The Reality of Book Sales Numbers
“How are book sales coming, anyway?”
At first, I hesitated when I got that question—was it even appropriate? (It’s kind of a sensitive topic to me—like asking my weight or salary.)
I also felt embarrassed: “Dear 1L” is never going to be some New York Times bestseller.
(—For context, to land on that list, a book needs to sell at least 5,000 copies in its first week. That’s a different stratosphere.)
My book is also written for a tiny niche within a small niche inside an already small market. You might say it’s a “niche, niche, niche” book. 🙂
Plus, I have:
▪️ No publisher behind me.
—I published myself using Amazon KDP because publishers take 96% of an author’s royalties (KDP is 60-70%), and I didn’t want to give up any creative control.
▪️ No marketing agency behind me.
—All I’ve done is post periodically on LinkedIn and Facebook.
▪️ No paid promotions.
—I’ve never paid a law student or anyone else to promote the book, and I’ve never run a paid ad.
▪️ No law school behind me.
—I’ve been told that 23 law-school libraries have purchased “Dear 1L,” but no professor has assigned it for a class, and no law school has asked me to come speak in exchange for buying books for students.
So if you’re used to seeing books that sell 100,000+ copies, you’ll be disappointed by my numbers! But I realized something important:
People aren’t asking me about sales to be intrusive or impolite—they genuinely want to support me. They want a benchmark so they can cheer me on and track my progress.
So now, when people ask about sales, I answer unapologetically. And here I’m sharing my numbers unapologetically, too:
➡️ As of today, I’ve sold 𝟏,𝟒𝟎𝟑 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬 on Amazon. ⬅️
My goal was to hit 1,500 copies in my first year.
That means I have just 6 days left to sell 97 more copies!
So here’s where you come in (—I am hoping):
If you know an incoming 1L, please get them a copy of “Dear 1L”! You can get a copy here: amazon.com/dp/B0D726J7RQ
If you ARE an incoming 1L, my book is meant FOR you, and I am gifting away 3 copies! 🎁
Please sign up to enter to win your copy below—
I will announce the winners next week.
Thank you for your support and for being part of this adventure! 🙏🏻
💌 Amanda
#Dear1L
