#backlist

[literaticat]

I've heard people say that the best way to sell books is to write a new one. Is this true in your experience? Does an author coming out with a new book usually see that much of an uptick in their backlist sales?

It IS very often true. (That's why I've probably said it on here 9,000 times!) Though how much of an uptick is anyone's guess.

Here's the thing: Your brand-new frontlist book has a limited window in which it's going to likely be appearing "buzzy" -- there are just too many new books coming out vying for people's attention! Months after release date, when you are sick of talking about it, any marketing efforts from the publisher have moved to newer books, ten thousand new books have come out to replace yours on displays at the bookstore -- at that point, it becomes backlist.

(That's not an insult AT ALL -- that's the literal term for books that are no longer "frontlist" -- the term comes from how products are listed in a catalogue. If you open a Widget Catalogue, the brand-new widgets that are about to come out have flashy looking placement in the front of the catalogue -- last season's widgets, and older, tried-and-true widgets are toward the back of the catalogue, probably with smaller and less flashy looking placement -- this is the nature of the widget catalogue, and so, too, is it the nature of how books are sold. BUT it's important to remember that flash-in-the-pan frontlist looks cool, but A STRONG BACKLIST KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON, for widget-makers, as well as publishers, booksellers and authors. BACKLIST IS IMPORTANT!)

So maybe your backlist sales are already robust, maybe they are meh, but either way, at a certain point, they have probably reached some kind of equilibrium where they aren't really GROWING anymore.

There are a few things I can think of that can cause an uptick in backlist sales at that point. (And that may mean a little bump to sales for a short time. Or maybe a BIG bump. Or maybe an improvement that lasts for years to come. Who knows?)

But you notice how there's only one of them that you have any kind of control over? Yeah.

-- Timeliness / Virality: Something happens in the world that brings this topic / book back into the public consciousness, or influencers "discover" it and revive interest in it. (Like, one of my client's decade-old backlist book originally published in 2008 all of a sudden started taking off out of nowhere, presumably because it has a similar theme to a popular Netflix show except less problematic and with queer characters, and it sold enough copies that they redid the original book with a new cover, and asked him to write a sequel, which comes out tomorrow!)

-- Word-of-Mouth: This is similar to "virality" except it usually has a slower build and it's with regular people IRL instead of influencers online. In the world of kids books, I've seen this happen where, maybe an author randomly does a school visit, and suddenly one classroom of kids in Michigan gets obsessed by that particular author -- they start asking the local bookstore for the books, so the books get brought into the store and put on display, and then another classroom at another school gets hold of it because Artie Cohen's cousin recommended it, and suddenly all of Ann Arbor is reading this book, and wouldn't you know it, the Cohens have extended family they are visiting in New Jersey, they bring the series with them to gift the kids, and an outbreak starts in Weehawken, and so on. (Yes, I have really seen this happen in my role as a bookseller!)

-- Awards / Curriculum tie-ins / State lists: If your book is lucky enough to win an award, particularly one given by librarians, that can give a big boost to sales for a good long time. If teachers start to use your book in connection with their curriculum, and/or it gets put on summer reading lists at schools, state reading lists, etc, that, too, can help sales for a good long time. These things may happen over the course of years, not instantaneously, which is why they are helpful for backlist.

-- You write a new book. The new book is buzzy! During the buzz window there's fresh marketing, you are talking about it, people are talking about it online, it's visible, on displays, etc. People are interested in the new book, they buy it, they like it, they look for your other books. Or, people are interested in your new book, they search for it online, your other books pop up in their algorithm, etc.

(There are probably other ways I can't think of, but I bet they sorta fall into one of these buckets!)

#frontlist #backlist #publishing

[ebookporn]

Decades Old? No Problem: Publisher Makes a Bet on Aging Books

A company is republishing books that have fallen out of print and finding new ways to market works that are years, even decades, old.

by Elizabeth A. Harris

The life of a good book can span hundreds of years, but most of the time, a book gets a flash of attention when it is first published — if its author is lucky. Then, it fades away.

A company called Open Road Integrated Media is trying to change that by giving a second life to older books. It does that by using machine learning to make those titles more visible online and, with a new venture announced on Wednesday, by republishing books that were largely forgotten or had fallen out of print.

“There’s potential to breathe new life into these books,” said David Steinberger, chief executive of Open Road, “and that flies in the face of conventional wisdom in the industry.”

Publishing houses traditionally focus their marketing efforts almost entirely on new books. Once a title has been out for a while, publishers generally have to move on to the next one, no matter how much they believe in the book. There is little to direct attention toward older titles, although in rare cases, new readers may find them through a movie or television adaptation or even popularity on TikTok.

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#book publishing #backlist #authors #writers #royalties #copyright #librarians #booksellers #book tumblr

[mediashadowreads]

°․✶ JANUARY WRAP & FEBRUARY HOPEFULS

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#backlist #blog #book blog #book boxes #book review #books #cage of dreams #faebound #fairyloot #fantasy #fantasy fiction #february tbr #fiction #good reads #goodreads goal #illumicrate #january wrap up #manga #new releases #page and wick #princess of souls #reading wrap up #review #starling house #the promised neverland #valentines theme #Wrap Up #ya #ya fantasy #ya manga

[bookishlyvintage]

The Golden Enclaves by Noami Novik

☆☆☆☆ || full review

#book review #the golden enclaves #noami novik #the scholomance #a deadly education #the last graduate #ya fantasy #fantasy #trilogy #mini review #goodreads #backlist #bookblr #booklr #books #book aesthetic #dark academia #bookish

[bookishfreedom]

better late than never?

#the hobbit #lord of the rings #jrr tolkien #tolkien #book #books #booklr #read #reading #reader #bookish #mine #bookblr #bookworm #backlist

[theobviousparadox]

Review: Heartstopper: Volume 3 by Alice Oseman

Review: Heartstopper: Volume 3 by Alice Oseman

Heartstopper: Volume 3Alice OsemanHodder Children’s BooksPublished February 6, 2020 Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads About Heartstopper: Volume 3 In this volume we’ll see the Heartstopper gang go on a school trip to Paris! Not only are Nick and Charlie navigating a new city, but also telling more people about their relationship AND learning more about the challenges each other are facing in…

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#Alice Oseman #backlist #Heartstopper #Heartstopper Volume Three #London #Paris #Romance #school trip #summer

[showthisbooksomelove]

Across a Field of Starlight ~ Blue Delliquanti

Across a Field of Starlight ~ Blue Delliquanti

Rating: 5/5 This is a seriously developed graphic novel, a fully realized sci-fi world filled with fascinating characters and great representation for the queer community. Lu and Fassen are our main characters, and through them we uncover what the world is like. They have hugely varying experiences of how their world works. Fassen is stuck in a hierarchical system designed to keep information…

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#across a field of starlight #backlist #blue delliquanti #book review #Graphic Novel #lgbt #novel #published2022 #queer #review #science fiction

[arms-and-arrows]

©️ Amanda @amandas_pixels

#australia #sunset #backlist #photography #sky

[fictionophile]

"No Strangers Here" by Carlene O'Connor - Book Review @KensingtonBooks #NoStrangersHere #ReadingIrelandMonth24 #IrishFiction #CarleneOConnor #CountyKerryMysteries

“There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met.” – William Butler Yeats County Kerry Mystery #1 Dimpna Wilde was one of the most unique and enchanting characters I’ve encountered in some time. She is diminutive in size, colossal in heart, has been dealt many crushing blows in her life, yet she remains positive and funny. She works as a veterinarian and loves all animals without…

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#Backlist #Ireland #police procedurals #recommended reading #veterinarians

[merrybond]

Reviving an old book

If you’ve been publishing for a while, it’s possible that you’ve got some old, backlist books that could use an update. But how do you go about doing it and what should you consider when you face this task? I’ve recently been re-reading one of the first books I published. It was originally published with a New York publisher (do remember those old Zebra Regency Romances? This was one of them).…

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#backlist #editing #marketing #writing

[lindsglenne]

Best Backlist Books of 2023

Leave me alone—I read 235 books in 2023. You try whittling that down! These are my favorite books I read this year that came out before 2023. Every year I try to read more and more of my backlisted titles from my physical TBR. Continue reading Untitled

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#2023 #backlist #best books #best of #blog #blogger #blogging #book #book blog #book blogger #book blogging #Books #favorites #literature #novel #read #reading #ya #young adult

[millennial-book-review]

7 Books I Plan to Read in 2024

Let's talk about the list of specific books I want to read in 2024.

Like many readers, I’m a lot better at adding books to my TBR than I am at moving books from my “Want to Read” shelf on Goodreads to the “Read” shelf. I’ve decided that one of my goals for 2024 is to clear out some of my backlist and read books that I already own before I buy new ones. There are plenty of books on my selves that I already own and everyone keeps telling me I “have to read”. With…

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#2024 #Backlist #TBR #TBR List

[venusbloo]

2024 Reading Goals & Plans

I never seem to manage to get these types of posts up on the exact first day of the year, but at least we’re in the first week of the year this time! For 2024, I’m trying to keep my goals and plans pretty simple. I’m also going to refer back to this post throughout the year to see how I’m progressing with my goals. That being said, this post is going to be a bit of a long one and split into a…

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#2024 reading goals #Backlist #blogging goals #project backlist #tbr #yearly reading goals

[rebekah-e]

#youtube #book review #booktube #bookstagram #books #bookshelf #backlist #romance books #fantasy books

[bookishlyvintage]

Blood Sisters by Jane Corry

☆☆☆☆ | full review

#book review #blood sisters #jane cory #goodreads #book aesthetic #thriller #suspense #domestic drama #backlist #bookblr #booklr #bookish #mini review

[theobviousparadox]

Review: Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

Review: Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

Honestly Ben (Openly Straight #2)Bill KonigsbergArthur A. Levine BooksPublished March 28, 2017 Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads About Honestly Ben Ben Carver is back to normal. He’s getting all As in his classes at the Natick School. He was just elected captain of the baseball team. He’s even won a big scholarship for college, if he can keep up his grades. All that foolishness with Rafe Goldberg…

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#backlist #Bill Konigsberg #boarding school #friendship #Honestly Ben #LGBTQ+ #Massachusetts #MLM #Openly Straight #Romance