Trip isn't available in kindle format here in Australia, unlike several other books of yours, so that's why I bought the physical copy. This is in response to your note about that book having lower ebook sales than your others
I was impressed that my Melville House books sold so well when I found out in 2018, especially Eeeee Eee Eeee which got like 3 reviews and had sold almost 10k. I’m impressed by Trip’s sales too. It’s rare for a literary book to sell more than like 5k copies. I'm happy with my sales.
more proof that it's all about the advances in traditional publishing...but man are these trade houses good at pushing out books in the 1st month to capture 1000 sales...and then none...such a heroine industry...
Lots of sales at first is mostly because they count all the preorders, and because bookstores put books on "new releases" tables at first, and because most of the media attention comes before and during the release.
We indie publishers must get all our PR after the publication…the numbers either build or nothing happens…I did it with a business book…but general nonfiction seems to controlled by a very tiny tribe of gatekeepers with only status in mind.
I'm wondering if 50k words - the short novel - is that format better for autobiographical accounts or fiction? It's like / do you consider it more of much longer essay or a much shorter book? This is prob a dumb question but when you posted it my goal suddenly sprang to life of what I could possibly do in a year.
I don't like those graphs where the author's sales start way up in the thousands and then plummet downward and bounce along on the bottom. We all know that's the actual pattern. But no need to represent it in that way. Being a writer is hard enough . . .
This is wild to me! I remember back in ~2015 when I was finishing up college it felt like Taipei was everywhere, and everyone was reading it. I bought a copy new (usually I buy used books). I just assumed you got rich off this book.
Thanks for being transparent and sharing this. Congratulations on all of your sales. You should feel proud of what you have accomplished.
Trip isn't available in kindle format here in Australia, unlike several other books of yours, so that's why I bought the physical copy. This is in response to your note about that book having lower ebook sales than your others
Keep up with the good work.
Why was there a spike in sales of Taipei in 2019?
Thanks super interesting
The 2019 Spikes ____^_____ are interesting. What a time. Let's all by books again.
Statistically speaking, how likely is it that the essay collection will be available by 2025?
40-60 percent. If not 2025, early 2026.
I’m surprised by the book sales numbers. They feel small to me. I expected them to be larger. Are you also surprised?
I was impressed that my Melville House books sold so well when I found out in 2018, especially Eeeee Eee Eeee which got like 3 reviews and had sold almost 10k. I’m impressed by Trip’s sales too. It’s rare for a literary book to sell more than like 5k copies. I'm happy with my sales.
more proof that it's all about the advances in traditional publishing...but man are these trade houses good at pushing out books in the 1st month to capture 1000 sales...and then none...such a heroine industry...
Lots of sales at first is mostly because they count all the preorders, and because bookstores put books on "new releases" tables at first, and because most of the media attention comes before and during the release.
We indie publishers must get all our PR after the publication…the numbers either build or nothing happens…I did it with a business book…but general nonfiction seems to controlled by a very tiny tribe of gatekeepers with only status in mind.
Do you think 50k books should be autobiographical
Can you rephrase this? Not sure what you're asking.
I'm wondering if 50k words - the short novel - is that format better for autobiographical accounts or fiction? It's like / do you consider it more of much longer essay or a much shorter book? This is prob a dumb question but when you posted it my goal suddenly sprang to life of what I could possibly do in a year.
I don't like those graphs where the author's sales start way up in the thousands and then plummet downward and bounce along on the bottom. We all know that's the actual pattern. But no need to represent it in that way. Being a writer is hard enough . . .
It's hard to see what's going on in the non-initial parts too, with the big part at the start.
I remember you saying Tai Pei still hasn’t earned out its advance. How many copies would need to be sold for it to do so?
The advance was $50,000, so probably something like 40,000 to 60,000 copies. I don't remember how much I get per book.
This is wild to me! I remember back in ~2015 when I was finishing up college it felt like Taipei was everywhere, and everyone was reading it. I bought a copy new (usually I buy used books). I just assumed you got rich off this book.
I was rich, in my view, for a while. The movie rights sold for $50k too. It’s the most I’ve made off one book.
Great post, Tao. Looks like the Bookscan image can't be zoomed in on?
It's a screenshot so it doesn't get bigger.
Thank you for the interesting numbers.
you're welcome