Writing and selling a book is a lot like launching a business wrote The Economist in an article titled “authorpreneurship”:

• To get a book widely recognized in this day and age a bit of outside help is required. A celebrity endorsement from the likes of Oprah or Mark Zuckerberg can help.
• So can a Hollywood film deal or a Pulitzer Prize.
• For authors that can’t go for that kind of prestige, they can always try to get onto bestselling lists.
• Preorders for books are usually recorded as sales during the first week that the book is published, meaning that authors may spend months drumming up interest and collecting pre-orders before the book is released or even written.
• Smart authors can look to release their books in months when few others are released to limit the amount of competition.
• But getting a book popular is just the first step and isn’t always that lucrative. The real money comes from the speaking engagements that a successful book can lead to.
• In this way authors, like musicians, no longer make their money from their main product. Rather they release these to drum up interest, then cash in through public performances.

Read why this is a problem for budding writers who want nothing more than to stay at home and write, what readers want, what this means for the book industry, and other ways to ensure that your book is successful over here.

Source: The Economist