Pub Rants

2011 Year End Stats!

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STATUS: I’m baaaaacccckkk!

What’s playing on the XM or iPod right now? YOU DON’T BRING ME FLOWERS by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond
(oh the nostalgia….)

Happy New Year! I hope your 2012 is off to a rip-roaring start. Mine is. I’ve got exciting news on the film front for two of my authors and an auction unfolding next week.

I even signed a new author when we were closing for the holidays. Talk about cramming stuff in as the year closed.

My New Year’s resolution is to be a better blogger in 2012 so I better get started.

41
books sold (up from 28 last year). Why the big jump? Two agents on fire during the year.

65
foreign rights deals done (pretty much on par with last year).

7
number of new clients (Kristin and Sara combined)

36,000+ or some big number…
estimated number of queries read and responded to. We get so much spam these days, despite good filters, it’s hard to tell. We estimate anywhere from 80 to 100 a day. Times that by 365 and you get approximately 36,000.

69
full manuscripts requested and read (down from 98 from 2010)

618
number of sample pages requested and read (this is down from last year–mostly because I took a several month hiatus from reading submissions actually. I’m back to reading lots in 2012 though so bring it on).

5
number of projects currently on submission

2
tv and major motion picture deals

2.2 million
number of copies in print for my bestselling series this year

1.1 million
number of copies in print for my bestselling title this year

8 for Kristin (including BEA, RWA and Frankfurt), 4 for Anita, and 9 for Sara
number of conferences attended

13
number of career NLA New York Times Bestsellers (who says that’s an unlucky number!)

1
number of books named to Publisher’s Weekly list of top books of the year (that would be LEGEND by Marie Lu this year)

105
number of physical holiday cards sent

451
number of electronic holiday cards sent

20
number of eggnog chai consumed in the month of December. It was probably 31 but that makes me look like a glutton!

Lots
number of late nights reading on my new chaise with Chutney

All
number of great days loving my job

2012 is going to be a GREAT year!


23 Responses

  1. Tracey M said:

    My favorite? The eggnog chai. No December is complete without it.

    I love reading your stats and updates. What an impressive amount of work and dedication!

  2. Leona said:

    Nice! My pages were some of those pages. I think. Or was that last year…wow. this year has just flown by! Makes me feel special when I see these numbers 🙂

  3. Lauren Alissa Hunter said:

    These numbers are just absolutely daunting to me! (And not only because I hope to be one of the 41 rather than the 36,000ish minus 41)

    You clearly have a passion for what you do, 2012 is going to a great year!

  4. Natalie Aguirre said:

    Thanks for sharing your amazing stats. Just wish you signed more new clients.

    I’m interviewing Marie Lu at Literary Rambles on Monday. I’m so excited because I loved LEGEND.

  5. Ross Lampert said:

    WOW! If that doesn’t describe how hard an agent works–or how much work an agent has–I don’t know what does. Congratulations.

    Question: maybe you’ve covered this before (if so, I haven’t seen it or don’t remember) but how does an auction work? Do editors just submit single, blind bids, or are there multiple rounds of bidding? (Or something else entirely?)

  6. Alaina said:

    Amazing year. (Not the least because one of my manuscripts was among your 600 partials). Even though I save your stats to yell at people with when they assume I’m getting rich, I’m always in shock by the number of queries you get.

    Here’s to another amazing year! *toast*

  7. Rashad Pharaon said:

    Great post. I agree with Natalie though, 7 new clients for all of 2012, out of 36,000 queries?

    What I do wonder is what percentage of the full and partial manuscripts requested are from emailed queries vs. conferences pitches,

    Regards,

    Rashad.

  8. Suzanne Warr said:

    What scares me about those stats are the number of holiday cards sent. Don’t know why–but those numbers make me shiver. 😉

    Congrats on a great year, and here’s to an amazing 2012!

  9. Alice said:

    Number of books sold versus number of fulls requested? I’d say you are doing well and not requesting transcripts you can’t sell. Great job.

    I’d say I hope you someday can ask for a full from me.

  10. Kristin Laughtin said:

    Congrats! Those figures might be a little intimidating to those of us seeking publication, but when you compare the number of books sold to what you requested, etc., it shows you definitely work well for the clients you do sign. May 2012 rock!

  11. Farmer Kidd said:

    Brilliant! I always keep an eye out for your EOY stats. Somehow, I’m incredibly excited (despite the 36,000 to 69 request ratio). Gosh darn it, I’ll aim high in 2012! Thanks for inspiring me to rocket into the new year. May it be the best one yet for NLA.

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