"Only 40 Self-Published Authors are a Success"

[Fenris Technique]

I recently came across a well sourced blog post claiming "Only 40 Self-Published Authors are a Success". The standard for success being "selling more than one million e-book copies in the last five years".

Now, I avoid self-publishing for an entirely different set of reasons, but reading this piece has me wondering if a million sales in five years is a reasonable standard. Is it normal for "successful" authors of traditional publishers to sell a million plus copies of their work in five years?

[qcrisp]

From the article:

Quote

Time to celebrate? Not yet. There is a caveat and it's a big one: only 40 such authors are likely to bridge the divide. In fact, writing is a poor man's occupation. As Publisher's Weekly noted in an article published last year: the majority of authors earn below the poverty line. The statistics are grim...

This is not news.

Anyone who has been dedicated to writing since before the advent of e-books already knew this.

One thing that has struck me about the publishing culture since the advent of e-books -- that is, the blogging, vlogging internet culture -- is that hardly anyone actually talks about writing or literature. They're proud of their 'indie' label, not seeming to realise there was such a thing as the independent press before they came along, but all they seem to talk about is self-promotion, contracts, maximising sales, etc.

I'd like to see a world where more writers (including me) can make a living, but more than that, I'd like to see a world where more writers care about writing. Proportionately, my impression is that fewer and fewer do.

[qcrisp]

Also, I would seriously question that definition of success.

Back in the eighties or nineties, the minor celebrity Alexei Sayle used his status as minor celebrity to publish a book. I remember him being interviewed about it. His book was on the bestseller list in England after selling about 5,000 copies. This was a kind of culture shock for him, because he'd had some dealing with the music industry (a novelty single), where sales like that would have indicated a flop. I give this as one concrete example, but basically, such examples are legion.

[qcrisp]

QED, the conclusion of the article:

Quote

So if you're not selling your books, take heart, you're not the only one. If you're considering becoming a writer, think twice, it won't make you rich. To be honest, if I could do my life over, I wouldn't go into writing (though I love story-telling), I'd go into...film making! That is the art of the future, people don't read books, they go to the movies, they binge on TV series, they play video-games. And in all these - movies, TV, games - good story-tellers are more needed than ever... No, the art of writing is not dead, it is just undergoing a change of venue!

So, in other words, Claude Forthomme doesn't actually care about writing as much as she wants to be a kind of entrepreneur. Let her leave the sinking ship, then. I wish they all would.

[Fenris Technique]

Quote Originally Posted by qcrisp

Also, I would seriously question that definition of success. Back in the eighties or nineties, the minor celebrity Alexei Sayle used his status as minor celebrity to publish a book. I remember him being interviewed about it. His book was on the bestseller list in England after selling about 5,000 copies. This was a kind of culture shock for him, because he'd had some dealing with the music industry (a novelty single), where sales like that would have indicated a flop. I give this as one concrete example, but basically, such examples are legion.

That is the impression I've been under, that it only takes a few thousand (or tens of thousands of) copies sold to hit a best-seller list. A million in five years seemed an extravagant number, but what do I know? I generally submit to token, semi-pro, and pro paying short fiction markets, many with circulation numbers somewhere in the hundreds I imagine.
/shrug

On a separate note, a very late congrats on the 2009 Shirley Jackson award nomination. I was searching for more reading material by going through various awards lists and ran across your name. I had no idea. Making a living at writing is a noble ambition, but having your work recognized as among the best in the field isn't a bad consolation prize, eh?

[qcrisp]

Quote Originally Posted by Fenris Technique

Quote Originally Posted by qcrisp Also, I would seriously question that definition of success. Back in the eighties or nineties, the minor celebrity Alexei Sayle used his status as minor celebrity to publish a book. I remember him being interviewed about it. His book was on the bestseller list in England after selling about 5,000 copies. This was a kind of culture shock for him, because he'd had some dealing with the music industry (a novelty single), where sales like that would have indicated a flop. I give this as one concrete example, but basically, such examples are legion. That is the impression I've been under, that it only takes a few thousand (or tens of thousands of) copies sold to hit a best-seller list. A million in five years seemed an extravagant number, but what do I know? I generally submit to token, semi-pro, and pro paying short fiction markets, many with circulation numbers somewhere in the hundreds I imagine. /shrug On a separate note, a very late congrats on the 2009 Shirley Jackson award nomination. I was searching for more reading material by going through various awards lists and ran across your name. I had no idea. Making a living at writing is a noble ambition, but having your work recognized as among the best in the field isn't a bad consolation prize, eh?

Thank you.

They send the runners up a rock (a small, smooth pebble). It took me a while to get the joke.

Perhaps I shouldn't say this (in case prospective publishers are reading), but as far as I know, nothing I've written has had a print circulation, in English, that exceeded a three-figure number. However, somehow I've even managed to get a bibliography of published work now and, barring homelessness or similar catastrophe, which I do not rule out, I feel committed to writing. Even in the case of such catastrophe, I only say it might rob me of motivation (not sure).

Well, there's a lot more I could say on this subject, but I don't want to get carried away with myself.

Good luck with your submissions. Persistence is the main thing. I'm sure you know this.

I'd consider it a success if 40 people read a story I wrote.

[symbolique]

nil

[qcrisp]

An article in the Huffington Post about Amazon's monopoly:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-d...b_9203680.html