Konrath Sells 1/10 of Patterson

A few days ago, there was a number flashed all over the internet.

That number was 1,000,000. That's how many ebooks James Patterson has sold.

Pretty impressive, huh?

Yes, and no.

Yes, because a million is a big number.

No, because compared to his print sales, it's tiny.

There's also another reason it isn't impressive. A personal reason.

I've sold 60,000 ebooks. By the end of 2010, I'll have sold over 100,000.

In June, I earned $12,000 on ebooks that I self-published on Kindle. I'm currently selling about 8000 per month.

And this is just on Kindle. Patterson's numbers seem to include all ebook platforms.

I did it in 15 months. Patterson's numbers probably have been accruing for many years, since ebooks first started being sold.

Plus, he's freakin' James Patterson, and I'm a midlist little fish. He's got many more titles (65) than I do (17), he's a #1 bestseller, and he's a name brand with movies and TV shows and huge advertising budgets.

And yet, on my own, I've sold 1/10th of what he has. In far less time. With fewer titles. On Kindle only. With no advertising. No TV commercials. No name brand.

I'm happy Mr. Patterson has reached this historic milestone. I'm sure he'll have another million or two sales in his future.

Just as I'm sure I'll reach a million as well.