Shawn L. Bird

Meg Tilley says in her blog (September 9, 2010) that of 1.5 million books published in a year, only 1.68% will sell 5000 copies in a year.  I’m not sure if she talking worldwide, English speaking world, US, Canada or what.  1.68% seems like an impossibly miniscule number.  My math is always suspect (i.e. please correct me if you are good at this!) but by my calculations that 1.68% of 1.5 million equals about twenty-five thousand books.  That sounds much more do-able.  I can be one of those lucky twenty-five thousand books that hit over five thousand in sales, right? Let’s do it together, okay? 

In Canada a best seller is 3000 copies a week.  Can we do it?