Poll Dancing #1: The Results

The first 101 Reasons poll is closed, and the results should be interesting for anyone trying to break into publishing.

The Question: Did you buy any books by debut authors last year?
Simple enough.

The Responses:

45% (14 votes)I bought a few from debut authors, but I mostly stick to familiar crap from bestselling crapmeisters

26% (8 votes)Dozens. I like to support debut authors. (Sooner or later the first edition will be worth money.)

10% (3 votes)If by "debut" you mean remaindered, marked down, found on a park bench or oops! in my pants ...

10% (3 votes)Debut authors come to me, begging for a review on my blog.

10% (3 votes)I only buy pornography new.

0% (0 votes)I only buy if the New York Times tells me to.

0% (0 votes)If it doesn't say "Book of the Film", I ain't buying.

Total Votes: 31

Now, you might think that the lesson here is that the the largest proportion of respondents only admit to buying a few books by debut authors (and that 10% have an ego problem and 20% have other social problems, and that I shouldn't write polls with five different jokey versions of the same answer). But that's only part of the story.

The real tale is in the hidden numbers. At least 250 different people viewed 101 Reasons while the poll was displayed. Only 12% bothered to click an option, and hit the Vote button.

Fair enough. There was no reward for voting.

But that means only 3% of people who read this blog actively purchase books by debut authors. (I'd venture to guess that the 88% who didn't vote aren't terribly likely to give the new guy a chance.)

When you submit your manuscript, you're hoping it's going to overcome the Everest of Ennui: the publishing industry. Agents, editors, marketers, reviewers and eventually readers - five levels of "Why should I take a chance on this?", and thousands of individual decisions not to bother.

Before asking all these people to care about another new author, maybe you should decide if you do.