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Reader comment on:
How Not To Write a Best Seller

Submitted by Matt Briggs, Jul 11, 2007 16:33

David Blum is asking the wrong questions and coming to bizarre conclusions in this piece. I do think the sales figures are interesting, although 50K copies, 4 printing for a debut lit novel, is a run away success anyway you want to cut it. However book reviews do belong to a discourse and a cultural conversation that may not result in direct book sales. Why is it necessary to turn cultural discourse into sales figures? When you consider how long it takes to read a book, and that less than 50% of Americans have read any book, much less a debut lit. fiction, in the last year, it is unlikely a book review is going to result in sales that are comparable to brand names authors. Really it is comparing apples and oranges. Comparing, too, a debut author to a debut author in the 1950s is also comparing apples and oranges. I found the following books very helpful in putting David Blum's article in the appropriate perspective: The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, So Many Books by Gabriel Zaid, and the old classic Fiction and the Reading Public by Q.D. Leavis.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
the article is good ,as long as am an upcoming novelist as i was searching for some of the info... [MORE]	lazaro mawe	Nov 21, 2007 09:35
The question isn't why doesn't a wonderful novel like Ferris's THEN WE CAME TO THE END make it to the... [MORE]	E.C.	Aug 1, 2007 01:08
David Blum is asking the wrong questions and coming to bizarre conclusions in this piece. I do think the sales...	Matt Briggs	Jul 11, 2007 16:33
As I wait - nervously - for a first review of my first book: Voice of the Tiger, think of... [MORE]	Markham Turner	Jun 2, 2007 01:10
in our local store and library there is a section promoting 'what our staff recommend'. it is next to the... [MORE]	Elaine	Jun 1, 2007 16:48
While the life and times of someone working in an ad agency in a large city might be appealing to... [MORE]	Cliff Burns	May 22, 2007 21:42
Many independent booksellers do have sections devoted to that week's best-reviewed books. Many independent bookstores do post copies of book... [MORE]	Cal Godot	May 18, 2007 17:35
Short, catchy titles are don't guarantee good sales anymore than long titles will doom it. Take, for instance, The Curious... [MORE]	Nanette Heiser	May 18, 2007 16:14
It is a peculiar article to ask the question why a particular book, in this case, "Then We Came to... [MORE]	Tony Esposito	May 18, 2007 10:59
Here in the Uk one chain of bookshops (Waterstone's) does indeed have a section of recently reviewed books and captions... [MORE]	PD Smith	May 18, 2007 08:40
Very much enjoyed the article 'How to write a bestseller'. I am the author of a Young Adult novel called... [MORE]	Edward Trayer	May 18, 2007 08:20
During my (brief) time working the register at the local B&N, in Park Slope- is there a less literary neighborhood?-... [MORE]	Mmirer	May 17, 2007 13:24
I am the author of "Camille Claudel, a Novel," which received over 40 rave reviews, in addition to several awards.... [MORE]	Alma H. Bond, Ph.D.	May 16, 2007 23:17
Its ironic that a novel about a female artist who is unjustly unknown is also unjustly unknown. But women buy... [MORE]	Catherine Caldwell-Harris	Jul 31, 2007 10:45
I think the mistake is thinking in today's world that reviews really, really matter when it comes to how well... [MORE]	Elaine Bloom	May 16, 2007 10:21
Along with your list of "...part of the problem may be..." you should ponder why you didn't go to a... [MORE]	Tim Huggins	May 16, 2007 07:45
Yes, the title isn't interesting, but even glancing at the cover turns me off. Just from this I wouldn't buy... [MORE]	Billy Sauce	May 15, 2007 17:17
This is why editors and j-school "professors" should do some actual research on the business side before expressing their opinions.... [MORE]	Chris	May 15, 2007 12:37
Most people assume that my career as a writer ended when it came out that I had not disclosed who... [MORE]	Tim Barrus	May 15, 2007 11:06
Book reviews are handy for those who buy newspapers, especially the NYTimes and the larger ones. But most people buy... [MORE]	Lyn LeJeune	May 15, 2007 09:58

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How Not To Write a Best Seller