Opportunities missed

Last week I picked up a book from my shelf that I’d not seen in years – yes, my shelves can be that crowded. I remember acquiring the book in a discount store – you know, one of those that buys goods from stores that have gone out of business. The cost to me? $1.00. Several copies of each book were in the bin.

I picked up two books that day, one The Alien Dark  by Diana Gallagher. I remembered being impressed by the book. Upon rereading it, I realize that I recalled correctly. Thinking about that, I wondered what else she had written, but first I went to Amazon to see what kind of rating it had. Only 5 people had reviewed it, but they had pretty much liked it as well. One said (back in 2000) that s/he had looked for a sequel but hadn’t found one; had found the author’s e-mail address and contacted her. Gallagher said that she’d love to do the sequel, but doubted that any publisher would pick it up.

And that tells the story. I imagine that The Alien Dark did not do particularly well in the sales department when it came out in 1990. As it was Gallagher’s first book, the publisher probably dropped her. With low numbers for The Alien Dark, chances of another publisher taking a flyer were minimal, so she gave up the idea. She went from there to doing series tie-ins – a YA Star Trek novel began it.

It’s not as if she hasn’t had her successes. A look on Wikipedia at her writing creds shows quite a few publications. However, I wonder what might have happened had she had the opportunity now given to us by Amazon, Kobo and others back in 1990. I know that I have several novels that would never have seen the light of day because of low sales of my first books. But that didn’t stop me because low sales didn’t matter to me. Getting the story out did. With self-publishing, I was able – am able – to go in whatever direction I want.

How many excellent authors lost a career due to low sales on their first book -- due perhaps to things beyond their control? I’d hate to even guess at the number. I’m only thankful that I live when I do, have the opportunities I do.