by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell
There’s a post on Substack that’s been making the viral rounds, titled “No One Buys Books.” It’s the author’s summary of lessons gleaned from the DOJ v. Penguin Random House trial, two years afterward. Elle Griffin sums it up this way (this all refers to traditional publishing):
I think I can sum up what I’ve learned like this: The Big Five publishing houses spend most of their money on book advances for big celebrities like Britney Spears and franchise authors like James Patterson and this is the bulk of their business. They also sell a lot of Bibles, repeat best sellers like Lord of the Rings, and children’s books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. These two market categories (celebrity books and repeat bestsellers from the backlist) make up the entirety of the publishing industry and even fund their vanity project: publishing all the rest of the books we think about when we think about book publishing (which make no money at all and typically sell less than 1,000 copies).
And:
The publishing houses may live to see another day, but I don’t think their model is long for this world. Unless you are a celebrity or franchise author, the publishing model won’t provide a whole lot more than a tiny advance and a dozen readers.
Jane Friedman, in her Hot Sheet newsletter (subscription required), emphasizes that this is the way things have pretty much been for quite some time. Her words followed by my comments:
- Most books don’t sell in significant numbers. This has not changed recently; it has always been the case. But if you share book sales numbers with the general public, they are generally shocked because they simply don’t know the typical sales of an average book.
JSB: According to Bookstat.com, in the traditional industry in 2020, 268 titles sold more than 100,000 copies, and 96 percent of books sold less than 1,000 copies.
- The majority of authors, at least early in their careers, can’t survive on book advances or book sales alone.This has been the case throughout history. It’s challenging to make a living from your art, and it has always been so.
JSB: No argument there.
- Big publishers pay high advances to celebrities, politicians, etc. Big publishers want authors with visibility in the market. I can’t imagine this is news to anyone.
- Publishers do not adequately support the titles they publish with marketing and promotion. This has been a complaint of authors since I started working in the industry. I do think the problem has become worse over time, and the issues at play are complicated, to say the least. More titles are published than ever before (up to 2 million per year if you count self-publishing), media outlets and media coverage for books has dwindled, book discovery has changed in the digital era, etc.
JSB: Back in the 90s, when I started out, there were some huge advances paid to new authors, with subsequent marketing roll outs, in the hopes of establishing the next “big name.” What happened to most of these authors was that the debut novel failed to catch on, the second book in the contract was published with the least amount of attention, and the author was tagged with the “damaged goods” label—meaning no more Big Pub contracts. I can think of at least half a dozen authors this happened to. One of them wrote a PI novel that garnered a great blurb from no less than Sue Grafton. The publisher paid a ton up front. There was a big marketing push. But the book tanked, the second contracted book was released and forgotten, and the author has never written another book. (If you want to read the account of an author who went through this, survived, fought back, and thrived, I suggest you read this post from one Mr. Gilstrap).
As for discovery in the current climate, it’s certainly possible to get TikTokked to the top, or some other digital analogue, but only if the book is real quality vis-à-vis its genre. Some authors get bollixed up writing a book, maybe their first, self-pubbing it, then spending scads on ads. “Why am I not getting any clicks? Or sales?” Because first efforts are usually not top notch. Save your money and write more and better books. If you write good books, you can build a readership, because one thing hasn’t changed. The best marketing is and always has been word-of-mouth.
- Authors and smaller publishers have been gaining in market share since at least 2010. This is a good thing, and it’s partly due to Amazon, ebooks, and print-on-demand technology. But big publishers aren’t going anywhere, and they’re starting to partner in new ways with authors—self-publishing authors especially—and they remain powerful in the market.
If you self publish, you’re a small publisher. Act like one. Learn to think like a business. (I have a sample business plan in my book How to Make a Living As a Writer.)
So, yes, people still buy books. And if you write with consistent quality, they may even buy yours.
Do you still buy books? What portion of what you buy is in hardback, paperback, ebook, or audible? Do you still go to physical bookstores to browse, or are you mostly online now?
Do I still buy books? Yes, sooo many books. I’m grateful for KU so I can download several books at a time. I don’t finish reading many of the books because they are just so-so. It’s a treat to find an author who writes really well. I tend to go to their backlist and read everything they’ve written (as I hope they do with mine!).
I’m now working with a small publisher, reading proposals and making decisions on which ones will be offered a contract. Your advice is spot-on – keep writing excellent books and success (however you define it) will follow.
Jane, yu bring up the backlist, which is the “long tail” of a successful series. And yes, dedicated readers like you want to go to the beginning and read through. That’s a nice thing about indie, your backlist stays in print!
I buy a lot of books, probably more than I’ll ever have time to read, but I can’t help myself. The sparkly new release is too tempting not to one-click, especially if friends recommend it. I mainly buy ebooks. Love my Kindle. At the lake, I read paperbacks, but I have a huge summer stack for those days.
Ah the ol’ stack. I used to have a pile by my bed. Had to discipline myself to shelving them, then thinning the shelves (which I hate to do, but space demands it!)
Your post made me curious–I wonder how many books were published, say 50 years ago, compared to the number of books published each year now. I don’t know if they tracked such things then but I’ll have to google and see if I find any info.
I definitely still buy books. Vast percentage are e-books. I’m thankful for the invention of the ebook both because I live in a small apartment which can only hold so much 😎 and because as the eyes have aged, the ability to change font size has become critical.
The only exception is books that are historical reference–I want a physical book I can mark with a highlighter so I can easily come back to different sections in reference. It’s still much easier to search through a physical book then it is to do that with an ebook. My physical book purchases are a mix of hardcover/softcover.
While audiobooks may be all the rage, I do not like listening to books on audio. Yuck.
99.99% of my book purchases are online. I can’t even tell you the last time I was in a bookstore. In a world where you’re always crushed for time, it’s a blessing to be able to go online and order the books you want.
The other interesting thing about the publishing business is that in the online writing community, while many more websites from authors/instructors cater to the self-pub generation, there are still a few who dispense writing advice ONLY from the standpoint of traditional publishing (and I’m not talking about sites officially related to a publishing company). When I come across a writing website that ONLY speaks from the standpoint of traditional publishing, I always think “how quaint” and move on to something else.
Traditional publishing may have had to move and change but it will always be around. As an author, I don’t even think about traditional publishing. I could see it if you had a book take off and sell so many copies that it suddenly became a mutually beneficial arrangement for both the big publisher and the author. But even there, while I do not yet have personal experience, I would assume that the efficiency of printing and releasing books as an independent author has become much easier as well.
I’m thankful we have options.
50 years ago published titles were in the mid thousands, and that’s all print, not novels alone. Now there’s something like 2 million titles a year, and it’s only growing because of lousy AI books.
Glad we have options, too, BK.
Thanks for the report and your thoughts, Jim.
I buy lots of books, about 50% paperback and 50% eBooks, no audible, a rare hardback. We live over an hour from the two nearest bookstores. I’m almost 100% online for book purchases.
Hit, Steve. I don’t listen to whole novels on audible. I select authors I like and listen to sections of their work, mainly to catch hold of their style…not to copy it, but to expand my own.
Yes, I buy books, and I download freebies as well. Almost all my book shopping is online because driving over 50 miles to a bookstore isn’t part of my lifestyle. I suppose I could browse the meager offerings at the grocery store–but since the pandemic, I’ve fallen in love with online ordering groceries and having someone put them in my car.
Brain isn’t wired to listen to audio. Purchases are almost solely ebooks; print I get from the library. No room in the house for more physical books.
Remember when virtually every small town had at least one bookstore? The SF Valley used to be rife with bookstores, new and used. Now it’s two B&Ns on either side, and not much else in between. The two big used bookstores I went to for years are gone.
I shook my head when I first read the original article. As an author I live in a world where just about everyone reads books in all formats, including my millennial daughter and daughter-in-law, and gen-z nieces. They’re also the ones buying books for their children. I’ve published with HarperCollins Christian Publishing, a subsidiary of HarperCollins since 2015, to include 21 books and a dozen novellas. I don’t have blockbuster sales or name recognition, but I regularly earn back my modest advances. After recently published a book in a new genre, I asked my publisher how many books we’d have to sell in order for them to offer me another contract. She said 16,000. Most of my books sell in the 16,000 to 26,000 copies range. Not huge, but not in the less than 1,000 category by a long stretch. Many, many authors in Christian publishing are selling far more books than I am. I see them getting flowers from their publishers when they reach the 1 million books sold mark. They’re not James Patterson or Stephen King or Danielle Steele but like me, they’re living their dreams and collecting royalties along the way. As far as traditional publishers marketing books, my publisher sends me a detailed marketing/PR plan for each book that encompasses all the amazing ways books can now be marketed in a digital world without expensive in-person tours. They’ve borne all the costs of producing my book so it’s to their advantage to hawk it anyway they can. All of this is in the Christian publishing arena, which people like to say is moribund. As Monty Python says, “I’m not dead yet!”
Darn right you’re not dead, Kelly! You’re a successful midlist writer, which not many people are anymore. Well done.
Good information, Kelly. Kudos to you!
Great post, Jim. Absolutely I still buy books, and lots of them. Fiction I almost entirely buy in ebook and occasionally as an audio book. Non-fiction is more 50-50 ebook and print, with reference books mainly in print. Our shelves are full here, so ebooks are a godsend to us. My TBR pile, digital and physical, is huge 🙂
I absolutely agree that as a self-published author I’m a small publisher. It’s important to act like one, have a plan, control costs etc. For me, that means making my books available everywhere in ebook and print. Print was a minuscule amount of fantasy book sales while it’s more significant for mystery, so it’s good to be aware of format preferences by readers in a particular genre. Another is reader preference for series. My Empowered series, now four years old, still sells, month in and month out. Not a lot, but enough to make a difference.
Nice, Dale. I like “make a difference.” That’s a good philosophy for writing. To make a differrence, to give readers a zone of pleasure when they read us, so they want to come back for more.
“Bollixed up,” eh? A new one for me. A euphemistic respelling of the British “bollocks,” it seems. Cool.
To your questions:
* I buy books (online) but also borrow from the library. I especially like the large-print versions from them. And is it my imagination but are the typefaces getting smaller and smaller? 😉 Hence, on my own self-published books, I make the type nice and big with generous leading (line spacing). [Personal story: when I received the first copies of my first nonfiction book with a traditional publisher, I was crushed to see how small the type was. I was pissed. “Tough,” they said. “Page count.” Which is one reason I enthusiastically embraced print-on-demand self-publishing where I make the decisions.]
* I almost never go to bookstores to buy. Like BK here, who has the time? Driving, parking, schlepping . . . ugh.
Harald, when some early self-publishers set up small companies to publish other writers, luring them in with unfavorable contract terms, I had a look at the print version they put out. Tiny font, hardly any margin, thin spine…to save on the POD cost. Yech.
Yep. Amazon’s POD “printing” cost—that comes off the top before royalties are paid—is mostly about page count, which is a combination of type size, leading, and margin widths. If you want to s-t-r-e-t-c-h your book, you increase those. And the opposite if you want to shrink (and lower the print cost).
“Write more and better books.” Jim, I remember reading your good advice for the first time years ago when I started following TKZ. It has sustained me through many setbacks and disappointment. When you repeat it from time to time, I always think, “YES!” Best advice ever.
For fiction, I mostly buy ebooks cuz of space limits and adjustable font size. For nonfiction reference, I buy print paperbacks. No audiobooks–my mind wanders too much.
Yes, I go to indie bookstores. They are supportive of local authors and carry my books. The new B&N in town has also been great. Browsing books remains a fun experience.
Thanks for the good word, Debbie.
Yes, I’ve heard that B&N is opening new stores. I don’t know how they compare to the old model, but at least they are a place you can go and be around books.
Do you still buy books? Most of the books I read come from the library through Libby or Hoopla, but I still buy lots of books online, mostly from authors I know. I like to have non-fiction books in print, though, and I will buy a print book if I really fell in love with the ebook version.
What portion of what you buy is in hardback, paperback, ebook, or audible? I’m guessing 95% ebook, 5% paperback, a few audios. Again, though, I get a lot of books from the library, and authors get royalties from checkouts. I wonder how that folds into the sales equation.
Do you still go to physical bookstores to browse, or are you mostly online now? We have a very nice independent bookstore, Novel Books, here in Memphis that also sports a great restaurant, so that draws me back to browse. (And I always make sure they’ve re-stocked any of my books that they sold. 🙂 ) Who can resist the pleasing aroma of a bookstore that also serves good coffee?
Love that, Kay: the “pleasing aroma.” You’re so right.
I used to always want nonfiction in print so I could scribble in the margins. Lately, though, I have highlighted Kindle versions, then send myself those notes and print them out and highlight those pages. It’s kind of cool to have my own summary that way.
I read tons of ebooks, either purchased or borrowed, but then I’m older and grew up with books.
I’m trying to be a better author. The game has changed a lot in the last twenty years with the demise of print magazines (for the most part). The mentorship by editors of those magazines is pretty much gone. There are still a few around that newbies such as myself can try out. The other method is to write shorts and publish them to KDP/KU. I’m starting to do that so I can figure out what works for me while learning new aspects of writing in between stories.
You didn’t highlight the rest of the article which went into the new “subscription” model the author was discussing. Perhaps that would be a topic for another time.
I appreciate all that everyone shares here on this blog. There are nuggests of gold from all the experience here for us newbies.
Fred, you’re so right about the demise of great fiction editors. They are just a dying breed. Some good Freelancers are out there, but you have to do your homework.
Yes, the subscription model is worthy of a post at some point in the future. I don’t know that there is enough data yet to see how it applies to fiction writers. I have a Substack for my nonfiction and podcast. Too new to draw conclusions yet.
Great info and discussion, Jim.
I. Buy. Books.
If it’s a craft book or for research, I’ll likely buy a paperback. (Or beg to borrow one from a friend.) For novel reading, Kindle’s my go-to.
We have two independent bookstores in our medium-sized town, and my books are in both. And I like to visit them and browse.
I don’t sell a lot, but that’s not why I write, so it’s all good.
PS: For those TKZ folks who knew I was teaching my first writing conference workshop this weekend and were so encouraging…thank you! It went well, I had so much fun doing it, and I learned lots from the keynoter and workshops I attended. The keynote speaker was a fella named Tim Shoemaker and I hope I get to sit under his teaching again some time. He’s a hoot…
And right now, I’m plugged into my *charger*, otherwise known as the coffee maker. 🙂
Happy Sunday!
Glad that went well for you, Deb.
I love books, and holding them in my hand. Old school maybe. I read two books a month, one non-fiction and one fiction.
Good on you for that, Jillian.
Late to the party today. Sang for Mass this morning and have been catching up on reading in my garden and listening to the birds.
I love books in every format. I love the convenience of e-books though I find myself forgetting that I bought them and I don’t retain what I read as well as I do with physical books. I wish Kindle would let me arrange my books as I like instead of hiding them behind each other. I hate that.
I love looking at books. I think they’re beautiful. Books are art to me. I have my favorites in back of my Toastmaster trophies and my tiny Tiffany lamp.
Audiobooks and podcasts keep me sane during boring commutes and I do remember those.
I do love our huge Barnes and Noble but I usually end up buying things other than books. They have great tote bags that hold a ton without breaking. I love the lap desk I got there, too.
Happy Sunday!
Right, there’s something beautiful about a hardcover with a great dust jacket or binding. I am mindful of the shelf space, though!
Do you still buy books?
Yes. Mostly to support other authors, as I rarely have time for reading that wouldn’t be better spent (IMNVHO) writing.
What portion of what you buy is in hardback, paperback, ebook, or audible?
Almost all are ebooks from Amazon (because I can make the type the size I need to read, and they don’t take up physical space in our smaller retirement apartment). Occasionally I’ll buy a used book in paperback, mostly for writing craft – because that’s the least expensive alternative, and I can scribble in it.
Do you still go to physical bookstores to browse, or are you mostly online now?
All online – for disabled people, browsing is a joke. Online is a blessing. Our money is as good as anyone else’s, and we don’t have to deal with ‘this season’s merchandise’ making it impossible to get around in a physical store – the ways stores ignore their disabled customers is huge and growing.
I noticed when reading the referred to article that they seemed to not have noticed ebooks or Amazon, etc. – a pretty good job of ignoring progress, sticking their fingers in their ears and intoning ‘La-la-la-la…’, as if that would bring back their discriminatory, elitist, inconvenient way of forcing the public (most of whom now have computers and mobile phones) to do things their old-fashioned way. They won’t be missed.
They occupied a niche BECAUSE there were no alternatives in their heyday.
A nice rant, Alicia. I live in La-La Land, BTW.
Jim, I always learn from you. Thank you. 90% of my book purchases are paperback. I love my wall of books in my office. Makes me feel smart. (Note: I said feel.)
I’ve published 5 books in a variety of ways. My latest was published with a well-known Christian publisher’s self-publishing arm. I thought if my book had the words Thomas Nelson and Zondervan inside that it might help sales. Wrong. I will probably use Amazon again for future books. I think I’ve spent a lot of money for a very small return.
Live and learn.
Getting an agent for me was the biggest hurdle to getting a traditional publisher. I gave up on writing for 10 years because I was so tired of the business of writing. You and your writing books, along with the encouragement I find here, keep me motivated.
PS – I’m really enjoying writing flash fiction. You introduced me to it. I’m trying to publish one flash fiction story every couple of weeks to push people to my website. Thanks for telling us about flash fiction!
PSS – I love going to bookstores! My wife and I almost always end up at a bookstore when we’re out on a date.
Thanks for the good word, Gene. My wife and I used to do that all the time. Nice dinner out, stop at a bookstore. Sadly, you need to take a second on your house to eat out now, and the bookstores are scant indeed.
And the gas to get there…oy!
Yep, book buyer here. I use ebooks and the library as a “Blockbuster video” to check out books on the cheap. If they pass the sniff test, I buy them in paperback and let my kids read them. This means that very, very few of today’s modern drek passes the sniff test, lol, but I do find the occasional gem! When I buy paperback, I’m usually stocking up on older kids books I want to have around, like the How to Train your Dragon series, or Keith Robertson’s books that I neglected to buy, like In Search of a Sandhill Crane. Lately I splurged and bought myself the original book of Redemption on Hacksaw Ridge, which was a fantastic read.
👍
I self-pubbed 2 thrillers in ’15 and ’16. Rave reviews, all 5-stars on Amazon, a couple of 4’s, shortlisted for two competitions at Killer Nashville, runner up for BOY, good feedback from fellow authors, steady sales until they hit around 500, then dropped off to 1-2 a month.
Of course I had no marketing plan in place, no ads, no blog tours, no agent. Why should I have been surprised? Took me 4 years to pull up my big boy pants and dive in again…#3 in progress. Gonna try the agent-small publisher route this time. But as history and this article demonstrate, the mountain hasn’t gotten any smaller . . . still looks invincible.
One thing that keeps me going is the dependable flood of amateurish or mediocre books that continue to show up every year that DID get published. I’m pinning my hopes for resurrection on a book I just bought by some guy named Bell: “How to Make a Living as a Writer”. If that doesn’t work, I’m asking for a refund.
Oh, no pressure! 😁
Late to the dance as usual. I have a subscription to scribd or everand or whatever its called these days and there are plenty of titles to choose from. Des Moines has a good public library system and I’m a frequent flyer. When I’m over on the west side I always make time to troll Half Price Books.
I like bookstores, and one of the reasons is the smell of paper. Yep, that’s right. It’s an olfactory thing. It’s the only used bookstore in the area these days but they seem to be doing all right. Nothing like a good used book store. When I lived in Long Beach I’d drag Acres of Books or cruise over to Pedro to the Giant Book Store. Both likely gone now.
You comment is on the nose, Robert. I agree with you.
As for used bookstores, Book City in Hollywood was magnificent. Sigh.