Nine copies of The Producers: Profiles in Frustration sold in August and three copies of XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without A Shul. My total royalties are $135:65 plus the approximately $300 I made from buying 80 copies at a 45% discount and selling them direct.
JMT advises: "Don't let these lofty sales figures go to your head. Your forthcoming Jewish journalism book will probably not sell quite so well, since it is aimed at a narrower market niche.
"Another thing you should think about is trying to leverage the iUniverse vanity press stable. Amazon.com offers package deals, so why shouldn't you? You know, buy the new Amy Fisher autobiography, or William F. Buckley Jr.'s spy stories book, and get The Producers for an additional $3. Or buy The Magician by Sol Stein (that's probably a Jew, right?), and get A Rebel Without A Shul for $1 ($1.25 for author-autographed copy)."
Chaim Amalek writes: "You really ought to hire some street vendors to hawk your books. Have them set up shop in the Farmers Markets. You should have a book hawking the Luke Ford Library at every shul event where such would be tolerated. Finally, why not lecture to the wannabe masses on all that you've learned in the course of writing these fine books? I'll be there is something like a Gotham Writer's Workshop or an Open University where you could do this."
Tika Massala of Bangalore writes: "I think you take perverse pride in failure. You spend too much time onanisticly looking over your life (the latter book), and not enough time pushing projects (like the former book) that might actually make a success of that life. The clock is ticking on you, Luke. I suggest that you accept the dining invitations that you have recently received from those with whom you might yet have a full social relationship, and stop begging for them from those who want little social intercourse with you."
