Publishing
A quiet backlist title can be hard to judge. It may not be selling much, but that is not always the same as being dead weight.
Sometimes a book keeps a small but real place in the store. Sometimes it is just taking up shelf space and pretending otherwise. The awkward part is that the numbers do not always tell you which is which.
Indie publishing gives you freedom, but also this slightly tedious responsibility to be honest about what is still earning its keep. Revision is not the only thing that needs a hard look.
Sometimes a book keeps a small but real place in the store. Sometimes it is just taking up shelf space and pretending otherwise. The awkward part is that the numbers do not always tell you which is which.
Indie publishing gives you freedom, but also this slightly tedious responsibility to be honest about what is still earning its keep. Revision is not the only thing that needs a hard look.
The awkward bit is that “selling enough” and “earning its place” are not always the same thing either. A book can be slow and still matter if it keeps bringing the right readers back, or if it anchors the rest of the list. But shelves are not charities. At some point sentimentality becomes expensive storage.