These are the numbers for some of the Man Booker prize nominees. Copies of books sold to Aug 18, before the announcement I assume:
Ian McEwan (published in April) had sold 99,660 copies
Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist (March) had sold 1,519 copies
Lloyd Jones's Mister Pip (June) 880 copies
Anne Enright's The Gathering (May) 834 copies.
Indra Sinha's Animal's People (March) a mere 231 copies
These are great authors writing great -though probably depressing- books.
Here's the weird and scary thing. How many of you bloggers get more readers a DAY than Indra Sinha, let alone a week. I am at about the week mark when it's going well.
Is blog writing under-rated?
These people put a year of their lives into these books or more. Do we?
No one said we are making art here, but still....
Just thinking.
Friday night is a crap time to teach teenagers. Picture me with the whip and the chair in a room full of tired hungry hormonal lions and lionesses. No wonder I took on the mafia on Las Ramblas.
Shit they were easy, and I only had to be nice enough I didn't get hit.
I felt better after the decaf mocha I made myself. Sip, read, pat the dog. It all ebbed away.
3 comments:
Those numbers are staggering. I had no idea so few copies had been sold for some of those books.
How depressing for the authors.
Considering what we do write a day blogging, we could write a book...
Man, the book publishing industry is FIERCE and difficult. Yeesh.
Beth: I agree with you, the numbers are sad. I mean those folks are going to sell much more now that they have been nominated, and the Atwoods of course sell well, but honestly, all that work for so few books.
DD: Nasty isn't it. Now we all have to go out and BUY something.
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