Fame Doesn’t Sell Books

Something else is required, even above and beyond talent

Lindy West’s new book Adult Braces is being called a flop by many people online. If you have not heard of her or the book, you are probably in a different media bubble. West is a well-known writer. For weeks, people have been arguing about Lindy West and her polyamorous marriage she discusses in her book.

That is not the focus here.

Apparently Adult Braces has sold only about 3,000 copies so far, with around 1,800 in its first week. People are surprised by these numbers because the book received a lot of media attention. There were multiple pieces in The New York Times and The Atlantic. Other outlets covered it, including Slate and NPR. There were also many videos on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. West went on the kind of interview tour most authors can only dream of. All of that adds up to tens of millions of views. And still, it led to only a few thousand sales in the first weeks.

If every major outlet in America can promote your book and it still sells fewer copies than a self-published romantasy novel, then something fundamental has changed. I’ll tell you what it is.

What I’m about to explain is something every publisher knows and no one in media wants to say.