Don’t Compare Yourself to the Exceptions

To be a bestseller, they say you have to sell 1) more than the other books and 2) an estimated 3000-5000 within the first week. According to the Publishers Weekly 2006, the average book will only sell 3000 copies in its lifetime – ITS LIFETIME.

So, math nerds, average book = 3000 in its lifetime \ bestseller = 3000 books in the first week.

The average book is not a bestseller. Most books are not bestsellers. The odds of your book being a bestseller are slim.

Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Hunger Games sold in the millions.

Those books, the freakishly popular books, are NOT the standard. Those books, the freakishly popular books, are not the standard. They are the exceptions.

Do not compare yourself to the exceptions. Don’t compare your book with Harry Potter or the Hunger Games or Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. The chances of you selling that wildly popular are slim to none – if you expect that kind of success, you will be disappointed. You will be disheartened. You will get depressed.

But – that doesn’t mean you can’t dream. It doesn’t mean you can’t strive toward that goal. Dream big. Keep trying. And never stop writing.

PS – Happy Thanksgiving to all my American follows, and Happy Thursday to everyone else. Remember to be thankful for all the stuff you take for granted the other 364 days of the year, like indoor plumbing, enough food that being overweight is a problem, friends and family, and shoes on your feet.