This Little Piggy Went to Market

A Sunday afternoon discussion with another writer yielded the following observation:  "A book has to sell 2,000 copies to meet the break-even point for a publisher."  Probably so.  Marketing a book (selling it) is tougher than writing a book.  Producing the product is far easier than selling the product.  This is true in every walk of life.  Ask farmers.  Ask clothiers.  Ask playwrights and actors. 

Marketing requires constant vigilance.  And with more than 100,000 books published annually in the U.S., well, only a marginal few will find "success."

Of late I've been going to market by guest blogging, writing review copy, producing essays, creating YouTube videos . . . everything but walking in my sleep.  And that's not far off. 

I may, in fact, be sleep walking.  Or some days, it just seems that way.