A Book Is a Conversation

Most book titles sell a few thousand copies. Publishers and writers regard the limited market for most books a bad thing. Their attitudes are understandable since selling a small number of copies reduces both profits and royalties. However, the worth of a book doesn’t depend solely on sales numbers.

According to Gabriel Zaid, author of So Many Books, a book is a conversation between a writer and readers. If the topic is broad and universal, the writer may engage hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of readers in the conversation. More likely, the book’s writer has more specialized interests and finds only thousands of reader interested in that particular conversation. The small audience doesn’t mean that the book is a poorly written, unsuccessful or unimportant.

If a book finds those who benefit the most from reading it, then the author and the book succeeded. The success of the book is independent how many copies it sells. Henry David Thoreau’s A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers merited a printing of only 1,000 copies, of which fewer than 300 copies sold. Walden sold somewhat better, but any contemporary publisher would call it a commercial failure.

Enough said.