How many copies of your first book were sold? I am finally in the editing stage of my first book after 2-3 years and am starting to look forward to finally trying to find an agent and eventually a publisher. It is about 110k words and is a fiction based centuries long treasure hunting suspense novel. I have no illusions about instantly becoming a NYT best seller but hope to get published and sell at least a few books. My question for you more experienced writers here is how many copies of your first book did you sell? What genre was it? And finally after later writing additional books how have the numbers improve from the first one? Thanks Chris
I don't know, but just to give you a tip: posting this in the Publishers' section of the forums will get you more replies from people who do know.
Thanks. Thanks for the reply. I am new to the board and was begining to wonder why there were no responses. I got a phone call when writing it and made a mess out of the title. Catching quickly afterwards I managed to edit it but doing so doesn't update the title from the main page only after you open so I kinda assumed the lack of replies was due to my poor wording..... Thanks again, Chris
As far as it being published in the publishing house, I would assume that your publisher might want at least two copies. I'm not really sure off the top of my head. My publisher recently called me for a copy of a manscript, but I didn't have the time to give her a copy because I've been busy. But to my concern, I don't know how many copies is required on a standard basis. You should ask your publisher and editor, since different publishers and editors have different requirements.
reggie... the op is asking writers who have books in print how many copies of their books were sold, not how many copies of a ms are required to send out to publishers...
I haven't sold any books yet, unless you count the "Schoolboy's Guide to Mischief" I illegally sold during recess the year before last year. That sold around 20 copies, for a dollar each.
Oh, my apologies. I have never sold a book, and I hope someday that I can sell one. I am a returning writer. Tried to get my first book published when I was little, but then the publisher rejected it, so I left writing for a while, and then I came back into writing, hoping that someday I can improve better than I did before, and maybe have a few copies of my book sold (though I'm not really anticipating on getting my books published).
Hi My first novel was self-published and self-promoted, so it sold no more than a few hundred copies. However, thanks to my donating several copies to public libraries, it has been read by hundreds more. So, I've struggled to break even financially, in fact, probably failed, but it is a nice feeling to hold your own paperback novel, and to know that hundreds of other people have also held it. In all honesty, people reading and enjoying my work is more important than making money, although I didn't return any of my royalty cheques. Having said that, a couple of them were so small that I framed them instead of cashing them.
