Publishing Mistakes
By Jerry D. Simmons | May 26th, 2010 | 2 Comments » (Click to add yours!)

Some of the biggest publishers make mistakes. Trying to capitalize on a celebrity book when their star is rising is a possibility, launching a new title when their star is falling can cost a publisher his or her shirt. This is the problem with the Kate Gosselin book from yesterday’s TIPS for WRITERS, click here to read. 

The most curious thing about her new book was the fact that selling a little more than 10,000 copies could make it all the way to the #11 spot on The New York Times bestseller list, #103 on the USA Today list and ranked #862 on Amazon. Just goes to show how much publishing is based on “perception.” The book was sold based on previous sales, there were tons of copies stacked high in stores and even though it had very poor sales the first two weeks, the bestselling “perception” was created before anyone knew the truth. 

This simple principle holds for any book: IF you are successful at creating buzz around the launch of your new book, get enough copies stacked into stores, create a false impression that the book will be a bestseller, anything is possible. In the end it may come back to bite you and cost lots of money, but perception in publishing is still a very strong strategy for success.

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2 Responses to “Publishing Mistakes”

  1. Signe says:
    May 27, 2010 at 6:53 pm

    this is a great perspective of the market jerry. sometimes it is hard to see the big picture. Only 10,000 copies for the NYTimes best seller list? interesting.

  2. how to put up a privacy fence says:
    June 23, 2010 at 3:21 am

    Usually I do not post on blogs, but I would like to say that this article really forced me to do so! Thanks, really nice article.

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