What were the odds that ... publishing facts numbers and such ...
What were the odds that my books, or any number of other authors' books would hit the shelves??
People are number people. We LIKE statistics. I think there's something solid, REAL about numbers. They give us a tangible context to help us understand our world. And being part of this world of publishing and writing is murky, at best.
So, to appease the masses, I found some NUMBERS ... tidbits and facts that are pretty random and interesting at the same time.
Books published per country (from Wikipedia) per year ... some highlights:
USA (2009, new titles and editions): 288, 355
SPAIN (2008, new titles): 86, 300
I couldn't find a number for Colombia.
Interesting facts from Melissa Bourbon and Misa Ramirez (I'm not sure where they got their statistics, some of which were utterly depressing and I want to pretend aren't real, but I found this pretty interesting ...):
A book shopper will spend around eight seconds looking at the front cover and fifteen at the back. (Yep. Covers matter! So do blurbs and such. LOTS)
The Children's Market (highlights and numbers and quotes from Publishers Weekly 2010 overview)
"Eighteen books for children and teens sold more than a million copies last year: all of them were from authors of big franchises: Jeff Kinney, Stephenie Meyer, Rick Riordan, Suzanne Collins, PC and Kristin Cast."
Other random book/publishing facts taken from Jessiemac:
Nielsen Book Scan tracked book sales of 1.2 million books. According to their data, as of 2004, 950,000 books sold fewer than 99 copies. (Yep. You read that right. NINETY-NINE.) and 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. (Basically most authors sell around 500 copies of their books.)
I read somewhere that less than 2% of books that hit the shelves (from the big name publishers) come from the infamous slush pile.
A bit daunting, I know. But people LIKE NUMBERS THOUGH I CAN'T FATHOM WHY!! ;-)
Numbers DO tell us something pretty special: Publishing houses lose money on most books they put out there, most authors not even earning back their advances. Why? Because, guess what, publishing houses love books and take chances, BIG ONES, on authors every single day of the year. I get tired of hearing how they're only in it for the money (why shouldn't they be, it IS a business) when there are so many editors and agents and other people in the business of books fighting for novels they think deserve to be out there on the shelves, novels that they HOPE sell, but there are no guarantees.
And as for all those authors who make loads of dough (well, a really small percentage, really small) and criticizing how awful they are, how they're hacks and anybody could write a book like that, here's my take: Honestly, it IS frustrating when somebody like Snooki gets a book deal. It makes the whole world of print look really base. Yeah. I'll give you that. But because of big sellers, I've got a shot to write the books I want to write. How grateful I am for the authors that make big bucks because it gives my editor wiggle room to fight for me who, up to date, hasn't made big bucks. (up to date, I'd like to emphasize! ;-) )
Editors find magic in slush ... a spec of pixie dust in the piles ... that's why the slush pile gets read ... eventually. Imagine reading through slush to find that spec of pixie dust! Ugh.
So, the odds are against us ... just as they were against JK Rowling, Stieg Larson and a whole slew of authors out there that, I bet, we're pretty glad got their first shot.
As an author (published or on-the-road to publishing), I just recommend not looking at the numbers. Focus on your work. Make every word count and then wish on some stars!
When all else fails ... write better.
People are number people. We LIKE statistics. I think there's something solid, REAL about numbers. They give us a tangible context to help us understand our world. And being part of this world of publishing and writing is murky, at best.
So, to appease the masses, I found some NUMBERS ... tidbits and facts that are pretty random and interesting at the same time.
Books published per country (from Wikipedia) per year ... some highlights:
USA (2009, new titles and editions): 288, 355
SPAIN (2008, new titles): 86, 300
I couldn't find a number for Colombia.
Interesting facts from Melissa Bourbon and Misa Ramirez (I'm not sure where they got their statistics, some of which were utterly depressing and I want to pretend aren't real, but I found this pretty interesting ...):
A book shopper will spend around eight seconds looking at the front cover and fifteen at the back. (Yep. Covers matter! So do blurbs and such. LOTS)
The Children's Market (highlights and numbers and quotes from Publishers Weekly 2010 overview)
"Eighteen books for children and teens sold more than a million copies last year: all of them were from authors of big franchises: Jeff Kinney, Stephenie Meyer, Rick Riordan, Suzanne Collins, PC and Kristin Cast."
Other random book/publishing facts taken from Jessiemac:
Nielsen Book Scan tracked book sales of 1.2 million books. According to their data, as of 2004, 950,000 books sold fewer than 99 copies. (Yep. You read that right. NINETY-NINE.) and 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. (Basically most authors sell around 500 copies of their books.)
I read somewhere that less than 2% of books that hit the shelves (from the big name publishers) come from the infamous slush pile.
A bit daunting, I know. But people LIKE NUMBERS THOUGH I CAN'T FATHOM WHY!! ;-)
Numbers DO tell us something pretty special: Publishing houses lose money on most books they put out there, most authors not even earning back their advances. Why? Because, guess what, publishing houses love books and take chances, BIG ONES, on authors every single day of the year. I get tired of hearing how they're only in it for the money (why shouldn't they be, it IS a business) when there are so many editors and agents and other people in the business of books fighting for novels they think deserve to be out there on the shelves, novels that they HOPE sell, but there are no guarantees.
And as for all those authors who make loads of dough (well, a really small percentage, really small) and criticizing how awful they are, how they're hacks and anybody could write a book like that, here's my take: Honestly, it IS frustrating when somebody like Snooki gets a book deal. It makes the whole world of print look really base. Yeah. I'll give you that. But because of big sellers, I've got a shot to write the books I want to write. How grateful I am for the authors that make big bucks because it gives my editor wiggle room to fight for me who, up to date, hasn't made big bucks. (up to date, I'd like to emphasize! ;-) )
Editors find magic in slush ... a spec of pixie dust in the piles ... that's why the slush pile gets read ... eventually. Imagine reading through slush to find that spec of pixie dust! Ugh.
So, the odds are against us ... just as they were against JK Rowling, Stieg Larson and a whole slew of authors out there that, I bet, we're pretty glad got their first shot.
As an author (published or on-the-road to publishing), I just recommend not looking at the numbers. Focus on your work. Make every word count and then wish on some stars!
When all else fails ... write better.
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