5 Misconceptions Non-Writers Have About How Book Selling Works

As an indie author I find that a lot of my friends and pretty much everyone else I talk to has no idea how publishing actually works. From those who read a lot, to those who don’t, they all tend to function under the same few misconceptions. Even though, they inhabit the same century I do, they seem to think the literary world still functions the same way it did thirty years ago. This even applies to people who weren’t alive back then. 

Why is that? Honestly I have no idea. Most likely it is because they don’t actually have any hand in how books are made. Just like the film industry or pretty much any other product, most people’s only experience with them is the show “How Things are Made” on the Discovery Chanell. (I’m pretty sure that show has been off the air for years, but you get the point.) Most normal people’s stake in the products they consume is that they buy them and then enjoy them. How they come to be is unimportant. All that matters is they exist.

So with that being said, lets get to the content. Here are 5 misconceptions most people have about the literary world. 

1. ) Only Traditionally Published Authors are Real Authors. 

   
   

So, ok this is a very sore subject for us indie writers. Just because we didn’t want to spend years begging and pleading with every agent and publisher out their, it doesn’t mean our stuff is low quality. Yes, if most of us are honest with ourselves, we still dream of having our work recognized and published by one of the big Trad Pubs. But, just because we chose the harder route of the indie author, doesn’t mean that our stuff isn’t as good.

We were not rejected by the traditional publishing world, nor are we not good enough for them, we simply chose not to play their game. One of the greatest misconceptions non-authors have is that indie authors are people who failed in traditional publishing and had no choice but to go it themselves. 

I am not gonna pretend that Amazon isn't overrun with mediocre content from authors who are masterfully good at marketing but only adequate at writing, but most are not. (But hey, their e-books are only .99 so what do you want?)

Just because a few rotten apples show up in the bundle, doesn’t mean all are. I would be willing to wager a weeks pay that if you actually looked at the books you like, you will find at least 50% of them to be indie published. Whether it is from a hybrid publisher, an author’s own LLC, a small press owned by a larger press, or simply just outright indie, I bet you would be genuinely surprised at how many are on your shelf. 

2.) Book Stores Like Barnes and Noble are Where Most Books are Sold.

So, have we not all been living in the same universe? Have I somehow slipped into a parallel one? When you walk through a shopping mall do you still see a Walden Books? I certainty don’t. You know what, I can’t remember the last time I walked into a Borders either? I actually picked up their money when I worked armored truck, and you know what, I haven’t picked up their money in over ten years.

So….yeah. Why in the world would anyone think author’s make a majority of their sales at actual brick and mortar retail stores? Where did you buy your last book? Was it Borders, Walden's, Coles, Books-a-Million or Barnes and Noble? No! Let me guess, it was on Amazon. No, it was Kindle or Audible. Well, hi ho junior camper, Guess what? That's Amazon.

Seriously though, it was a thing a few years back that online retailors and E-Books were putting brick and mortar stores out of business. A whole lot of people were lamenting the extinction of such wonderful places. I know I was. I still love going to my local book store and perusing around the shelves. Sitting in their quaint cafes and talking to other’s who share my love of books. That, however, has become more of a novelty. So, no, we do not make our money selling at Barnes and Noble. We make it the same way everyone else does, through the grand old interweb. 

Seriously, if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me how many books I sold at Barnes and Noble I would have…well, most likely not much, but you get my drift. Maybe it is because of movies like “You Got Mail’ and other such things that people have the wrong impression of how this all works. I know police procedural shows do for me. Just ask all my cop friends who read my book. They will tell you I have a Hollywoodized view of what the police actually do. 

Rant over, so moving on…

3.) I Finished a Book and put it out there, so now I must be a NY Times best selling author and if not, your book must stink.

This one tends to stick in my craw more than the others. If you are an author and you put out an actual book then you have to be selling lots of copies right? That's how selling things works right? You simply put it out their and watch the cash flow in. Does anything else work that way? Not even restaurants work that way. Why in all that is holy do people think selling books works that way?

When I say no, it doesn’t work that way, they almost always ask: “Well, is it in Barnes and Noble?” Sigh…see point 2. seriously, it is a misconception that by creating art and putting it out their it sells itself. I absolutely wish that were how it worked. Trust me. I hate marketing and have no idea what I’m doing. 

Most of us didn’t dream of becoming a writer so we could spend 75% of our time building a brand, becoming an influencer and learning marketing. I wanted to tell stories, not build a business. That’s the crux of this though isn’t it. You have to become a business man if you want to sell books. If you don’t, you don’t sell books. You have to beg, plead, learn, try, fail, and build your customer base all while still writing enough books to keep the masses entertained. If not, all writing will ever be is a hobby. (Which, incidentally, is probably where I would classify myself right now.) 

How to get it in the hands of readers is the hard part and that leads me into my next point.

4.) If I were you, I would just go to every store, library, and venue in the area and set up my stand.

Ok, so this one isn’t all bad. Getting out their and doing events, meeting people and building relationships is a free and great way to help grow a fan base. If you build up a local following, you can certainly create a sustainable fan base. It also helps you learn what does and doesn’t work on the global scale. The more you engage with people, the more likely they are to buy what you are selling.

But, and here comes the but. (My friend Rich is probably slapping his forehead right now. He is the guy helping me with marketing.) It doesn’t work that way. Yes, it helps and is important, but will not necessarily lead to sustainable book sales. Heck, from my limited experience with such things, it ended up costing more then I made. 

Such things are great, and it is never a bad thing to engage with people, but just going out and begging for people to buy you books doesn’t really work in the long run. We all do it and it has value, but unless you can figure out how to get people on a larger scale to buy your books, you are still at the hobby level and this means advertising. Not just advertising a book signing at your local small town shop, but advertising to the wider world market, which we have already established is AMAZON and other major online retailers. 

I have found, that even traditional advertising guys have no idea how the literary world works. They think that if you just apply a few standard sales principles you will have success. Nope. Not even sort of. Sure, you will have some success and more then just screaming into the wind they way I have done, but it doesn’t work quite the same way. You need to understand how selling books works and how to market to people who read and buy books. 

5.) So now that your book is out and you have sold a couple hundred copies, you must be making bank.

I was recently explaining to one of my best friends how much actual profit I make from selling a book. He was genuinely shocked at how little the take home is. This is another misconception about book selling. Most people are surprised at how little even traditionally published authors make from individual book sales. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of authors out their making a lot of money selling books. From Indie to traditional, a lot of people are living quite well on their writing. But, for every JK Rowling or Johnathan Yanes, there is a guy like me struggling to get any traction at all. Don’t get me wrong, I stink at marketing and know where my weaknesses are, but I didn’t even make my money back on book 1.

Let me break down the numbers for you. 

I spent 2k on editing, 300 for cover art, 300 for advertising, another 300 for an author to help me advertise, around 600 on printed books to sell at the events I attended. I sold maybe a grand total of 300 copies. I make 2.50 on a full priced e-book and around 2.00 on a physical copy. That is on amazon, it is slightly less on Draft to Digital which distributes to other retailers like Barnes and Noble. So to break that down to an average, lets say 2.00 per book. That is around 600 dollars, which is a loss of 2900 dollars. 

For my second book which I recently released, I spent more since it is larger. I’m in it for 4k already. My royalties for print book on Draft to digital, which is Barnes and Noble, is .69 for book 1 and .23 for book 2. Amazon is still around the same, though since my e-book is not exclusive to Kindle, I make a little less. The print books are around the same as before which is around 2 to 3 dollars per book. So, if brick and mortar stores where the bulk of my sales, I would need to sell around 5780 books just to break even. I sold 300 of book 1. Now do you understand?

Here are just a few misconceptions about how selling books works. Hopefully this will help you understand why your friend who is an indie author is always stressed out and wants to punch you in the face when you mention these five things to them. We do very much need you r help and support and we never truly get angry with you when you spout off these misconceptions in your attempt at helping. We know, you really don’t understand how this all works, but hey don’t feel bad, neither do most of us. 

J