"We live in a society where preorders are impossible because consumers want what they want when they want it. Preorder campaigns rarely equate to meaningful sales. Let’s stop torturing authors with this task. Low preorders aren’t a precursor for bad sales." -- That is reassuringl, thank you!
My big wish as a frequent book reviewer is that publishers would send me eARCs that are kindle compatible. I’m often sent a pdf with huge margins that is very v tiny and difficult to read on a kindle. When I come back begging, I sometimes get a proper .ePub or .mobi, but more often I’m given a straight word doc because they have nothing else.
Given how much cheaper eARCs are, I don’t understand why the format is so poor. Is it that the ebooks are laid out much later in the process?
So you think that's why it makes no sense for publishers to worry about pirating and which ARC format that use? Because the books will be pirated no matter what?
Not everyone who prefers ereaders owns a Kindle. I have a Kobo, for example. Reviewers are catching books early in the cycle when publishers may have not yet built out for every type of ereader. To do Kindle only at that stage would alienate everyone who uses anything else.
Agreed that the pdfs are insufferable. No way to turn up the contrast for dyslexic or low vision readers, constantly having to scroll around. My understanding of your original post was that you wanted to know why Kindle-specific files might not be available as soon as pdf. My response was trying to be helpful as to why.
Brilliant, as usual. Thank you for the work and thought you put into this very helpful analysis! Thank all the heavens that you share it with us. Anyone who hasn't yet subscribed should do so right now. (Am I biased? Yes--but only because your information is sterling, consistent, and practical.)
Thank you for all of this, but this in particular: We live in a society where preorders are impossible because consumers want what they want when they want it. Preorder campaigns rarely equate to meaningful sales. Let’s stop torturing authors with this task. Low preorders aren’t a precursor for bad sales.
Congrats on reaching 10K subscribers! I think that speaks to how opaque the rest of the publishing industry is and how we so need this honest take on how it all really works.
I just read this article.... I loved your insights here!!!! Now I'm super curious about all of your secrets.... Do let us know if and when someone pays you to release them to the public 😄
I just released my 4th novel and went through all the pains of fishing for pre-orders and adjusting to e-ARCs (and the book influencers who hate them!). It was the most frustrating pre-launch of my career. Thank you for thoughtfully peeling back the layers.
Writers are pressured to write four books (or more) a year, which is ridiculous. Do we need that many books? It takes time to write a quality book. I self-publish my books because I don't want to be at the mercy of publishers. Most of my friends who are traditionally published aren't happy at the moment. They have to do most of their marketing by themselves. ~ It's just difficult to stand out without a whole marketing and publicity team. 🩷
Congrats on getting your MBA. I used to support academics delivering one of the world's first online MBAs back in the late 1990's - interesting times!
I dug through the Esquire article links to find the source for "most books don't sell over 5,000 copies". It's Dan Sinykin, who the blog writer quotes extensively in their Nov 2023 post. He said, “Depending on who's doing the counting, only somewhere between 2% and 12% of books, as of today, sell [more than] 5,000 copies.”
To help counter this, when you "confidently say that plenty of books sell over 5000 copies annually" is there a more optimistic percentage figure you can provide for us budding writers?
I don’t have access to Bookscan—it’s expensive—but also: publishers will not provide that information. They don’t disclose sales figures. The simple economics of it is what I laid out. Bookscan would only give you #s based on 85% reporting.
OK, thanks. So if no-one has access to complete sales data than I'm not sure anyone can arrive at a reliable figure (or reject someone else's). There's no way of evaluating and comparing the various stats being touted. People can stick their thumbs in the air and make estimates based on anecdotal experience. Acceptance of these is then based on vague qualitative measures like personal reputation. Publishing is definitely an interesting game!
Thank you for this post. My debut launches on June 11 along with my panic about being DOA. I believe the best effort I can put in right now is to write my next great story.
"We live in a society where preorders are impossible because consumers want what they want when they want it. Preorder campaigns rarely equate to meaningful sales. Let’s stop torturing authors with this task. Low preorders aren’t a precursor for bad sales." -- That is reassuringl, thank you!
So true!😊
omg! I wrote about this for today's newsletter. I'm going to link to this essay. such a great take!
My big wish as a frequent book reviewer is that publishers would send me eARCs that are kindle compatible. I’m often sent a pdf with huge margins that is very v tiny and difficult to read on a kindle. When I come back begging, I sometimes get a proper .ePub or .mobi, but more often I’m given a straight word doc because they have nothing else.
Given how much cheaper eARCs are, I don’t understand why the format is so poor. Is it that the ebooks are laid out much later in the process?
Yes, it is. They’re also worried about pirating. It makes no sense, to be honest.
Is the risk of pirating not a legitimate worry?
No. Your book _will_ be pirated. That's life.
So you think that's why it makes no sense for publishers to worry about pirating and which ARC format that use? Because the books will be pirated no matter what?
No not all books are pirated. But the fear is real. Plus it’s really a pain to create an ebook file for advance reader copies when NetGalley exists.
NetGalley creates ebook files themselves? I thought publishers sent the files to NetGalley?
Yes. Or, more fittingly, if it didn't get pirated, it's because no one was interested.
Not everyone who prefers ereaders owns a Kindle. I have a Kobo, for example. Reviewers are catching books early in the cycle when publishers may have not yet built out for every type of ereader. To do Kindle only at that stage would alienate everyone who uses anything else.
There are Kindle apps for most popular mobile devices. You do not need extra hardware.
Kobo is an e-reader alternative to Kindle. It's not like an iPad that has apps.
What format does kobo use? My impression was epub serves a variety of readers.
What I’m getting winds up displayed as 7 or 8pt font with no ability to resize and reflow, just tapping to zoom in on individual parts of the page.
Agreed that the pdfs are insufferable. No way to turn up the contrast for dyslexic or low vision readers, constantly having to scroll around. My understanding of your original post was that you wanted to know why Kindle-specific files might not be available as soon as pdf. My response was trying to be helpful as to why.
The format for most ereaders now is epub. And as a publisher I'm curious to know if anybody uses Edelweiss.
Thank you for this! Most of the news on publishing is so bleak - great to see a proper take.
Thank you!
Brilliant, as usual. Thank you for the work and thought you put into this very helpful analysis! Thank all the heavens that you share it with us. Anyone who hasn't yet subscribed should do so right now. (Am I biased? Yes--but only because your information is sterling, consistent, and practical.)
Thank you so much!
Thank you for all of this, but this in particular: We live in a society where preorders are impossible because consumers want what they want when they want it. Preorder campaigns rarely equate to meaningful sales. Let’s stop torturing authors with this task. Low preorders aren’t a precursor for bad sales.
This is so funny because I literally read the article this morning & found it extremely disheartening!
Thanks for the clarification!
Congrats on reaching 10K subscribers! I think that speaks to how opaque the rest of the publishing industry is and how we so need this honest take on how it all really works.
Thank you :)
I just read this article.... I loved your insights here!!!! Now I'm super curious about all of your secrets.... Do let us know if and when someone pays you to release them to the public 😄
I just released my 4th novel and went through all the pains of fishing for pre-orders and adjusting to e-ARCs (and the book influencers who hate them!). It was the most frustrating pre-launch of my career. Thank you for thoughtfully peeling back the layers.
Appreciate the obvious and considerable time devoted to these articles.
Thanks so much.
Writers are pressured to write four books (or more) a year, which is ridiculous. Do we need that many books? It takes time to write a quality book. I self-publish my books because I don't want to be at the mercy of publishers. Most of my friends who are traditionally published aren't happy at the moment. They have to do most of their marketing by themselves. ~ It's just difficult to stand out without a whole marketing and publicity team. 🩷
Hi Kathleen.
Congrats on getting your MBA. I used to support academics delivering one of the world's first online MBAs back in the late 1990's - interesting times!
I dug through the Esquire article links to find the source for "most books don't sell over 5,000 copies". It's Dan Sinykin, who the blog writer quotes extensively in their Nov 2023 post. He said, “Depending on who's doing the counting, only somewhere between 2% and 12% of books, as of today, sell [more than] 5,000 copies.”
To help counter this, when you "confidently say that plenty of books sell over 5000 copies annually" is there a more optimistic percentage figure you can provide for us budding writers?
Thank you!
I don’t have access to Bookscan—it’s expensive—but also: publishers will not provide that information. They don’t disclose sales figures. The simple economics of it is what I laid out. Bookscan would only give you #s based on 85% reporting.
OK, thanks. So if no-one has access to complete sales data than I'm not sure anyone can arrive at a reliable figure (or reject someone else's). There's no way of evaluating and comparing the various stats being touted. People can stick their thumbs in the air and make estimates based on anecdotal experience. Acceptance of these is then based on vague qualitative measures like personal reputation. Publishing is definitely an interesting game!
Thank you for this post. My debut launches on June 11 along with my panic about being DOA. I believe the best effort I can put in right now is to write my next great story.
Good luck!
Another fabulous post. Authors need to read this.
With each and every post, I am learning new things! You are truly a godsend for those of us in the book publicity world! Happy Friday!