A friend shared this link about the general inaccessibility of book sales data to the world outside of publishing, and I got to thinking about something related, and something new book authors probably hate me for: Who is tracking sales of used books?
Part of me, anecdotally, believes used book sales ought to be an indicator -- maybe good, maybe not so helpful -- of what current tastes in literature are. Maybe they're too niche? But there are a lot of niche publishers out there selling new niche books, so while maybe used books aren't a huge part of the market, they are part of the market nonetheless.
We're avid readers in our house. And I can guarantee at least 95% of the books we buy every year -- and we do buy northward of 20 books a year -- are used, purchased either online or in local thrift stores.
Is anyone tracking this data, and is it available publicly?
Alibris, for one, is collecting that data. They say on their "The Alibris Story" page:
"Because Alibris naturally collects a great deal of information about book buying and selling, the company came to be able to offer both customers and sellers essential market information. Today, Alibris knows which books sell and at what price. Alibris helps sellers continually update prices and makes sure that business customers get data for hard-to-find and used books that are as good as new."
Is any of that data available publicly? I don't know, and for this blog post, I'll be honest: I'm too lazy to find out. In brief, maybe? But I suspect you'd have to swim through a tangle of contacts and lawyers to find it. This is a company dealing in information and they take our privacy seriously. So I'm guessing not.
I'm not singling out or picking on Alibris here. They are right to be careful with their customers' data, and their practices probably mirror other resellers' as well.
Maybe Goodreads?
Whoah, momma.
While not directly from Goodreads itself (at least in what I can find) there is apparently a metric ton of data out there based on book reviews, interactions, etc., from the site. This is just one site I found, and I haven't had the time to do anything but scan their first page.
The first linked article rightly criticizes publishers' use and public concealment of the data, arguing the data is "conservative" and "racist." With only past sales data driving new acquisitions, they might be giving short shrift to authors who fall outside the norms. I've seen that on a microscopic fashion in anthropomorphic fiction, which I enjoy but seems to be niche these days. Maybe it always was. I don't know.
And lest anyone think that tracking used book sales is negative towards ebook sales, I'm wondering -- can you resell an ebook? Or are they dead ends? I assume they're not to be re-sold. I don't know.
Maybe scanning used book sales data -- or on the part of Goodreads, tracking what books as a whole are popular, not just the new popular books -- might be helpful. Or at least cast a beam of light into an otherwise obscure process.
Anyhoo, some interesting things to think about. Eventually.
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