These little trade "secrets" are not necessarily good or bad (or even necessarily secrets) but are simply the reality of how things are, and every new author should be familiar with them:

(For those of you who are not authors, I invite you to tell us why you might or might not try a new author. What might make you pick up and buy someone you've never heard of or never read before - is it the cover? The blurb? The fact that it was prominently placed on one of the front tables at the bookstore?)  

1. With the release of any new book, the first week's sales are the most important in determining the success of that book. Pubishers will be scrutinizing these numbers because they know this is where the sales "spike" will occur (the most books sold), as opposed to what's called the "tail," which is when the book continues to sell but in much lower quanities, kind of a dribble effect. If your spike is not tall, there is no reason to hope there will be a later surge in sales unless some sort of weird miracle occurs, like Oprah finds the book and recommends it on her show.  

2. While Amazon rankings are representative of a book's overall popularity, those numbers are actually based on the sales of a relatively low number of copies. The sale of a single book can significantly lower your ranking number (the lower your number, the higher your ranking), as much as 100,000 points or more. Books sell in far greater quantities at retail outlets like Walmart. In fact, those outlets seem to sell far more books than the bookstores do. However, that may be swiftly changing as the outlets significantly cut back the types and amounts of books they carry.

3. Knowing your print run (how many copies of your book your publisher actually prints) is important in determining how much money you should devote to promoting. After all, you can't sell what doesn't exist. Print runs are based on the number of books ordered by the distributor, who have little to go on other than the cover (which is why authors spend a lot of time praying the art department gets it right), a brief description of the plot (maybe), the rep's presentation (and sometimes the rep just doesn't focus on your particular book) and your prior sales, if you have a track record.

4. A brand new author's book often has a better chance of generating a high number of orders than an author who has had low print runs in the past. The distributors don't necessarily care about the reasons for a low print run; they simply aren't likely to order in large quanities (say, 50-60,000 or more), if the author's past sales reflect significantly lower numbers (20,000 or less), even if that new book has all the potential of becoming a breakout surprise bestseller. In that case, a publisher will often suggest that the author take a new pseudonym.  

5. A decent "sell-through" (how many books actually makes it into the hands of readers as opposed to being returned by the bookstores) used to be around 40% of your first print run. This was considered successful for a new author. Not so anymore. Pubishers want to see sell throughs of 60% or higher.

6. Getting all this information about print runs and sell throughs can sometimes be like pulling teeth. For some reason, some publishers seem to feel this information is on a "need to know" basis, and the authors don't really need to know (really, you do). This philosophy is further reinforced by the intricate maze of information that is your royalty statement, which typically arrives twice a year and reflects sales not from the previous six months, but the six before that. When you sit down with your first statement, I recommend having handy a calculator, magnifying glass, compass, bread crumbs and a GPS system, because within minutes you will be hopelessly lost. 

Well, those are the secrets I can think of today, and if I linger here any longer trying to think of more I won't make my quota of revisions for the day. If anyone else has insights they'd like to share, by all means do!

 

Well for me it's sometimes the cover catches my eye or the title. Like here is an example I found this book at Walmart. Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair(The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split) by Laurie Perry. One of the best books I have ever read. The title caught my eye. But; most of the time it's what is written about the book inside saying what it is about. Also I get newsletters from differant sites and sometimes they have authors I have never heard of & depending on what they write about. I seek them out. When my MIL was still alive we would look for someone we have never read before. It was fun to do so; still is. :)

I decide whether or not to buy a book by the back cover. This way I find out what the book is about and if I would like reading it and is also a way to read new authors.

If I am browsing shelves at a store, the cover and title catch my eye. Then I read the blurb on the back.

I also visit a lot of blogs. I put a lot of stock into multiple reviews and recommendations.

The cover can make or break a book. If it is dark and forbidding the reader should find goth, intrigue or forbidden romance and lifestyle, if it is bright and cheery then the reader should find a whimsical, air text. When the cover is a misrepresentation of the text it is a disappointment all the way round.:-?

I have to admit, I'll judge a book by its cover. I'm especially attracted to covers that feature manor houses, dashing heroes and people in historical garb, especially beautiful gowns. Jennifer makes a great point, in that a cover should faithfully convey the tone of the book and not lead readers astray.

For me, it is a combination of the cover, the blurb and if I have heard good buzz about the book.