Chapter 1: The Reality of Book Sales

In my previous post, I discussed the release of the latest installment in The Last Word series, titled The Bookstore War. I openly shared my disdain for the self-promotion aspect of being an author, and for several days, I felt I had conquered this aversion. I naively thought I could take a break from the relentless marketing. However, two things caught my eye yesterday: a comment from Simon Dillon on my earlier article and an unexpected article I found while searching for a reasonably priced quality fountain pen (a hobby of mine). Simon's comment was refreshingly straightforward:

"Keep plugging it! I've got a new novel coming out soon, and I'm going to promote the hell out of that too."

Shortly after, I stumbled across an article on Seth's Blog titled provocatively, "Books Don't Sell." Expecting it to be mere clickbait, I was surprised to find it offered some compelling—and disheartening—statistics. According to Seth Godin, approximately 45,000 titles were released by the "Big Five" publishers in the United States in 2023, with a staggering 85% selling fewer than 5,000 copies each. Most sold under ten copies, and only 163 titles surpassed the 100,000 sales mark. These figures are for traditionally published works. When you include independently published titles, the number of new releases skyrockets to 450,000. If even the backed books struggle, how much more difficult must it be for those with a solitary author handling all their own marketing?

After digesting these statistics, I almost tossed my laptop in frustration, contemplating a return to collecting aluminum cans along the roadside. However, Simon's encouragement and my aversion to manual labor kept me grounded. Instead, I decided to provide some context about The Last Word series while simultaneously promoting the new novel.

The Last Word, the inaugural book of what has now become a four-part series, originated more than ten years ago as a concept for a television show that I pitched to my late sister. My passion for books, bookstores, and booksellers inspired me to collaborate with her on a sitcom similar to the BBC series Black Books, but tailored for an American audience and with slightly less drunkenness. Some characters, like Jake and Ortiz, had been with me since the early '90s, while others, such as Sal and Camden, emerged as I crafted the story.

Initially, we aimed to create a pilot, develop episode ideas, and outline a narrative arc; I would write Sal's sections while she would tackle Camden's. However, this collaboration quickly faltered. It turned out that working with someone who wasn't truly a writer was challenging (my sister was an artist). She urged me to forget about television and transform it into a novel, and as she often was, she was right.

The Last Word was released in 2014—it's hard to believe a decade has passed—and the sequel, Writer in Residence, followed in the next year. In a twist of fate in 2016, I finally fulfilled my lifelong dream of owning an independent bookstore, aptly named The Last Word. Ironically, as a bookseller, I encountered several scenarios I had previously penned in the novels, a stark contrast to the norm where life imitates art.

Regrettably, my store did not endure, but the series continued, and the third novel, Book Town, was published in 2018. Then, as is common with series, my characters fell silent; they stopped communicating, and I feared The Last Word would conclude as a trilogy. While having three novels is no small achievement, I still yearned for more.

The pandemic shifted everything. The weeks of lockdown seemingly compelled Sal, Camden, Julia, and the others to emerge from their hiatus, and they began to chatter incessantly. I struggled to transcribe their words quickly enough (I draft everything by hand on legal pads). When they finally paused for breath, I found I had the beginnings of two separate novellas: one detailing a conflict between Sal and a corporate bookstore chain, and another where the women from The Last Word suspect a new bookseller in town might be a vampire.

I contemplated completing both novellas, but the vampire tale lacked depth, feeling more like a long short story fit for an anthology of unfinished scenes. However, the bookstore conflict had sufficient substance to develop into a full novel, so I concentrated my efforts there. Yet, the vampire subplot lingered, and I spent months unraveling its significance.

Back in 2013, when I was sending out queries to agents, seeking representation for The Last Word, I faced consistent feedback: agents claimed it wouldn't sell because it wasn't a dystopian romance and lacked vampires (Twilight was still hugely popular at the time). I was adamant about excluding vampires from my bookstore narrative, so I took the independent route for publication. Their dismissive responses lingered in my mind, and I finally understood that the vampire subplot persisted because I subconsciously wanted to give a nod to those agents from a decade ago. Thus, I included it.

Four years after my characters reawakened and nearly two years after I contemplated discarding the manuscript, The Bookstore War is now in print. You can find it, along with the first three books in the series, at your local independent bookstores or on Amazon, all available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook formats.

With any luck, these modest promotional efforts might elevate The Bookstore War beyond that disheartening "fewer than ten copies sold" statistic. Regardless, I'm diving into Book #5, as one of the secondary characters from the series has insisted on their own story. Keep reading, keep promoting, and may Hemingway inspire you.

Tramps like us…

If you found value in this narrative, consider supporting my writing directly by leaving a tip below using the quirky hand icon (you tip waiters and bartenders, so why not writers?).

Chapter 2: Insights from the Experts

In this video, Robert Greene shares valuable insights on confidence, influence, and how to effectively connect with others, which can be particularly beneficial for authors navigating the complexities of self-promotion.

Chapter 3: A Candid Review

Watch as a dietitian reviews Flavcity's Bobby Parrish's daily eating habits, providing a humorous yet critical perspective that reflects the challenges and realities of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, much like the ups and downs of an author's journey.