Criminally Overlooked?
First, off, I'm back from my travels. Kinda sorta. Still playing catch up, but then, I've been doing that all my life. Fun stuff happening on lots of fronts, so I will have some news to share via this blog in the upcoming days. My big project is finishing book #2 for the fine folks at Bethany House Publishers, so I will at least have an excuse for light blog posts in the next month or so.
Today, though, I wanted to talk about something that came to me in the latest edition of the "Publisher's Marketplace" newsletter: a link to a NY Times story about George Pelecanos. Pelecanos, if you've not discovered him, is (in my mind), one of our three or four greatest living crime novelists. He's received critical praise from the press and from his peers, and anyone who reads him seems to become an instant fan. So imagine my surprise when I came to this section of the article:
So far, that critical acclaim has failed to translate into the kind of sales that Mr. Pelecanos’s publisher, Little, Brown, believes he deserves. According to Nielsen BookScan, none of his last five books have sold more than 13,000 copies in hardcover; Little, Brown contends that the figures range from 17,000 to 21,000 copies.
So the books of George Pelecanos only sell something in the high teens? What's wrong with this world? His writing is brilliant and incisive, his plots are filled with numerous interesting strands, his characters are real; he's got the writing chops. Plus, he's received plenty of media attention, critical praise, and the endorsements of heavy hitters in the crime fiction community (Dennis Lehane, for one). Why, why, why aren't more people buying his books?
This is something that helps put the whole biz in perspective: even when you do everything right, sales success isn't guaranteed. It reminds me to be thankful for each and every sale.
It also reminds me I need to pre-order Pelecanos's newest book, "The Night Gardener."
Posted by TLHines at July 27, 2006 12:49 PM
It's frustrating, isn't it? I mean, if some of the best folks out there are selling poorly, what chance do the rest of us have, right? I know it's not necessarily that cut-and-dried, but it certainly is sobering. Did the article on Pelecanos give any speculation as to why sales are so low? Poor marketing? Bad cover art?
-Alison
blog.alisonstrobel.com
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It's a crazy business. I shake my head as books I think are mediocre become best-sellers while some extraordinary authors continue to go unnoticed. I've not read this author but I will. Thanks.
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I'm with Allison and Gina on this. It's almost inexplicable that some poorly constructed and executed books have done so well while others bearing all the marks of greatness fall by the wayside. There's this thing with the public. It's like a wildfire. Some things catch even without the proper fuel while others, disproportionately fueled and fanned, are spared.
It's more than frustrating. It's scarey, especially for those of us really intent on improving our craftsmanship. I know I'm not the only one who fears that all the effort might not pay off.
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