We're just over the halfway point of the 10th anniversary PubFight game. What better time to check in on our All-Star players? Do you want to know how things are shaking out? Which player has the best list and printing strategy, who has the best trash talk? Let's dive in.
Week 6
Second Chance Books started off strong; by Week 6 they were already in the black, leading the pack.
While sales might have been off to a slow start, the trash talking was heating up. Second Chance Books wrote: "I think there are a few people who are insane if they aren't reprinting this week, but I'm not going to call them out because I hope you lose sales instead."
Last Word Press shot back: "A shame that you needed to print that small, margin-sucking, 3k reprint on the Steel."
Same Book Different Pile Inc. took a different tack: "I’m not even trash-talking this week. Because like my dear friend MICHELLE OBAMA likes to say — when they go low, we go high.... I’m sure she’ll say it again during her international media tour promoting her new book Becoming, ON-SALE NOVEMBER 13."
Week 9
Not much changed until Week 9 when Last Word Press moved up one spot to the #2 position.
Last Word Press wasn't quiet about the move either: "I’m going to have to branch out the smack talk a bit and go back to just after the auction when one of our illustrious organizers wondered why I paid so much ($12.5k) for Kate Morton — I now have [many] reasons. ;)"
Week 10
No change in rankings, but the trash talk continued. Second Chance Books wrote: "Sorry, [Last Word Press], were you meant to be gaining on me? Can we call it getting Grisham-ed?"
Last Word Press stayed true to their name and did not let that injustice stand: "Yeah, that $80k worth of reprints hit the bottom line this week. The price of success I guess."
Same Book Different Pile Inc. choose to send out a mayday call: "Something horrible is happening — we all appear to be shifting in the wrong direction. Can BookNet please make appropriate adjustments? Start with the premise that Same Book Different Pile bought something other than the William Shatner bio as their 'ace in hole.'"
Week 12
And then, just last week, Week 12, all our publishers were in the black. That's why we call them All-Stars — these publishers came to play.
Bryant Harte of Last Word Press has been tracking profit and sales for each publishing house since week one. He shared his data and graphs with us so we could show you what the weekly profit ups and downs have looked like over the weeks.
And here's the graph for gross sales.
With the holiday season still promising a windfall of sales and several books still to be released, it's fair to say that it's still anyone's game. Things can change quickly in a week. And there are still eight weeks left until the game ends. Let the best All-Star player win.
Use CataList reports to keep track of new drop-in titles and changes to key elements that publishers make to their forthcoming titles.