My book was a failure. I won't ever make a penny from it beyond the advance, but it did lead to career opportunities.
Author Melissa Petro reflects on the commercial failure of her 2023 book, which did not earn out its six-figure advance despite high expectations. She notes that while the book failed financially, it served as a catalyst for other professional opportunities like ghostwriting and speaking engagements.
Why it matters
The story highlights the often-hidden economic realities of the publishing industry and the shift toward using books as personal branding tools rather than primary income sources.
Petro with her book. Melissa Petro Melissa Petro's 2023 book advance didn't translate into the expected book sales she had hoped for. Despite a six-figure advance, Petro's book sold only 2,000 copies in its first year. Petro's book did lead to new opportunities, such as ghostwriting, despite failing to meet sales goals. When I sold a book in a six-figure deal back in 2023 , I thought my whole life would change. For starters, that amount of money — for a book I had been working on for free for the past 20-plus years — felt like a windfall. Given the size of my advance, it was safe to assume my publisher was positioning it as a "big book": a highly anticipated title launched with a major marketing push and significant financial backing, expected to be a commercial success.
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