The ONE thing I wish I had known before I got my book deal
I know, I know, it’s a bit of a click-baity title but please bear with me! I feel like this is the thing that NO-ONE talks about EVER. And for the life of me I can’t really understand why. Because if we did talk about it more it would take the pressure off all the debut authors out there who are having meltdowns before, during and after their book is released.
OK, are you ready?
The one thing that no one told me before I got a book deal is…
You have almost no control over how your book sells.
While I let that sink in a bit, let me roll out all the caveats as usual before everyone starts telling me how wrong I am…
OK, here we go:
Caveat no 1)
You are an influencer / celebrity / famous person / expert in your field - in this case, then yes, you have a lot of control over how your book sells. Why are you even reading this post? Don’t you have a book tour to be getting on with? Go bask in your bestseller list position.
Caveat no 2)
You have self-published your book. This post isn’t for you. For you, the opposite is true. You literally have ALL the control over how your book sells and I am in awe of you and please can you teach me your magic tricks one day?
Ahem…
This post, like most of the posts on my blog, is for those non-celebrity people with a traditional publishing deal. Because I have only ever been traditionally published and I have never been famous, and so this is What I Know, and the two penneth worth of hard-earned wisdom I can impart in the hope that it will be helpful or at the very least a little bit reassuring.
I remember when I first got my book deal, I started investigating All The Things I could do to ensure that my book had the best possible start and flew off the shelves.
What I did to try to help my book sell
I started new social media pages under my author name
I started blogging again
I set up a spreadsheet for my publicist listing all the things I could potentially write articles on, around the themes in my book
I started networking as much as my little introverted soul could handle
I investigated blog tours
I went into my local bookshops to drop off proofs
I organised a launch party at a central London bookstore
I spent ages creating social media graphics on Canva 🙃
I sent out proof copies to anyone I knew who was a little bit famous online, even if their audiences weren’t at all relevant
I tweeted at least twice a week asking people to ‘pre-order my book!’ 🥴
I spent ages researching Facebook ads and sponsored posts on Instagram and I read pages and pages of marketing advice in the determination to arm myself with the knowledge I would need to ensure my book was a success
I look back now, five years later, and I think, bless wide-eyed optimistic me! I really believed that me doing all those things would move the needle. That I was somehow in control of my book becoming a massive bestseller.
I was wrong.
What does make a difference?
Here are the things that really make a difference to whether or not your book sells:
How much early buzz your book generates
How many retailers get on board with your book and place orders
Whether your book gets into supermarkets (YES REALLY)
How much publicity your book gets in mainstream media (although, I am not hugely convinced this makes THAT much difference in all honesty)
How important your book is to your publisher
How much advertising spend your publisher puts behind your book
Winning or being nominated for a significant prize
Being selected by a celebrity book club
Whether or not the stars align for you and shine down on you…
…which could also be summarised as…
… luck and timing
How many of those things can you, directly, as the author, influence?
Hardly any of them.
You might be able to help generate your own hype - and social media can be very helpful for this.
But hype alone can’t sustain a book’s sales. The most important thing is having your books on the shelves, in places where people are looking to buy books.
Literally, that is the thing that makes books sell. VISIBILITY.
What about ebooks?
The ebook market is obviously different, but visibility is still the key, it’s just achieved in different ways, pretty much all of which involve spending money on advertising.
Again, this is something you COULD do, as a traditionally published author, but isn’t advised, as your publisher should be doing this for you.
How much control do we, as authors, have over whether or not our books get stocked in shops?
Well, unless you actually work for one of the shops in a very high-up position, I think you can guess the answer to that.
ZERO.
So yes. Whether or not your book sells in great quantities is almost never down to you, the author.
It’s both liberating and terrifying all at the same time.
I get that. You want to help. You want to feel in control. It’s so hard to accept that you aren’t, but that’s the deal you made when you signed the contract with the publisher.
You sold your book to them, and it’s their book now, and they can do what they want with it (within the constraints of your contract).
Why do I wish I had known this before I got my book deal?
Because it would have made me feel like less of a failure when my book didn’t do as well as everyone had hoped. The Rival did fine, and has since sold really well in ebook, but it didn’t chart.
The hardback didn’t get selected for any supermarket positions, and only sold a handful of copies.
It also only sold into one territory abroad, despite everyone believing it would get lots of foreign rights deals.
And it wasn’t my fault. Nothing I did or didn’t do could have made any difference to that.
Above, I listed all the things I did in order to help my debut novel succeed.
By all means do all these things if you WANT to. They certainly won’t hurt. And it’s good to show willing to your publisher. Launching a book into the world is a team effort and the more you all pull together to try to make it a success, the better.
But please, please, please, take the pressure off your shoulders. Know that whatever happens to your book - whether it sells or not - is absolutely not your fault.
Your only job as a traditionally published author is to write the best bloody book you can. And hit your editorial deadlines. And be pleasant and courteous to work with.
Once you’ve done all those things, your job is over. That’s the whole point of being traditionally published. It’s the reason the publisher takes such a huge cut of your sales.
It’s THEIR job to sell the book to readers. It’s LITERALLY their job.
So say it again, a little louder this time:
You have almost no control over how your book sells.
Now, carry on writing your next one!