Found out the average novel only sells a few hundred copies and it hit me weird

I was digging through some publishing stats on a subreddit last night and saw that most traditionally published books move like 250 copies in their first year. That blew my mind because I always assumed if you got a deal, you were at least selling a few thousand. Now I'm wondering if my whole idea of 'success' as a writer is totally off. Has anyone else stumbled on a writing stat that changed how you look at your own work?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanh777d ago

Yeah I saw that stat too and immediately looked at my half finished manuscript like "buddy you're not even gonna sell 250 copies with that terrible middle chapter." My writing group keeps asking when I'll be done and I'm like what's the rush nobody's reading it anyway. Honestly it's kind of freeing knowing my magnum opus is destined for a dusty corner of some used bookstore.

troy9777d ago

Man that stat hit different for me too @ryanh77. I wrote a whole 80,000 word novel about a guy who runs a bait shop and solves a murder mystery with a fishing rod. Thought it was gold until I showed it to two friends and they both fell asleep reading chapter 4. Now it just sits in a Google doc folder I call "the cemetery". Honestly though there's something nice about writing for yourself instead of trying to make it big. Your writing group can wait, that manuscript will still be there when you're ready to tackle that middle chapter.