Best Sellers Sell the Best Because They’re Best Sellers

 The title to a New York Times article about the head of Penguin Randomhouse. It struck me as an accurate and concise assessment of how the publishing industry works. 

Sometimes when I talk to aspiring writers in my store I realize that I sound utterly cynical. Whereas, I think I'm just being truthful. I mean, that really does seem to be the way it works. 

 Best Sellers sell the Best Because They're Best Sellers.

I tell young writers to get a second opinion and admit that I'm reducing the chances down to basics.

I read an interview once with Russell Wilson, Seattle quarterback, about his unlikely ascent. He said, to paraphrase, "Well, someone had to reach this point. Why not me?"

I liked that comment, but I can't get onboard with the optimism. 

You might be able to increase the odds of success through promotional efforts, but--to me--it's a demeaning process for a small chance. Early on in my store, I decided against what I call "wearing the gorilla suit" to promote my store. I would let the store stand or fail based on the inner dynamics of hard work and persistence. So be it. 

But I recognize that I also lucked out in the end by being in Downtown Bend. When we first moved in, it was a pretty sad place. It took half of my career before it started turning up, and I was at least smart enough to hang in there until it did.

So the success of the bookstore didn't depend on promotional efforts--it needed to be in a High Street location.

Unfortunately for writing, there is no easy way to find the equivalent of "High Street," where the customers find you on their own. There are venues that do the same thing as being in a high traffic location, but you can't just buy your way into them (pay the rent); Bookbub, for instance, is well worth the cost, but it's nearly as hard to be selected there as it is to be published in the first place.

I can see the route that an aspiring writer should probably take--and even in hindsight, it's a despairing process.

I've taken to telling aspiring writers to just publish themselves and be damned. At least you get the joy of writing and the results. It may not be lucrative or make you famous, but you'll know what you did.

My books turned out way better than I expected. That's was more than enough incentive for most of the time I was writing. I think, in some ways, I got it out of my system. I did what I set out to do.