Short answer: No
Not by any metrics, really, although metrics are hard to come by due to issues with the old owner of my publisher. Long story!
Anyway, one of the places where I do get sales numbers is Norli, the biggest bookstore chain in Norway (because I work there). My book has been available at several Norli loctaions since October 2024.
Damn, it’s already been a year!
And in that year I’ve sold *drumroll*
39 books*…*(at my specific location. I think I’ve sold an additonal 2 at a different location.) Anyway, 39 books in a year is not anything to shout hooray about as we say in Norway.
My book had its own lil’display table (gone now), is on a staff recommendation table, on the SFF shelves and bestsellers table (lol) and the Norwegian authors in English shelves along with Karl Ove Knausgård and Jon Fosse. So it’s visible, is what I’m trying to say. And yet I’ve only sold 10 books this year…
Ngl, it’s been kinda depressing and I often feel like a failure. Somehow I can’t help but take it personally, which is absurd, I know!To distract myself I decided to check out the sales numbers of some of my favorite books (and my nemesis) for the store where I work and the results were interesting. Check out the numbers and what I’m taking away from it:
So, why does The Bees sell so well in this one location. A few reasons: It’s a standalone, it’s spec fic not SFF which gives it a broader appeal, and I recommend it ALL THE TIME. I’m very enthusiastic talking about it because it is my all-time favorite book. Enthusiasm is contagious!
So what can I learn from this?
I need to learn to talk about LStB the way I talk about The Bees!
I love that book, to me it’s flawless. But with LStB I’m too aware of its flaws. And bragging about or hyping up something I’ve made is really hard as a Norwegian, as a sørlending, as a woman and generally as a person. I have a bad habit of minimizing my accomplishments (something to unpack there, I’m sure).
But I just gotta put my big girl pants on and hype the crap out of that book, no matter how much I cringe at the though on the inside. It ain’t gonna sell itself!