No Pulitzer, No Sales

When you don't have a savvy librarian or an indie bookshop owner to give you advice, you aren't likely to buy a book that you would have if you'd but known.

In short, that's what is being mourned by those upset over the lack of a Pulitzer prize in fiction this year.

Statistics have shown that winning the prize boosts sales. Not that any of the winners have become blockbusters, but publishers did see a definite increase.

Publishers don't have the budget for book promotion, especially not for those gems of literary fiction that don't exactly fly off the shelves. The market is small, made up largely of English teachers, college professors, and those who are glued to NPR.

Reaching beyond that limited group requires money to pay for advertising, but if the return on the dollar isn't large enough, the bean counters say no.

Winning a Pulitzer is grand for the author, but for the publisher?

It's free publicity, free buzz generation.

Without spending a dime more, the book sells. More profit, less cost.

Brilliant.

This year, the Pulitzer committee didn't find a winner on their list of entrants so there will not be that free boost to sales. The potential winners will not sell more copies, and potential readers will miss out on a decent book.

Because there was no one to tell them about it.

Not just some advert promoting a book. The personal recommendation, or even a review that isn't put together by a marketing department, is lacking.

The issue is not just about one book, but about future books.

Without respectable sales, the publisher is less likely to accept something that fits a particular niche, and that means the selection shrinks down to that which brings in the most cash.

There's a reason why book sales are declining, as the book producers chase a limited market when they would do better by casting a wider net. The problem with that approach, the way it was done long ago, is that there is an element of risk that isn't acceptable in these modern times when hedge funds and large corporations are looking only at the bottom line.

No Pulitzer? Less demand. Less demand? Less supply.