How Data Helped Sell 10,000 Books

Unlike a lot of people in publishing, I love data.

I learned about data from my husband Scott whose expertise is user experience design. When we first met, I was blown away by all the testing and data he would do before launching anything — and he was blown away by the fact that traditional publishing, then and now, is entirely subjective.

I know I’m successful because I use both data and instinct to my advantage.

(Thanks Scott!)

I know that 44% of the people who have subscribed to my list will open one of my emails.

I know that the average advance my clients receive is $175,000.

I know that 50 of you will take our quiz this month.

(and that most of you need to join Author Platform Builders!)

I also look at my clients’ data to help them make decisions.

For example, a few years ago I had a client whose audience is K-5 teachers. Her audience was huge and engaged across multiple platforms. She had Facebook groups, an active email list, thousands of followers on social media, and even a strong Pinterest audience.

But her podcast? Barely got 10% of the attention any other post on any other platform would get. Her blog did better. After looking at the data, I…