Liberal Media Tailspin, Part II…

Well, it didn’t take long for some liberal to whine that I know nothing about the publishing industry, did it?
Cloyce’s Coffee Klatsch: Greenwald with Envy
Normally, I wouldn’t even give something like this the time of day, but Mr. Smith (no relation) has amused me. Here’s his criticism of me:

“‘I’m sorry, but 10,000 isn’t a heck of a lot of books, plain and simple! It doesn’t matter if Bookscan only queries major retailers–a lot of people still buy their books that way!” giggles William Smith at Conservative Blogger, whose knowledge of the publishing business seems to be inversely proportional to his penchant for exclamation points. As someone who’s been in this business for 25 years, I can assure William and his fellow cellar-dwellers that yes, it is. Ten thousand hardcovers (and then some) in just three weeks is extraordinary, especially for an independent publisher. What will surely disturb him even more is that, with sales figures like these, Jeremy and Markos will have no problem at all inking their next book deal with a major publishing house rather than with a small press.

Look, I don’t care that the book has been out for three weeks. They’ve been humping it for what seems like months and taking pre-orders for a while.
I don’t care that it’s an independent publisher.
I really don’t care if Markos and Jeremy get another book deal with any publishing house. Good for them, consequently. If someone will pay for what they want to write, then more power to them.
I don’t need to be a publishing industry insider to know that 10,000 units isn’t a lot of units.
Rush Limbaugh is the most widely listened to voice in Conservatism, hands down. The initial printing of Rush Limbaugh’s “See, I Told You So,” was in the neighborhood of 2,000,000 copies in the initial printing, setting industry records (and selling a lot of books).
Kos is the most widely read Liberal blog on the Internet, hands down. The sales after three weeks are 10,000—and that number can’t really even be confirmed. As popular as Kos is on the Left, those things ought to be flying off the shelves and they just aren’t.
Even the first Harry Potter book had an initial US run of 50,000 units–and burned through them quickly when no one knew who JK Rowling or Harry Potter were. Yes, it’s fiction, but it was also published by Scholastic which isn’t exactly known for churning out best sellers.
Mock me all you want to, but 10,000 is just NOT a lot of units. I don’t need to be a publisher or an editor to make that claim, not when there are plenty of other examples to follow.
I wish them all the success in the world, I really do.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com