Just a *Little* Sad
I Twittered earlier today that I was a little sad today and assumed it was post-book launch let down. Don't get me wrong: 125 rank on amazon, great reviews, and an *amazing* party made for an unforgettable week. But as I watch my Amazon rank slide back into the 300s I can't help worrying that my book won't make that mainstream crossover that I so dearly want it to, because I think the stories in it are amazing and inspiring and so many people don't get what Web 2.0 and entrepreneurship in the Valley is really all about.
I was explaining this over brunch to Mr. Lacy and our "adopted son" Tim Briner, and I kept thinking of this passage from page 194 of my book about the early days of Slide. (For context: Max Levchin is raising money and it's going very well so this is a flashback):
"He thought back to a time when Slide had just come out of the Maxcubator and he and a small team were working day and night to get the Slideshow up and running. Back then, he was hardly thinking about pimping out MySpace pages. The word widget didn't exist, let alone the idea of taking this piece of a Web site and putting it on another Web site without knowing how to code. So when Slide launched, the idea was people would download it to their desktop, like a screensaver. Max took a deep breath and released it into the Internet wild. And then heard nothing.
No one was downloading it! Max couldn't believe it. For years, he'd been so focused on brining a new idea to life, it had never occurred to him that maybe people just wouldn't want it. As he watched the stats go nowhere, he realized that it didn't matter he was Max Levchin, millionaire, dotcom success, founder of PayPal. All at once it hit him: No matter how hard he worked, he simply couldn't will people to use his product. They didn't care who the great Max Levchin was or what he'd done. Even worse, they didn't care about his Slideshow. It was crushing."
I know I had an amazing week, and there are a lot more reviews, press, TV and radio appearances to come. But I guess it's the yin and yang of human emotions that after such elation, I can't help feeling a little like Max at that moment. I so desperately want to force this book into everyone's hands and have spent weeks doing every press interview in site, doing everything I can think of to make it a success. That's to say nothing of the year-plus I spent on the book itself.
Almost two years ago, the way Max phrased it when he told me the above story was a little more intense and it still rings in my head: You just can't will people to get up off their asses and use your site! I think this is particularly hard for people in the Valley because we so believe if we work hard enough, we can just force things to happen, force fate, force luck even. When we can't it shakes your whole philosophy of business, and, well, life.
For every entrepreneur reading this: I can officially relate. (And now I'm going to Blowfish to take solace in sushi and fire oysters.)
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An unforgettable portrait of the emerging world's entrepreneurial dynamos Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky is the story about that top 1% of people who do more to change their worlds through greed and ambition than politicians, NGOs and nonprofits ever can. This new breed of self-starter is taking local turmoil and turning it into opportunities, making millions, creating thousands of jobs and changing the face of modern entrepreneurship at the same time. To tell this story, Lacy spent forty weeks traveling through Asia, South America and Africa hunting down the most impressive up-and-comers the developed world has never heard of....yet.
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Sarah Lacy is an award-winning reporter who has covered high-growth entrepreneurship for more than fifteen years. She is the founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of PandoDaily.com, the site-of-record for the startup ecosystem. She lives in San Francisco.
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Never look at Amazon rankings. When John Borland and I wrote our book (he was at Cnet and I was Wired), we obsessed over the rankings. For awhile, we were in the top 100 for pre-orders...then we found out how few sales it took to get there.
The real selling point will come in the book stores -- not the pre-sales and early Amazon sales.
In the meantime, here are some funny author, Amazon, why the hell aren't they reading pieces:
http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2004/03/22/midlist/
http://susanvanhecke.blogspot.com/2008/01/amazon-sales-rankings.html
and a little something to make you more obsessed with rankings (break out the wine first)
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=32&aid=114485
Posted by: Brad King | May 17, 2008 at 06:04 PM
Don't worry Sarah, whether we know it or not. Web 2.0 needs your book to break into mainstream. Also try adding "Disqus" to your blog...
Posted by: Solacetech | May 17, 2008 at 06:06 PM
I'm a 100 pages into the book and I must say it rocks. If everyone else can't see that, then I have just two words:
Colbert Bump.
(Although, I doubt you'll need it!)
Posted by: Tom Cheredar | May 17, 2008 at 06:35 PM
wait didn't the book just come out on Thursday! Thats like 3 days ago! Surely the awesome thing about teh internets is that it makes things like first week sales semi redundant in that the book is always just a click away - I've seen nothing but awesome reviews and praise so far so give us all a chance to read it and tell everyone and it'll spread - chin up.
Posted by: Grumblemouse | May 17, 2008 at 07:04 PM
thanks for the kind notes everyone! (wasn't actually fishing...blogging is somehow therapeutic...) it's silly, i know! i'm going to stop wallowing and enjoy now. :) (or try)
Posted by: sarah lacy | May 17, 2008 at 07:07 PM
Sarah: Don't be sad. You wrote a wonderful book and should be v-proud. This only proves your point that it's not another bubble. If your book had come out at Dow 13K (the first time) maybe, but the "mainstream" is tuned out to the stock market and anything financial related right now, other than their own $$ stress.
Posted by: Aaron | May 17, 2008 at 08:13 PM
Sarah,
Does this mean you won't be on Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert? I'll Tivo just in case. Just teasing. Watching the Amazon rankings is like buying stock and constantly checking the share price. It only creates needless anxiety. Having known you, you have never been lacking in self confidence, so relax. It's your first book and I'm sure the Amazon rankings are full of sleepers! Best of luck to you.
Posted by: Robert Mullins | May 17, 2008 at 09:21 PM
Just bought another copy of the book! Now I have two in the mail, waiting for the first to arrive in Switzerland. Keep your chin up - I'm an entrepreneur, and what you've achieved with your book already is amazing. Hang in there. I'm sure your book is the 'Twitter of 2008'!
Posted by: Shafqat | May 17, 2008 at 10:30 PM
Don't worry to much about the ranking, that will come, instead look at:
"What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
93% buy the item featured on this page"
Isn't that an amazing conversion ratio!
Keep you chin up, and wait for more reviews to roll in, which inevitably should lead to a more sales, hence a higher ranking.
Posted by: Eiso Kant | May 18, 2008 at 02:12 AM
Sarah,
You have to remember we're talking about a book here, unlike a blog post, it takes time to read and review.
Think about all the people that didn't yet got the chance to lay their hands on the book, or the ones that don't yet know about its existence.
Bottom line, enjoy the moment, but bare in mind, it's not just a moment...
Posted by: Orli Yakuel | May 18, 2008 at 04:54 AM
Hope you're feeling more positive about this now, but the other comments are right, it takes time for people to actually get the book - it's so easy to forget that in this world of instantaneous publishing and reader feedback. I'm looking forward to getting my copy if Amazon ever delivers it!
Posted by: Kate Olson | May 18, 2008 at 06:23 AM
i always feel weird writing something very personal on a blog, so i'm stunned to get so many kind comments.
i'm nothing if not analytical. and in thinking about why i was upset, i think it's less about pure rankings. because i would always want more. if i hit 50, i'd want 25.
it's more about the feeling of total helplessness after years of *doing* so much everyday to make this book a success. It's like i've been forced into idle-mode. everyday since fall 2006 i've woken up and thought "what can i do today to make this a huge success in 2008?" then made a list, and done it. that's why i actually turned the manuscript in *early*-- i didn't want to have any regrets. now that 2008 is here nearly two years later, it's hard that there's nothing more i can do, at least, this weekend. i just have to sit back and watch. as draining as press is, i'll probably feel better once i'm doing it again! i guess that's why i could so relate to max's quote.
Posted by: sarah lacy | May 18, 2008 at 10:08 AM
My Amazon order isn't coming till the 23rd but I'm flying to Milwaukee on the 22nd and wanted to read OYLTYG on the plane so I bought a second one at B&N today (full list, I might add), but not before first checking the index to make sure my name wasn't in there! ;) (Whew!) BTW, check out the one comment on the Chronicle review on SFGate.com. Here's wishing you a Colbert Bump!
Posted by: Robert Mullins | May 18, 2008 at 12:36 PM
I like the book. It's a great read! I'm on page 246, and I got there in about a day or so. I think with time the book will sell. One thing you might try doing is build a discussion around it somewhere on your website, and invite some of the guys you wrote about to spend some time answering questions about different points in their adventures as written about in the book. This could help create some buzz.
On a different note, there's something I find rather curious, and frankly disappointing, about the book. You did not mention much about the saga with Elon Musk at PayPal. In fact you do not even mention his name or that he found or co-founded X.com, which merged with PayPal. You talk about PayPal's struggle to survive yet you say nothing about Elon Musk? Speaking about control and oustings that would have been an interesting, if side, story to explore. At the very least, you could have mentioned Elon Musk. You kind of gave credence to this—
[...]the kingmakers of innovation—the academics, the investors, the bloggers—tend not to talk about Musk. They dwell on idea people like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg[...]
—in this article (and I think that's rather unfortunate): http://www.inc.com/magazine/20071201/entrepreneur-of-the-year-elon-musk.html
Posted by: play.kid | May 20, 2008 at 12:25 AM
Sarah,
Do you know if your book is available in UK from other sellers other than Amazon.co.uk (they are saying the delivery time is 1 - 3 weeks)?
Thanks,
Sashi
Posted by: Sashi | May 26, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Hey sashi-
unfortunately I most likely won't officially publish in the UK until sept. so amazon is probably your best bet! it'll still be good in a few weeks! i love that you want it sooner though!
s
Posted by: sarah lacy | May 26, 2008 at 02:56 PM
hmmmm....
I am doing a project at London Business School on Strategic Innovation (focusing mainly on Web 2.0) and am hoping your book can help me in this regard. I am hoping it would save me some time which, other wise I would have to spend trolling the net ;-)
Posted by: Sashi Padarthy | May 27, 2008 at 01:13 AM