1,279
Today I got a royalty statement--or antistatement--for my book Traveler's Guide to Japanese Pilgrimages. My favorite of my books. It was the third one published, but the second one I wrote, and nothing of the ten books I've written since then makes me nearly as happy as the pilgrimage book does.
I couldn't really understand why I was getting a royalty statement--the book has been out of print for a very long time, although sometimes used copies show up on abebooks.com or some other rare book site. I've seen them sell for as muc as $150, which is more than I made for writing the thing.
The interesting number on the royalty statement--other than the 0 copies sold in every column but one--was the lone column with a number in it. The book sold a total of 1,279 copies during its life.
That's it. Twelve hundred copies.
Way back when, for another book, I was invited to appear on Oprah. I turned the invitation down, because I'd written that book under a pseudonym for a reason. But according to my agent, an appearance on Oprah means at least 40,000 copies of your book will sell.
I'm not sorry I turned Oprah down, even though it was a very expensive no. That book has done okay on its own, and it has already sold well over 40,000 copies, and I didn't have to do anything at all to promote it.
I just wish more people had seen the book I loved. Travel is the only form of prayer I really understand, and that book was my prayer book.
I couldn't really understand why I was getting a royalty statement--the book has been out of print for a very long time, although sometimes used copies show up on abebooks.com or some other rare book site. I've seen them sell for as muc as $150, which is more than I made for writing the thing.
The interesting number on the royalty statement--other than the 0 copies sold in every column but one--was the lone column with a number in it. The book sold a total of 1,279 copies during its life.
That's it. Twelve hundred copies.
Way back when, for another book, I was invited to appear on Oprah. I turned the invitation down, because I'd written that book under a pseudonym for a reason. But according to my agent, an appearance on Oprah means at least 40,000 copies of your book will sell.
I'm not sorry I turned Oprah down, even though it was a very expensive no. That book has done okay on its own, and it has already sold well over 40,000 copies, and I didn't have to do anything at all to promote it.
I just wish more people had seen the book I loved. Travel is the only form of prayer I really understand, and that book was my prayer book.
posted by e. Readicker-Henderson at 9:54 AM
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