The (Disappointing?) Number
There is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal on sales of Lee Eisenberg’s book “The Number.” Sales are at 50,000 copies, with one publisher estimating only 10,000 to 15,000 more to sell in hardcover (sales have declined each of the past four weeks). The publisher, Free Press, is still loading up on advertising and sending Mr. Eisenberg out to publicize the book, so it may still sell quite a bit more. A personal finance book that sells at least 50,000 copies is viewed as a success, but why do many people feel disappointed in the results?
Free Press obviously expected more, since it printed 125,000 copies. And it may still get there. I haven’t read the book, but having read a few of the reviews that personal finance bloggers have written about it leads me to believe that they hit one target audience early (those that like to read about personal finance) but it has failed to grab a more general audience that would send it over the top. From what I’ve gathered from the reviews, the book doesn’t offer the prescriptive steps that most phenomenal selling PF books offer—the “Ten Moves that Will Allow You to Retire Wealthy and Drive Your Lover Wild” sort of approach.
Again, not having read the book I can’t go much deeper into it. (Come to think about it, I can’t remember the last personal finance book I read—probably way back when I was working on my MBA or even before then) Obviously expectations were high for the book, turning a moderate success into a disappointment for many. It will be interesting to see if sales start to grow again with the upcoming media push by the publisher and author.
Feel free to fill in any details on what you think about the book and its sales—I know several people out there have read it and some bloggers are in the publishing business.
Free Press obviously expected more, since it printed 125,000 copies. And it may still get there. I haven’t read the book, but having read a few of the reviews that personal finance bloggers have written about it leads me to believe that they hit one target audience early (those that like to read about personal finance) but it has failed to grab a more general audience that would send it over the top. From what I’ve gathered from the reviews, the book doesn’t offer the prescriptive steps that most phenomenal selling PF books offer—the “Ten Moves that Will Allow You to Retire Wealthy and Drive Your Lover Wild” sort of approach.
Again, not having read the book I can’t go much deeper into it. (Come to think about it, I can’t remember the last personal finance book I read—probably way back when I was working on my MBA or even before then) Obviously expectations were high for the book, turning a moderate success into a disappointment for many. It will be interesting to see if sales start to grow again with the upcoming media push by the publisher and author.
Feel free to fill in any details on what you think about the book and its sales—I know several people out there have read it and some bloggers are in the publishing business.
posted by Dwight at
10:35 AM
1 Comments:
I was surprised to see that article-- the book sold better than average-- it just didn't turn into the next "Rich Dad" or "Automatic Millionaire". I haven't read THe Number, but I think you are right that it was just a little too subtle, perhaps, and personal, and not a bullet-pointed upbeat action plan-- at least that is how it sounded to me.
If the publisher says they printed 125k, they probably really printed much less than that. They've sold around 50k, but I'd be surprised if they printed more than 60-75k, so it's not as bad as it sounds.
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Madame X, at 12:05 PM
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