Today the NYTimes does a "hits 'n' misses" roundup of the fall publishing season. I am sure plenty of writers would be happy to sell "only" 9,000 copies of their books, but anyway, it does bring up an interesting question I've wondered about. If you have a big hit book, bestseller, big seller, whatever, that next one has to be tough to write. Because everyone wants another big seller. And certain individuals will inevitably be poised to herald your failure, and certain fans of the previous book will inevitably complain that this one is not as good.
Oh Caroline, you're such a pessimist.
But does that mean I'm not right?
So where was I? Oh yes. Apropos of our previous entry on "truth" in fiction and nonfiction, comes this quote from the Times story:
"If there's any theme to the year," said David Rosenthal, the publisher of Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint, "it's that people only want to read the truth." So while nonfiction sales are generally good, he said, fiction sales are best defined, in Mr. Rosenthal's usual plain-spoken manner, by an expletive.
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