What Sells a Book?

It's not the great mystery you think it is.

I was going to publish this on Wednesday, but that is my (52nd!) birthday, so you are receiving it early.

During the 18 months I have been writing this newsletter, one question is asked more than others: What actually sells a book? I’ve thought about how to answer this question to the best of my ability, and here is what I came up with based on my (gulp) three decades in the publishing industry. Some of it is obvious, some of it you won’t like, but all of it is true. Grab a beverage, have a seat, and let’s get into it. Note: This is general information and not specific to one book, so please keep that in mind.

Publishers Set the Tone for Book Sales

This might seem obvious, but publishers have some control over how booksellers and consumers perceive a book. I’m stopping short of saying that publishers control how a book sells because the truth is that no one knows the answer to that. Publishers can, however, set the tone for how a book might sell. Here are some factors:

• The Advance: While I hate to admit this and wish it weren’t true, the higher an advance is, the more attention a book will receive in-house. It will likely have a more extensive marketing and publicity budget than a book with a low advance, which means its visibility in the marketplace will most certainly matter. There is a substantial difference between marketing a book with a $100K advance versus a book with a $12K advance. The former will be front of mind for publishers, while the latter falls into the “if we can sell a lot of copies, great!” category. Authors don’t like to hear this, but it is true. The caveat I’d put forth is if an independent press publishes you, the playing field will be more even with the rest of their list. Still, there is always a hierarchy of books, no matter the publisher’s size. Remember, all books are not created equal. The higher the advance, the bigger the stakes for the publisher.

Marketing: Where to begin? When a book is a publisher's priority, many marketing activities occur. Some of them may not seem paid to you, but they are:

• Indie Next List/”White Box” mailing: A white box mailing is something the American Booksellers Association sends out to their 795 members (indie bookstores). Publishers can choose promotional items such as flyers, easel back posters, or postcards OR ARCs/galleys. The latter ranges from $1.60 to $2.75 per piece, costing $1200-$2100 per book. When there is a limited budget, that is a lot of money (also consider the cost of producing ARCs/galleys). Does the white box mailing influence the Indie Next list? I would say yes, it does because publishers make sure specific titles are front and center for booksellers. There’s no denying that this helps in hand-selling books to consumers.

  Trade Shows (sorry the formatting is funky here): There are several regional trade shows each year. They are: Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) + New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA), Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA), California Independent Booksellers Association (CALIBA), New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA), Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA), and Midwest Independent Booksellers Association (MIBA) + Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association (GLIBA). Booksellers gather for various events during each conference where select authors appear and ARCs/galleys are available. Usually, the authors chosen for these conferences have been tagged as having a big book coming out. It costs money to send authors, produce/ship ARCs/galleys, and offer promotional material. Regional trade shows aim to excite booksellers about particular titles a publisher has earmarked as important to their list. That doesn’t mean your book is less important if it is not included. I am pointing out how publishers get some books in front of booksellers to push sales.

• Advertising: As you know, I have a love/hate relationship with book ads. Print ads don’t sell books, so if you see one in The New York Times Book Review, it’s either to appease a prominent author or said author paid for it themselves. Digital ads are more effective, depending on where they are placed. I’m a fan of newsletter advertising in outlets like The Atlantic, NPR, The NYT, etc., because they do a great job targeting their audience. Amazon ads are a big deal and can help in book discovery. In my experience, social media ads are hit or miss. When you start seeing ads for the same book in several places, the publisher signals that the book is big for them.

• Goodreads: There are different promotion tiers on Goodreads, and when you see a dedicated email from them or a giveaway with all the bells and whistles, the book is more important to the publisher. Goodreads isn’t what I’d consider a top promotion, but it does help with discovery and branding. Sales, not so much. Still, it is not something that happens for every book.

• E-mail Marketing: You might have noticed that publishers only mention certain books in their email promotions, and with good reason. The books chosen are usually earmarked as big, and you had better believe publishers want others to know it. Publishers can't include every book, so they’ll send themed emails (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Black History Month, etc.) or dedicate an entire email to one title. I know this upsets authors, but corporate marketing usually makes these decisions with input from each imprint. There’s nothing your publicist can do to change it.

• Sales Conference: Publishers present their lists to the sales team every season. For example, the summer 2024 sales conference is probably when the editorial, marketing, and publicity staff present in fall 2025 (I could be off by a season, but you get the gist). During sales conferences, it is noted to salespeople which books are a priority to the publisher. This is done by presenting publicity, marketing plans, and the “get out” number. The “get out” number is the target number of books the publisher wants to see go out the door to retail accounts. It aligns with the budget—each publisher must have a specific dollar amount of billing. For example, a book with a “get out” number of 75,000-100,000 copies is a priority. In reality, sales might only get orders that total 40,000. The 40,000 copies are closer to the publisher's billing needs. They show sales the book is important by giving them a higher target. Another example is if a publisher has a “get out” of 20,000 copies. That means the number sales will come back with is closer to 10,000: the book is not as much a priority as the 40,000-copy title. This sets the tone for how salespeople sell books to accounts: which ones to emphasize and which ones to skip (sorry, but this does happen—in both sales and publicity).

Does Publicity Matter? OF COURSE:

I’ve written quite a bit about the publicity side of book publishing, so some of this might be repetitive. It’s still worth mentioning:

• Tours: Let’s review something: Tours aren’t necessary for book sales. The onus is often on authors to bring in a crowd, so I am of the quality over quantity mindset. That said, if a publisher invests in a tour for an author, it is usually because that author is well-established and can fill a room. When I was one of Jodi Picoult’s publicists, her events had to be held off-site because over 200 people would attend them. We’d sell upward of 300-400 books per event, so the tour essentially paid for itself. It also helped catapult her books onto bestseller lists. The hard truth is that publishers won’t send most authors on tour because it doesn’t make sense financially. I often talk clients out of book signings unless they can show me they’ll bring in a crowd. No publicist wants an email or text from an author who had an empty event. Have an event, but keep it local unless you have people in other cities who will show up.

• Media: It’s slim pickings out there, but all is not lost. While I still think reviews have their place, they aren’t known to sell many books unless there is a slew of them around a book’s publication date. It’s never about one specific media hit (except 60 Minutes, The View, or CBS Sunday Morning); it’s about strategic media hits in different places/mediums. NPR (national and regional), podcasts, interviews in various online outlets, reviews/interviews with Substack writers, and, yes, the occasional TV interview can all contribute to book sales. Be warned, though: the pitch has to be stellar. I always look for nonfiction angles when working with fiction authors. I want to know about their lives because it can be interesting to mine for pitches. You have to be smart, though, and think about what coverage you’ll get: Is one quote in a story going to get you name recognition and sell your book? Probably not, so don’t try to stretch it with your publicist because they could use the time to do something else that will work better.

• Opinion Pieces and Personal Essays: Here’s the thing about opinion pieces and personal essays: they help with book deals, not book sales. There are some exceptions to this, so I am mentioning it. A well-done essay or opinion piece can lead readers to the rest of your writing. You must know how to write in a way that leaves them curious and wanting more. It’s no easy feat, but I have bought books because of it.

• Speaking Engagements: If you can get speaking gigs where the contract requires books to be sold, go for it. This includes schools, libraries, corporations, and more. Make sure you give your publisher plenty of lead time to get books there!

How Authors Can Set the Tone for Book Sales:

• Platforms: I can’t emphasize this enough: You have control over building your platform, which is a direct line to your readers. If you squander it, you’re making a mistake. Building a platform is building a brand; whether you like it or not, you are a brand. You must decide what kind of brand you want to project to readers. A platform on social media is a gift (and sometimes a curse) to authors. You must know how to talk about your book and many other things to connect with others. A great piece of advice one of my mentors gave me was, “You need to be your own best publicist.” She was right. I wouldn’t have gotten promotions or raises had I not advocated for myself. I wouldn’t get clients if I didn’t work on my platform and show people who I am as a person, not just a publicist. Being an author is much the same. I’d be lying if I told you all you had to do was write. Not so! YOU can set the tone for how your book does, but you must work on your platform early and often. You can’t expect an audience for your book if 1) you can’t identify them and 2) you don’t know how to engage and retain them.

• Newsletters: Newsletters are your chance to own your audience. You can obtain email addresses and communicate directly with your audience. The ability to land in someone’s inbox is invaluable, so think about what you can offer your audience and create a schedule to stay on track (says the woman who doesn’t keep a schedule to stay on track). If fear is holding you back, please know that I started this newsletter with less than 50 email addresses and no clue about how Substack worked. I wanted to write about the publishing industry, so I did, and here we are. A good exercise is to search Substack for the topics you’d like to write about to see what else exists and what you can add to the conversation. Be yourself and allow your voice to come through. Authenticity is vital, and it is not all about book promotion. Share enough of yourself so people get to know you.

• Booksellers: It is in your best interest to meet your local bookseller and cultivate a relationship with them before your book is published. However, this does not mean you should badger them about taking copies of your book. Booksellers take risks on books all the time. Give them a reason to take a risk on yours. Be friendly, considerate, and gentle. Everyone there is working as hard as they can.

• Libraries: What I wrote about booksellers applies here. It is an excellent exercise to determine whether your local library or bookstore hosts book clubs and what kind. This doesn’t mean you should infiltrate them; instead, it teaches you what book clubs in your area are reading.

• Hire Help: If your publisher doesn’t support your efforts, explore hiring an outside publicist or marketer (I do both). Remember that no publicist can guarantee results, but they can guide you through the process, become your biggest cheerleader, and see things in you and your book that your publisher may not. This doesn’t mean your publisher isn’t doing their job. Every publishing department is overworked and swamped, so you won’t get the individualized attention you might need from your own publicist or marketer.

The Obvious:

There are, of course, obvious things that sell books, including:

• Celebrity book clubs

• Writing a fantastic book

• Word-of-mouth (see: writing a fantastic book)

• Understanding trends/current events and jumping into the fray

• BookTok, if the book goes viral

I hope this gives you something to think about.

END NOTES:

What I’m Watching: 1) I just finished “America’s Sweethearts” on Netflix. It is a docuseries about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. I have a new respect for what they do. 2) I saw “It Ends with Us,”—the movie based on the bestselling book by Colleen Hoover. I really liked it.

What I’m Reading: It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover. This is the sequel to It Ends with Us, and I’ll say that I get the Hoover hype. I’m a big believer in reading things before you judge them.

What I’m Listening to: I am addicted to the song “Good Luck, Babe” by Chappell Roan. She has exploded this summer. If you liked 80s music like The Motels, this is up your alley.