How Many Followers You Need to Get a Book Deal

In this post I’m not going to give you a specific number you need to fit in order to please the Publishing Goddesses and get a book deal.

Because there is no magic number.

Sometimes I wish there was — like when a client with the ability to sell lots of books gets turned down by literary agents for what I think are dumb reasons. Or when editors at publishing houses don’t see what I do in a project.

Traditional book publishing is subjective and whimsical (and not in a good way).

One of my favorite stories to tell is that I only got to buy what became a massive bestseller because the publisher’s son believed in it. Not my colleagues, not the boss. Nope. The boss’s son, who at the time wasn’t even out of high school yet. I’ve been in rooms where people who don’t know how Instagram works or even that Canva exists say that a million followers isn’t enough.

I could tell you more but I don’t want to discourage you.

Because there is hope.

When folks ask me for a magic number, what they’re looking for is a level of certainty that doesn’t exist. However, the certainty that does exist is this:

• A good book will sell everyday (meaning that most book ideas aren’t time-bound or timely, so your idea can…