Is 3000 Books Sold a Success?

A Literal Literary Loser Adds Up

In my November 2023 post, How Am I Doing (Selling Books), Compared To Other People?, I quoted the following statistics:

According to Scribe Media:

Research suggests that the “average” self-published, digital-only book sells about 250 copies in its lifetime. By comparison, the average traditionally published book sells 3,000 copies, but… only about 250-300 of those sales happen in the first year.

In 2006, Publishers Weekly asserted:

The average book in America sells about 500 copies.

In 2020, they calculated that: An average book published by a professional publisher sells 3,000 copies over its entire lifetime.

The Letter Review confirms:

Traditionally published books sell around 3,000 copies on average, with only 250 of those sales in the first year.

A good friend of mine, Sarah Weinman, who writes the monthly Crime & Mystery column for the New York Times Book Review, puts that number a bit higher. She reasons that with some 9000 public libraries in the United States, a book can be considered a success when it has sold to about half of them, so 4500 to 5000 copies.

Am I am average success yet? Let’s do the math!

My self-published, digital-only book (the category referenced in Scribe Media), Getting into NYC Kindergarten has, to date, sold 2,096 copies on Amazon, and, if I had to guess (because I am too lazy to go back and count exactly) another 300 or so on B&N and directly from my website over its 10 years in print. I’d say it’s on track to hit 3000 copies sold eventually, and probably exceed that down the line, since the subject is evergreen.

But Getting into NYC Kindergarten is not only a very niche topic, it’s limited to an even more niche geographic area. The reason I self-published it is because I knew this would never be a broad-seller.

On the other hand, my most recent historical fiction novel, My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region, is presumably a book with international appeal, and it was traditionally published in ebook, paperback, and hardback formats.

So am I an average success there?

In October 2024, I reported that, almost two years after its November 2022 release, My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region, had sold 2721 (though, in that post, I counted 2720; math is hard, that’s why I’m a writer). I recently received my royalty statement for the last six months of 2024, which was 105 more books sold, bringing the lifetime total to 2826 (unless I have screwed up the math again).

Based on those numbers, I can anticipate that My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region will eventually cross the 3000 copies sold mark. Will it ever reach the 4500/5000 tally Sarah Weinman suggested would make it a success? No idea.

(I do want to say here that, since My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region was traditional published by History Through Fiction, I didn’t pay anything up front, making all monies earned pure profit. If you don’t count the promotional man hours. So, so many promotional man hours. If I factor in the promotional man hours, I am definitely not making minimum wage. I’m not even making a poverty wage. I’m not making anything that deserves to have a dollar sign in front of it. Writing is glamorous!)

I would sit around and ponder that. I would worry whether my books will ever be even an average success.

But who has time for that! My next historical fiction novel, Go On Pretending, comes out on May 1, 2025. I’ve got a book launch to plan! (And you’ve got a book launch to RSVP to! Have you RSVP’d yet to my book launch? It’s FREE! It’s in person and online! And there will be snacks! Only for the in person attendees, though. But if you order a book via the launch, I can autograph it in person for you, and have it shipped.)

I’ve got promotional man hours to schedule. So, so many promotional man hours to schedule. Otherwise, I risk Go On Pretending not even being an average success. And then I’m back to being a Literal Literary Loser.