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Just five authors
Jul. 17th, 2007 06:34 pmI read a paper today which casually introduced the fact that in 1994, over 70% of all book sales were of books by one of these five authors:
I have no doubt that, this year, 70% of book sales will flow to J.K. Rowling alone, leaving Messrs. Grisham, Clancy, Crichton, and King to battle it out for a further 25%, and leaving Michael Chabon at the head of the rapidly trailing 5% pack. It's all about reading the same things and thinking the same things. Bestseller lists -- the author's focus in the paper -- allow for some lateral contiguity, allowing works by "new" authors to take some luster from their predictable and reliable peers. Oddly enough, if you've been on the bestseller list ten or thirteen times, additional times won't help your sales. So, the mega- authors are scoring garbage points to no practical purpose. On the other hand, as happened in the case of a "new, unknown author" whose sales skyrocketed when it was rumored that her name was but a "pen name" for Stephen King, mega-authors could use their accreted standing to help the careers of younger writers. Imagine if it was leaked that my first novel was actually written by Michael Chabon or Nathan Englander! I'd be satisfied with that 5% of the market, and give plenty in kickbacks to the "real" authors to boot! (No, I wouldn't. I'm just getting caught up in the frenzy.)
Meanwhile, back in reality, the paper says that the likelihood of a successful "over the transom" submission is now 15,000 to 1. Why don't I just stop typing and buy lottery tickets?
- John Grisham
- Tom Clancy
- Danielle Steele
- Michael Crichton
- Stephen King
I have no doubt that, this year, 70% of book sales will flow to J.K. Rowling alone, leaving Messrs. Grisham, Clancy, Crichton, and King to battle it out for a further 25%, and leaving Michael Chabon at the head of the rapidly trailing 5% pack. It's all about reading the same things and thinking the same things. Bestseller lists -- the author's focus in the paper -- allow for some lateral contiguity, allowing works by "new" authors to take some luster from their predictable and reliable peers. Oddly enough, if you've been on the bestseller list ten or thirteen times, additional times won't help your sales. So, the mega- authors are scoring garbage points to no practical purpose. On the other hand, as happened in the case of a "new, unknown author" whose sales skyrocketed when it was rumored that her name was but a "pen name" for Stephen King, mega-authors could use their accreted standing to help the careers of younger writers. Imagine if it was leaked that my first novel was actually written by Michael Chabon or Nathan Englander! I'd be satisfied with that 5% of the market, and give plenty in kickbacks to the "real" authors to boot! (No, I wouldn't. I'm just getting caught up in the frenzy.)
Meanwhile, back in reality, the paper says that the likelihood of a successful "over the transom" submission is now 15,000 to 1. Why don't I just stop typing and buy lottery tickets?
