midlist pyramid theory

Last week, I asked, who watches daytime TV?, and one of you bravely answered: I do! (Shout out to JoAnne.)

Many of you wanted me to understand that although you don’t watch these shows, you have been to bookstores where there are tables of books with “GMA” or “Reese” stickers on them.

Others insisted that it’s better to be selected by the book club for the TV show that nobody watches than not be selected by the book club for the TV show that nobody watches and reader—I totally agree!

In the summer of 2019, Publishers Marketplace tracked Bookscan numbers for the big book club picks. This is a snapshot of print book sales, for the four weeks when the book was that month’s “pick.” I wish they would run this feature again, because I would guess that these book clubs are even LESS influential now that we have TikTok, our personal TV network.

Here’s a sampling of those 2019 sales numbers from the months of June, July, and August:

Jenna Bush Hager’s Today Show Book Club: Searching for Sylvie Lee, by Jean Kwok.
13,000 copies; published June 4

Jenna Bush Hager’s Today Show Book Club: Evvie Drake Starts Over, by Linda Holmes
29,000 copies; published June 25

Jenna Bush Hager’s Today Show Book Club: Patsy, by Nicole Dennis-Benn
3,500 copies; published 6/4

Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club: The Last House Guest, by Megan Miranda
17,500; published 6/18

Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club: Whisper Network, by Chandler Baker
16,300 copies; published July 2

Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club: The Cactus, by Sarah Haywood
16,000 copies; published May 7

Is selling 10 - 20,000 copies of a book in a single month a lot?

YES!!!!!!

Do I think that you should devote time and energy creating TikTok content to try to win Reese Witherspoon’s attention and validation? (more on this below)

Let me introduce you to this pyramid I just made up:

The word “midlist” was once used to describe novelists who are in the “middle” of the list—meaning they’re not splashy debuts, and they’re not splashy bestsellers. Allegedly, there were once a lot of these midlist novelists who could earn a living writing a book a year, even if they weren’t household names.

Often I hear that the midlist is “disappearing,” meaning that if your first book isn’t a breakout hit, good luck to you.

For the purposes of this newsletter, I’m using the word “midlist” very broadly, to mean all the writers who are trying to grow an audience for their work. Many of you reading this newsletter are “midlist” Substack writers. You’re not George Saunders or Patti Smith, but you have 800 subscribers, and you’re hoping to grow your list.

Maybe you’re not Ann Patchett or Elizabeth Gilbert, but your debut novel sold 5,000 copies and you hope your agent can sell your second book.

You’re midlist!

Like me.

The biggest mistake that I see midlist writers making is that they get too comfortable inside their segment of the pyramid.

Because they’re midlist, they have a chip on their shoulder. It hasn’t “happened” for them yet. Or it “happened” for them but it wasn’t as good as they expected. They see other writers hitting the list, or being chosen by Reese, or going on Terry Gross, or getting “picked” by Substack for recognition.

They sign on social media to express their petty grudges and resentments to other writers in their pyramid plane. The other writers in the pyramid Totally Get It! They validate each other’s resentments. Because these people are professional writers, their content can be hilarious.

When these midlist writers successfully build an audience of tens of thousands of other writers, on a platform like Twitter or Substack, they’re shocked when those numbers don’t translate into book sales. But what they’ve essentially done is build a network of peers, not an audience for their books.

I know many writers who are stellar at networking. I could DM them someone’s Instagram handle and in six weeks or less, they’ll be tagging me in a post of the two of them getting coffee.

But the networking is still happening on the same plane of the pyramid.

Is your goal right now to build your network? Or to grow an audience?

My goal isn’t either of those things, you’re thinking. My goal is to be chosen by Reese Witherspoon!

@emmanoyesmaybeTag @Reese Witherspoon and @ReesesBookClub in the comments if you like the sound of this book!!! Also, it's already up on Netgalley and available for preorder wherever books are sold 🥰 #booktok #ocd #pureocd #ocdawareness #reesewitherspoon #reesesbookclub #hellosunshine #Inverted

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This is a fascinating artifact, from a creator who has 400,000 followers herself. One would think, given the size of her audience, that she wouldn’t have to get on her knees and beg for a Hollywood movie star to pay attention to her, but maybe she has that midlist-chip-on-her-shoulder too!

(Should I make a parody video begging Emma Noyes to pay attention to me and pick me for her TikTok account? lol)

Based on the big response to last week’s post about daytime TV, many of you believe that the key to your breakout success is winning the validation of the women at the tippy top of the pyramid. I understand why.

But do you want to know the most validating thing that happened to me this week?

If you’re new around here, I pivoted my Instagram account at the beginning of this year from book publishing advice to satirical content based on my novel Self Care. I’m calling this project autofanfic.

The above image is a screenshot of a story of a Bookstagrammer named Amanda with 147 followers who says she started following me for writer content but has stayed for the comedy. I can’t imagine a higher compliment! (You can follow Amanda here and make her day)

I started creating content that I thought would entertain readers of my novel, instead of other writers, and these have been the results:

I’ve also seen a dramatic uptick in my book sales, since I confessed on March 6 that my firing video was a stunt:

Self Care has been on backorder at Bookshop.org for 10 days (thanks

Kolina Cicero

for letting me know!) but you can buy a copy on Amazon.

My firing video has been viewed 696,000 times, and the success of my Instagram content strategy has led to many other exciting opportunities… one of which I will hopefully be able to tell you about soon. 🤓

How does this connect back to my midlist pyramid theory?

Well, I think what I’m getting better at all the time, through running experiments, is creating content that is meaningful, and entertaining, to the readers who will buy my books—my backlist, like Self Care, and my novels in the future—so that I can continue working as a novelist.

I think you can look at this pyramid and ask yourself:

• At this point in my career, is my goal to network with other writers? (same pyramid plane)

• Is my goal to reach out to the most influential people I know, to get my forthcoming book in the hands of influencers/big name Substacks/podcast hosts/celebrities, so that I have the best possible shot of hitting the list on week 1 sales? (top of the pyramid)

• Is my goal to grow my audience of readers, to drive book sales and set myself up for future sucess when my agent goes out with my next book? (bottom of the pyramid)

Let me leave you with a few more examples of what connecting with readers can look like:

• It looks like the comments section on

  Jolene Handy
  ’s Substack

  “Snacky, Drinky Things”

• It looks like visiting book clubs

• It looks like Colleen Hoover engaging in the private Facebook group of 200,000 of her fans, even though Coho lives at the TOP of the pyramid and doesn’t HAVE to do this!

• It looks like

  Lyn Slater
  making “behind the scenes” content for her book launch that resonates deeply with her audience