In a recent issue of Publishers Lunch (subscription required), Michael Cader noted that backlist comprises about 70 percent of all print unit sales in 2022, according to NPD BookScan. It turns out that backlist is capturing most of the pandemic growth in the book market. However, he created further distinction in backlist sales by segmenting out “recent backlist” (published within the last five years) and “deep backlist” (older than five years). In the current market, with those definitions, 30 percent of sales are frontlist, 30 percent are recent backlist, and 40 percent are deep backlist. That said, he notes that some of Colleen Hoover’s current bestsellers, those published in 2014–2016, are deep backlist acting as frontlist. It just goes to show that no matter when a book is published, it is new to a reader who is just discovering it. Books still have a chance to break out long after publication date.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
