Publishers Weekly has an article on books about atheism [Believe It or Not]. They report on the number of copies of these books that have been sold. Here's the summary complied by Friendly Atheist [How Well Are the Atheist Books Selling?].
- The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins: 282,000 copies sold
- The End of Faith by Sam Harris: 250,000 copies sold (says this article)
- Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris: 123,000 copies sold
- God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens: 58,000 copies sold
- Breaking the Spell by Daniel Dennett: 52,000 copies sold
- God: The Failed Hypothesis by Victor Stenger: 60,000 copies shipped
In case you're thinking about trying to make a living writing books like these, consider that the author gets about $2 per book. There are considerable expenses that need to be covered by that royalty payment so, in most cases, the net income isn't enough to induce you to quit your day job.
12 comments :
There are considerable expenses that need to be covered by that royalty payment so, in most cases, the net income isn't enough to induce you to quit your day job.
That's true of almost all writing. It's got to be a labor of love to do it at all. If you're one of the lucky few to get published, and then one of the lucky few of those to make decent money at it, that's all a plus.
Still, 282k x 2 isn't chump change. Especially when added to income from all his other books.
For the academics like Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and Stenger, their day jobs provide them support during the writing process: good salary, a conducive place to work, equipment, materials, tech support, support staff who do some of the book-specific research, and eager student volunteers, among others. From my experience, most authors who are fortunate enough to have such advantages at their disposal are as generous as they can be when expressing their gratitude and general indebtedness to others in their acknowledgements. I actually read them. It's very rare that a book is completed by a solo author. Dennett said that "Breaking the Spell" was more than five years in the making, and for all that time he received his academic salary and the other kinds of support I mentioned, and in the book he richly praises the myriad of contributors to the process of getting the book together.
If someone like Harris is working on his own without the kinds of direct support academia provides, the task becomes more demanding for the absence of such support. I don't claim to know Harris' circumstances, and I don't suggest that he deserves special regard. But, for anyone who supports his or her own writing, quitting that day job to write, might be a mistake, while for tenured academics, their writing is not only an integral part of their day jobs, but also one of the most important benefits the public receives for the support they provide.
Russ says,
For the academics like Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and Stenger, their day jobs provide them support during the writing process: good salary, a conducive place to work, equipment, materials, tech support, support staff who do some of the book-specific research, and eager student volunteers, among others.
Let me just clarify one thing. A lot of the equipment, materials, and tech support must be paid for by the Professor. They aren't free.
When it comes to support staff, they don't do any research unless they're supported by the author. This is no different than supporting a post-doc or a lab technician. You need your own funds to do that.
The issue of student "volunteers" is also not as simple as you imply. Personally, I think it's highly unethical to expect students to help me work on a book without getting paid for it.
The God Delusion has done even better in Canada, proportional to population, than in the U.S., with 29,700 sold per BookNet, which represents about 65% of the Canadian marketplace. Sadly, "The Secret" has sold 281,000 copies in Canada during the same time period. So, we have a way to go to equal the the god-botherers.
Publishers Weekly has an article on books about atheism [Believe It or Not].
"Not" may be the better choice. The book-publishing industry is as riddled with ways to inflate sales figures as is any other retail industry. For example: do these figures reflect sales by wholesalers to bookstores? Or do they represent sales by bookstores to individual buyers? It's not unheard of for a publisher to report high sales numbers to stimulate interest in a book, when in fact most of those "sales" represent books shipped from wholesale warehouses to retailers, where they sit on shelves and tables ... and eventually get marked down ... and put on the bargain shelves ... and finally get either returned to the warehouse or else simply destroyed.
@Wolfwalker:
Bookscan reports actual cash-register sales of books as supplied electronically by retailers who participate. Nearly all bookstores participate, but many gift shops and non-bookstore retailers do not (eg: supermarkets and drug stores). I don't believe Amazon participates. So, Bookscan numbers always under-represent actual book sales by about 30%. Bookscan does not count books "shipped" by publishers and wholesalers.
Larry,
Speaking from my own experience, through four decades of working in academic research environments, I have yet to hear of a single researcher or teaching professor incurring any personal expense for resources that would be even remotely associated with their research or their writing. The rare exceptions I've seen have arisen only where the writing is so distinct from their work-related endeavors that no reasonable justification could be dreamed up for their school to cover the expense.
Your experience sounds completely different from mine, Larry. I have yet to hear any mention of out of pocket expense by an academic in any college-level setting: breakfast, lunch, dinner, over coffee(occasionally, at Hortons), over booze, at family picnics, at colloquia, department gatherings, professional conferences, national meetings, project meetings, or private conversations about upcoming publications. I'm not suggesting that your situation is not different, but I've had many over the years tell me in one-on-one conversation that they would not have published anything, article, book, book review or letter to the editor, if they had to incur the expense.
Please understand that what follows is not a criticism in any way, shape or form. As I've noted to you before, I think your blog is a great public resource. But, here's some food for thought, Larry. Your blog is personal authorship. Do you maintain it from your UT office? Do you pay any part of the expenses associated with this completely personal use(I only say "personal" since you have never let on that this blog is actually part of your terms of employment, and you have put news of your family on it) of the university's facilities, equipment, internet services, subscription databases you might use? You use the name of your university to strengthen your credibility: do you pay to use it? You use your university e-mail address in your contact information. Do you pay for that? In "Does Sandwalk Own Me?" you addressed the fraction of time you spend, but you never mentioned any out of pocket expense to you for the "They aren't free" resources you use.
I don't want you to blow a gasket, Larry, but I'm simply being honest when I say that in my forty years of tight association with academia - me, my father, two brothers, two uncles, my wife and several of my pre-marriage significant others -, I have never seen or heard of an academic, in support of their work or their writing, paying for a pipette, a vial of DNA-ase(or DNA polymerase for that matter), a kilo of EDTA, an online database subscription, or, harkening back to yesteryear, hour upon hour of dictaphone transcription(auditory transcriptase) by a department secretary. I've never been witness to it, and, though, I haven't published academically in more than twenty five years, I've never done it.
@ russ
You are probably quite correct that most of an academic author's expenses, and and the cost of research are picked up by the institution he/she works for. However, for trade publishing, what Larry said is correct. The author does generally incur expenses that are not reimbursed by the publisher. At a 10% royalty rate writing a book is rarely a money-making proposition, even for the publisher.
Publishing or writing woo-woo, on the other hand, can be profitable. It requires no research or fact-checking, and there is a huge demand for it.
Russ asks,
Your blog is personal authorship. Do you maintain it from your UT office?
In part.
Do you pay any part of the expenses associated with this completely personal use(I only say "personal" since you have never let on that this blog is actually part of your terms of employment, and you have put news of your family on it) of the university's facilities, equipment, internet services, subscription databases you might use?
I bought the computer that I use on my desk and the server that handles my email. I pay for all of the software that I use. I do not pay for the internet connection from my office.
I pay for all of the services that are associated with managing the blog.
You use the name of your university to strengthen your credibility: do you pay to use it?
No.
You use your university e-mail address in your contact information. Do you pay for that?
No, I do not pay for the internet connection but I did buy the server. Everyone in my department has to buy their own office equipment.
In "Does Sandwalk Own Me?" you addressed the fraction of time you spend, but you never mentioned any out of pocket expense to you for the "They aren't free" resources you use.
When I'm writing a book I pay for all paper, binders, and supplies etc. I have my own printer and I buy all replacement cartridges. I pay for all mailing and courier services. I pay for all long distance phone calls. I pay for all photocopying associated with publishing.
I also pay for all travel that I do in association with publishing textbooks and all entertainment that's required.
I buy all my own books and my library is extensive. (This is one of my major expenses.) I pay for all my subscriptions.
I don't want you to blow a gasket, Larry, but I'm simply being honest when I say that in my forty years of tight association with academia - me, my father, two brothers, two uncles, my wife and several of my pre-marriage significant others -, I have never seen or heard of an academic, in support of their work or their writing, paying for a pipette, a vial of DNA-ase(or DNA polymerase for that matter), a kilo of EDTA, an online database subscription, or, harkening back to yesteryear, hour upon hour of dictaphone transcription(auditory transcriptase) by a department secretary. I've never been witness to it, and, though, I haven't published academically in more than twenty five years, I've never done it.
You're talking about supplies that can be legitimately purchased from a research grant for running a research lab. It is unethical (and illegal) to use money from a research grant to support writing a textbook or a trade book.
What's a "departmental secretary?" We don't have any of those, at least none who can do personal work for a Professor.
I can assure you that people like Dawkins and Gould paid out lots of personal money to support their writing. They have agents. They have lawyers. They have accountants. And they have salaried assistants—who mostly work from their home offices.
I guess it must be very different where you come from.
Larry,
Please let me apologize. I was not in any silly way demanding or expecting you to account to me for anything. From your blog persona, I hold you in high regard as both honest and honorable. I truly appreciate your open and frank response, but I shamefacedly chide myself for not having been more overtly rhetorical.
Sincerely,
Russ
Are those numbers world-wide totals, or just for either the USA or Canada?
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