thread: 2009-10-27 : Book Publishing - Some Startling Numbers
On 2009-10-28, jenskot wrote:
I would also estimate, and take this with a grain of salt (all the other numbers above are based on strong inside or public sources) that most books that are stocked in Borders and Barnes & Nobles long term have probably sold at least 30,000 copies. With many exceptions that sell less but are featured in niche / specialty sections just to keep the section viable.
In the US, there are 777 Barnes & Nobles stores and 517 Borders stores (not including the 466 Waldenbooks, Borders Express, and Borders airport stores). Most bookstores carry at least 2 physical copies of a book. So if you sold into 80% of Barnes & Nobles and Borders, that's at least 2,000+ copies in circulation. Although keep in mind that unlike comics, most bookstores can and do return unsold stock.
