When your ‘track’ lets you down

What’s covered in this post

• What an author’s sales ‘track’ is and why it matters in publishing

• How previous book sales can influence your chances of another publishing deal

• Why low sales don’t necessarily reflect the quality of the book or writing

• Why some published authors reinvent themselves with a new genre, publisher or pen name

• What authors can do when their sales track starts holding them back

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Editor and author Phoebe Morgan shared a Substack post about how your sales track record can influence whether a publishing house takes on your next book. It’s the kind of frank, behind-the-scenes insight we rarely get from editors and it puts into words something many published authors carry quietly: the complex, often invisible heartbreak of books that don’t fly and the long shadow that can cast over a career.

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If you haven’t read it, do. It’s generous, honest and explains why some brilliant books don’t get their chance… and why some brilliant authors end up having to reinvent themselves just to keep going.

 

What is an author’s sales ‘track’?

 

An author’s sales track record (often shortened to their ‘track’ within publishing) is the sales history of their previous books. Those numbers can influence how publishers, editors and retailers view future books, including decisions about acquisition, positioning and stocking.

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So we’ve heard the editor side. But what about authors whose track record becomes a shadow that follows them into every submission and new idea?

 

The quiet grief of a fading track

 

Let’s start with the ‘track’. God, that word. It sounds so neutral, doesn’t it? A nice linear thing you run along. But when you’re an author whose books haven’t sold as well as hoped, that track can start to feel more like a trap: a narrow, numbers-based box that you’re shoved into, even if the reasons for your so-so sales had nothing to do with the quality of your writing.

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This is especially difficult when your previous books were with a smaller or less resourced publisher. Sometimes, even the publisher themselves doesn’t quite know how to position you. You might not have had the opportunity to work in partnership, to plan or to build traction across formats. And yet those sales — often modest simply due to lack of retail access — become your ‘track.’ And you’re the one who has to carry it.

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Phoebe writes that a track record often isn’t the author’s fault. But for writers, knowing this logically and feeling it emotionally are two different things. When an editor tells you your book just didn’t quite find its audience, or that the supermarket said no this time, or that your new novel might be a hard sell “given your previous numbers”, authors tell me it often feels like it’s their fault. Like they’re the problem. And the worst bit? Many authors I know in this situation start to believe it.

 

The myth of meritocracy: Why good books don’t always translate into strong sales

 

Publishing is a weird beast. We all want to believe it’s a meritocracy where good books rise to the top. And sometimes they do. But a lot of the time, even brilliant books sink without a trace. Meanwhile, you see other books getting window displays and six-figure marketing campaigns.

 

Phoebe’s honesty about how retailers drive so many of these decisions is refreshing. Supermarkets want brands, not risks. Chains want sure bets. And if your last book didn’t sell in Tesco, they might not even look at your next. Doesn’t matter how beautiful the writing is. Doesn’t matter if the story made someone cry on a train. If the numbers weren’t there, you’re suddenly a gamble… and not the fun kind.

 

This is also where things get murky. What counts as low sales? 3,000 copies? 10,000? Does strong ebook performance balance out lower print sales? What if you're digital-first or had a book quietly go gangbusters in Kindle Unlimited but never made it into a bookshop window? These are questions many of us ask and rarely get a clear answer to.

 

Can authors recover from poor book sales by reinventing themselves?

 

One of the things Phoebe says is that reinvention is common. Change your name, your genre, your publisher, your hair if it helps (okay, she didn’t say that bit but who knows? Publishing is unpredictable, you can’t say for sure if it won’t make a difference!). Lots of successful authors have done it.

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I imagine there’s something oddly freeing about starting again, blank slate, no baggage. But there’s also something faintly heartbreaking about it: the idea that to keep going, you might have to erase the name you worked so hard to build.

 

Still, I don’t think it’s failure. I think it’s resilience. Quiet, determined, creative resilience. Reinvention doesn’t mean you weren’t good enough, it just means you’re still in the game. And frankly, that’s something to be proud of.

 

The emotional cost of invisibility

 

Here’s something I don’t think we talk about enough publicly: the emotional cost of being published… and then overlooked. Of pouring your soul into a novel, only to have it released into the world with barely a whisper.

 

It’s not bitterness (or at least, not only that). For authors I know who go through this, it’s quiet grief and a kind of shame that’s hard to name. From the outside, you’ve ‘made it.’ You’re a published author. People still say ‘wow!’ when they hear what you do. But inside, you’re wondering if it’s over. If this is where your story ends. And I have felt this myself too. I’ve had some fantastic sales, but also some books that don’t sell as much as hoped.

 

And for those who’ve weathered publisher mergers, staff turnover, broken promises or radio silence, that sense of invisibility can be compounded. It’s not just the numbers that hurt. It’s the lack of clarity. The sense that no one quite told you the rules and now you’re being marked down for breaking them.

 

What can authors do when poor book sales affect their chances of another publishing deal?

 

First, take a breath and remember a disappointing track doesn’t mean your work isn’t good enough. Then it’s time to reshape the narrative. While the numbers don’t tell the whole story, they do influence what happens next.

 

The steps you take might mean changing direction or even starting over under a new name. It might mean rebuilding trust with publishers or taking control of the parts you can influence, like your email list, online presence or pitch strategy.

 

I recently spoke to publishing expert Oliver Malcolm about this idea of knowing when to pivot, and why changing genre, form or positioning can sometimes reset an author’s momentum. You can read more in Oliver Malcolm on agenting, honesty and what really moves the needle for authors.

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Want a clearer roadmap?

 

I’ve pulled together a practical, honest guide for my paid subscribers with some practical tips on what do you do when your numbers are low and editors can see that.

 

GUIDE: What to do when your sales track record holds you back

 

Finally, thank you, Phoebe and a note to the rest of us

 

That’s why I’m so grateful to Phoebe for writing what she did. It reminds us all that this is an industry full of passionate people trying to make good things happen and that sometimes, it’s just hard. Not because anyone’s failed, but because the system is messy, market-led and not always fair.

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