Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
I suspect that mid-lister is a definition that it is difficult to get agreement about. Certainly some mid-listers have had one or two books that hit the best selling lists, though not most of them. IMPO, the vast majority of authors never really hit the mid-list status.
For the purposes of this discussion, perhaps the viability of generating money from an author's backlist should be the cut off point. If an author's books have never generated enough sales to warrant a second printing, then discussion of backlist sales is more of a matter of philosophy than practicality.
|
True on the backlist. And just because an ebook remains "forever in print" doesn't mean it will make money either. Writing styles and popular genres change. The Potter books made fantasy mainstream for a while. Mystery is overtaking romance as the number one selling genre. Even popular books still net an author a very small amount per sale (whether trad or self-published) and in order to be a decent income they have to sell month over month. It's always a challenge in a world with many alternatives!