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Home » Archives for Dan Balow » Page 8

Dan Balow

The Mystery of Book Data

By Dan Balowon August 25, 2022
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The book-publishing market has an element of mystery to it, and not only in the category of books called mysteries.

Many things are not as scientific as you might think.

Prominent book-bestseller lists are based on data from a sampling of booksellers, rather than comprehensive information outputs from all channels.

Industry-status reports from publishing trade associations use a similar sampling approach and not a comprehensive list of all data. Industry trends are estimates.

Over the last couple of decades, more and more publishers rely on Bookscan data as a source of information to make decisions. Now owned by the global company NPD, headquartered in Port Washington, New York, they provide weekly data updates from a broad spectrum of bookselling channels. Access is by paid subscription only, but many free reports and insights are distributed regularly. Click here.

Still, only the author and their publisher really know how many copies of a book sold. Author purchases are only tracked by the author and publisher. The same applies to sales to organizations and most international exports.

This is why every sales milestone (“100,000 Sold!”) for a book is really based on taking the author or publisher’s word for it. A book that sells 100,000 copies might actually be a combination of physical books, digital copies, export sales, audio downloads, nonretail sales, and author purchases.

Even the number of books published every year across the country and world are educated guesses. The closest estimates are usually gathered by counting ISBNs used from R.R. Bowker, the private company that is the official source of ISBNs for publishing in the US.

Compared to many other businesses or industries, some of the transparent data on books is a relatively new thing. A couple of decades ago, it was far more mysterious than it is today. But still, there are significant areas of publishing that remain hidden from the public. Hence, once again, only a publisher and author know how many copies a book actually sold.

A book published by any type of organization for their constituency will never find itself on a bestseller list but might sell substantial quantities.

Purchases by the author will never be reported to the media or the data-tracking services like Bookscan.

Years ago, a large church that had a bookstore began reporting its sales data to bestseller lists. Since most all of the sales of the pastor’s books were in one store, it was considered ineligible for reporting on national bestseller lists, even though the sales volume would have been sufficient to make a good showing.

National bestseller lists are national bestsellers, meaning sales must be broad and not in one or only a few locales, so the pastor’s books were excluded. It’s one of the many reasons bestseller lists have editors, ensuring the list portrays helpful information, reflecting trends in book buying.

Publishing used to be substantially more intuitive than it is today. These days, the data available to publishers and authors combines with intuition to make more informed and better decisions.

At least that’s the theory!

 

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Category: Book Business, Technology, The Publishing Life

Just the Facts

By Dan Balowon August 17, 2022
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With the omnipresence of social media and other ways for people to directly express opinions, Christian writers should take extra care to be aware of the facts when it comes to both theology and society. Since Christians actually believe there is truth and it is knowable, Christian writers should be a lot more like classic journalists, researching, studying, and reporting truth, rather than simply …

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Category: Reading, The Writing Life, Trends

Theology for Writers

By Dan Balowon August 4, 2022
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Spoiler alert: God’s nature never changes. His truth is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. While Christian writers seek to write in a compelling, engaging manner, seeking to pull readers through their books from paragraph to paragraph and page after page, the foundational theology of which they write never changes. You might write about the need for someone to make Jesus the Lord of their …

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Category: Theology

Bestselling Books in 1997

By Dan Balowon July 14, 2022
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Today is a look back twenty-five years and the books selling well in 1997. Often, this type of exercise puts the present and future in perspective. You can draw your own conclusions about what any of this means. First, the July 13, 1997 New York Times Bestseller List: Fiction PLUM ISLAND, by Nelson DeMille (Warner) SPECIAL DELIVERY, by Danielle Steel (Delacorte) FAT TUESDAY, by Sandra Brown …

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Category: Publishing History

Make the Right Media Choice

By Dan Balowon July 6, 2022
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The study of communication through various methods fascinates me. Some media share audiences with other media and others have very select audiences. Each person consumes content differently. Those in education know students do not all learn at the same speed using the same tools. Fortunately, good teachers recognize those differences and adjust their methods. In the 1970s and 80s, educator Neil …

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Category: Pitching

Newbery @ 100

By Dan Balowon June 23, 2022
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Some rather significant publishing-related anniversaries are coming in the next week. First, the Harry Potter book series turns 25 years-old on June 26. After a dozen publishers declined the first book, Bloomsbury Publishing saw some potential in it and published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The rest is history. Next time your writing is rejected, just remember: A dozen people …

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Category: Publishing History

Roundabouts

By Dan Balowon June 15, 2022
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I like metaphors. I like everything about them. Analogies and similes are cool too. Today’s post extinguishes the notion that writer’s block is actually a thing. Every day, topics to write about are screaming at you. Writer’s block is simply a failure to pay attention to them. Almost everything makes me think about something else. In fact, baseball and driving a car in traffic are two general …

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Category: Book Proposals

Could You Translate Please?

By Dan Balowon June 2, 2022
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What many U.S. Christian authors write about today has little or no application outside of the U.S. It’s why the majority of Christian books are not exported or translated into other languages. Most often it is not the theology holding it back, but the theme of the book. A simple example would be homeschooling. It is illegal in quite a few countries of the world. (Germany, Sweden, and many other …

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Category: Book Business, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life

Publishing in Generalities

By Dan Balowon May 25, 2022
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While agents and publishers accept book proposals because they contain a number of specific things they like, most book proposals are turned down because of a general reason. For example, refer to the “Who We Are,” section of this website. Each agent has a set of filters we use to focus our efforts. The filters reflect our strengths and/or personal preferences. Outside of these, we decline. …

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Category: Book Proposals, Career, Get Published, Inspiration, The Writing Life

Does Faith Limit Creativity?

By Dan Balowon May 12, 2022
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No, it doesn’t. Look at nature or biology or astronomy and see how creative our God is. If anything, a Christian can see things clearer and be inspired to even greater creativity than someone who is not a Christ-follower. But, I think writers of Christian books have limited their vision for what they can write about; and maybe, just maybe, publishers have a role to play in limiting creativity. A …

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Category: Creativity
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