Hi Jason, not sure how you came across my feed, but nice to see you here (#21ders!). Thanks for your transparency, and congrats on your continued success (as a midlist author, I count it as a victory to be able to keep publishing the stories we want to).
I’m going to show the world how little I know about publishing by asking: how does one move backward? Are those projected sales that didn’t happen? Or accountants getting numbers wrong? Or (and I’m joking here) someone slipping the book into their bag and it not counting as a sale but which should count for something… Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for asking! Going backward typically happens due to returns where a bookstore has ordered a certain amount of copies, but when those copies don't sell in store, they return the unsold copies to the publisher.
This was a brilliant insight into the economics of writing - thanks so much for sharing with such transparency and honesty! I'm trying to do a similar thing. The more of us who do it, the better, I think. It's a difficult industry to understand and navigate - and tolerate, sometimes! - so more transparency can only be a good thing :)
It's really cool of you to share this, Jason! It's such a clear glimpse into the economics of writing and a great reminder for aspiring writers that even an advance and good sales are rarely enough to support a writer for the long term. I'm a fellow mid-list author with both NYT bestsellers and very sluggish sellers in my backlist. There are books on my backlist that reliably bring in a bit of income each year, and two books on my backlist that have never earned out. And every book is different. You might earn out a six-figure advance, surprising everyone, including your publisher, and struggle to earn out a much smaller advance. It's entirely unpredictable!
Michelle! Thank you so much for this insight! It's so wild how unpredictable all this is, and also for a very Virgo Virgo like myself, it can be so frustrating that there's no formula we can figure out to replicate successes for past books to help out our future books.
This is so helpful Jason! Thanks for sharing. I'll look through comments and other posts to see if you mentioned it, but WHERE are you getting these numbers from? Ie not in "real time" right? From your statements?
(Asking because my therapist was INCREDULOUS that I didn't have weekly, if not daily, numbers re sales etc. I admit, her basically thinking I was lying/ignoring the business end of things does fit in with me avoiding things I do not understand. However, I am now looking around for confirmation that we do not, in fact, have access to these numbers. Until statements. Which are completely out of date by the time we get them. All to say, trying to figure out which marketing efforts are effective is almost impossible.
Totally not missing anything. We really don’t have direct access to sales numbers in real time, which is infuriating. There is a BookScan membership authors can get through Publisher’s Marketplace for $25 per month that gives you access to 5 ISBNs worth of sales numbers, but BookScan doesn’t count library sales, book club sales, etc., and not every store reports to them. It’s a hoarding of information that makes zero sense when we are not only the creators of these books, but the people who are held accountable for our sales numbers.
Exactly. Yet another example of publishing being an insane business. I've heard (I don't have books with them,) that Am*zon is the only one that gives you real time numbers. Oh the absolute irony.
Random House has an amazing author dashboard that allows you to see your sales on a weekly basis, for books going back more than a decade. Unfortunately, my other publishers only offer annual statements--which I think is more common.
Jason June, thank you so much for sharing this. You (and other authors) being brave and transparent enough to share the actual numbers helps all of us feel less alone! LOVE YOU!!!
Thank you for being so open and sharing all this. It really helps!
Happy to share any time!!
How did I just find you now?!? This is gold.
Angelique!! Thank you!!
Hi Jason, not sure how you came across my feed, but nice to see you here (#21ders!). Thanks for your transparency, and congrats on your continued success (as a midlist author, I count it as a victory to be able to keep publishing the stories we want to).
The algorithm knew to bring us together!! And I so agree, it’s such a gift to be able to publish!!
I’m going to show the world how little I know about publishing by asking: how does one move backward? Are those projected sales that didn’t happen? Or accountants getting numbers wrong? Or (and I’m joking here) someone slipping the book into their bag and it not counting as a sale but which should count for something… Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for asking! Going backward typically happens due to returns where a bookstore has ordered a certain amount of copies, but when those copies don't sell in store, they return the unsold copies to the publisher.
I had no idea that was part of the process. Thanks again Jason.
Anytime!!
Thank you!! This was so helpful.
I'm so glad it could help, Ellie!
This was a brilliant insight into the economics of writing - thanks so much for sharing with such transparency and honesty! I'm trying to do a similar thing. The more of us who do it, the better, I think. It's a difficult industry to understand and navigate - and tolerate, sometimes! - so more transparency can only be a good thing :)
Simon, thank you so much!! I’m so with you. The more of us who feel able to share this sort of information, the better for all authors.
💯
Lovely 🥰 great idea! Will consider to send our 2 cents to fuel the vent ship😃😃
Thank you so much!!
It's really cool of you to share this, Jason! It's such a clear glimpse into the economics of writing and a great reminder for aspiring writers that even an advance and good sales are rarely enough to support a writer for the long term. I'm a fellow mid-list author with both NYT bestsellers and very sluggish sellers in my backlist. There are books on my backlist that reliably bring in a bit of income each year, and two books on my backlist that have never earned out. And every book is different. You might earn out a six-figure advance, surprising everyone, including your publisher, and struggle to earn out a much smaller advance. It's entirely unpredictable!
Michelle! Thank you so much for this insight! It's so wild how unpredictable all this is, and also for a very Virgo Virgo like myself, it can be so frustrating that there's no formula we can figure out to replicate successes for past books to help out our future books.
A formula sure would be nice!
This is so helpful Jason! Thanks for sharing. I'll look through comments and other posts to see if you mentioned it, but WHERE are you getting these numbers from? Ie not in "real time" right? From your statements?
Ok I just checked and you said statements.
(Asking because my therapist was INCREDULOUS that I didn't have weekly, if not daily, numbers re sales etc. I admit, her basically thinking I was lying/ignoring the business end of things does fit in with me avoiding things I do not understand. However, I am now looking around for confirmation that we do not, in fact, have access to these numbers. Until statements. Which are completely out of date by the time we get them. All to say, trying to figure out which marketing efforts are effective is almost impossible.
I'm not missing something, right? )
Totally not missing anything. We really don’t have direct access to sales numbers in real time, which is infuriating. There is a BookScan membership authors can get through Publisher’s Marketplace for $25 per month that gives you access to 5 ISBNs worth of sales numbers, but BookScan doesn’t count library sales, book club sales, etc., and not every store reports to them. It’s a hoarding of information that makes zero sense when we are not only the creators of these books, but the people who are held accountable for our sales numbers.
Exactly. Yet another example of publishing being an insane business. I've heard (I don't have books with them,) that Am*zon is the only one that gives you real time numbers. Oh the absolute irony.
Oh wow, that is ironic!!
Random House has an amazing author dashboard that allows you to see your sales on a weekly basis, for books going back more than a decade. Unfortunately, my other publishers only offer annual statements--which I think is more common.
Oh interesting! going back a decade?! This makes me both happy and also furious. They could ALL be doing this presumably??
Thank you for this transparency! It’s so helpful to see this side of the business.
I’m so glad it was helpful!!
Wow this is eye opening! Thanks for sharing it!
You bet!! Hoping to help give some insight, even if it’s just from my small little royalties corner!!
I love that you share this!
Jason June, thank you so much for sharing this. You (and other authors) being brave and transparent enough to share the actual numbers helps all of us feel less alone! LOVE YOU!!!
LOVE YOU RIGHT BACK!!
Appreciate your transparency. Sincerely, a floundering indie.
Happy to help!!
So grateful for you sharing what you do. I think its wonderful insight into the world of publishing. <3
That means a lot, AJ! Thank you!
This is all so interesting (and as a fellow Mid Lister, so familiar). Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Alex! Trying to put at least a little light on what it can be like for us in the middle!