Writing
  Thought for the Writer's Day: Always
Say "Thank You"
In one new monthly feature here at AmericaInvisible.com,
I'm going to say a "thank you" to someone
who has made a new hyperlink here. This month's winner
is Melissa at MissMeliss.com.
Thank you for visiting.
Thought for the Writer's Day:
How Big is the Market for my Book?
Unless you're just writing for the sake of your art,
sooner or later, preferably sooner, you ought to consider
how large your market is. How many people want to read
the kind of stuff that you write?
"I don't know," aspiring writer's tend to
say. "Until a publisher accepts my book how can
I know how many people will buy it. It could sell a
million copies."
Well, yes, it could. That part is true. But it isn't
true that we don't know the size of the market. Publishers
have a very good estimate of that, for almost any type
of book you can think of.
Suppose your book sells, say 100,000 copies, which
would make it a big success. For the sake of argument,
let's say it retails for $9.99 and you get seven percent.
Run those numbers, and your cut is about $70,000, which
is very appealing. Needless to say, most books don't
sell that many copies. If you run those numbers again
with sales of 1,000, your income drops to $699. Not
so good.
It's tempting to imagine that writers earn a lot, but
most don't. That's why online publishing, like I do
here, is a much better option than you'd imagine. Look
at the figures. If 1,000 readers really did want to
buy your book for $9.99, how many would read it for
free? Five thousand, maybe?
If you publish online and 5,000 readers really do visit,
and if your book runs to 200 pages, that makes one million
page views. Do you have any idea how much money you
could make from a website that attracts a million page
views?
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