By way of a coda to my previous post about the power of the backlist, I should mention that it can be something of a double-edged sword. The power of the backlist can cut both ways.
It is true that the backlist can work in your favour–that when you have multiple titles, then for every book you sell, at least a subset of those readers will buy your other books. But tempting though it is, don’t rush out and publish all your back-drawer, barely-edited manuscripts just yet, because the readers who come back will do so because they enjoyed your first book. You have to make sure the other books you put up are of similar quality and are in a similar style. Continue reading »
