new authors, without a strong indication to the contrary, tend to be conservative.
Anon., you make an excellent point. I’d venture that the buyer at Walmart is more conservative than the buyer at Borders, but it’s clearly an uphill battle to convince either that Yet Another Genre Novel is going to sell enough to justify shelf space that could hold more of Michael Crichton’s backlist.