How preorders could give the publishing industry a happy surprise
And A.J. West a dream come true
Imagine an author who was rejected by pretty much every agent for his first book.
Imagine he became an award-winning, TV-adapted, top 20 bestseller after all!
Imagine he then wrote a second novel and was rejected by every single one of the major publishers.
Imagine he became a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller…
That, my friends, is within reach, but only if I can muster enough preorders!
The thing is, you see, the Sunday Times bestseller list is compiled weekly over a set 7-day period and - as one of the oh-so-many eccentricities of the UK publishing industry - books are published on Thursdays… right in the middle of the week. Meaning: if people buy your book on or after publication day, you only have 3 days left in that week to sell enough books to make the top ten before they start being counted afresh for the following week. Ours is not to reason why…
HOWEVER, if people have preordered, all those sales are counted on publication day, meaning you get a nice chunk to put you in the running for a coveted spot and a good boost on digital rankings.
Before I was published back in 2022, I knew nothing about preorders and the effect they have on an author’s success. I assumed it was just a way to make sure I didn’t miss the next novel from my favourite writer. Not so!
Did you know shops look at preorders to work out how many to stock on release? The big high street ones certainly do. And if a book is getting lots of preorders (or even just a few) booksellers talk about it, sharing with each other which titles seem to be getting the most early interest. It makes sense really, doesn’t it? Especially when bookselling is so competitive and bookshops are having to make tough decisions daily about how to keep the bills paid.
Not just that though. All authors benefit if their books get onto bestselling lists, and for me that’s a hugely important achievement. Why? Well, yes it looks nice on social media profiles, and festival and book event organisers like to see that you’re a bestseller so it helps to get booked. It also encourages those lovely booksellers to have faith that buying stock of your latest novel is going to be a wise business decision.
More than that though…making a bestseller list tells publishers in the future that you’re worth publishing. One of the more surprising (shocking even) things I discovered as a new author, was just how willing the publishing industry is to jettison writers who - often through absolutely no fault of their own or their books - aren’t seen to have sold enough copies. This can happen because an editor left their job and the author received no support or marketing. It can happen because of supply line issues beyond the author’s control. It can happen because a publisher chose not to push a book or a large retailer decided against it or simply overlooked it by design or mistake. None of the reasons matter; if your book isn’t deemed a strong seller then your future books are likely to be rejected. Not by editors, but by the all-powerful sales teams. Yes, it is the sales team making the decision on which books to publish these days, while editors have to champion a book they think is important and beautiful, if it doesn’t have a proven big seller behind it.
Can you sense my anxiey? Easier to understand now, why authors like me are begging people to preorder their books.
Put simply: if I don’t make a success of The Betrayal of Thomas True after 2 years of writing, research, and editing, I will struggle to continue as a novelist at all, regardless of how many readers are keen for the next book.
It can be a precarious, fickle, and - frankly - rather cruel industry, which places authors in a perpetual state of powerless hope.
Nonetheless, I have always had to fight for my achievements and I’m fortunate to have you on my side.
Thank you so much and more to come…
AJ x