On not being a best-seller
Even though I said I didn't care, obviously I cared. Sigh.
Hi! Lot of new subscribers here from the various Substack lives and crossposts and content I’ve done over the last few weeks — so a quick intro and some suggested previous reading…
I’m Amanda. As my day job, I’m the cofounder and president of Run for Something, which recruits and supports young diverse leaders running for local office. (You can get all the regular updates from me on RFS stuff at our
newsletter, which goes out at the top of every week.)I started the org with Ross Morales Rocketto back in 2017 — before that, I worked on presidential and statewide campaigns doing digital strategy and online fundraising. (If you want to read some political content outside of RFS, I wrote about how I stay sane working in politics and how to avoid getting got by resistance grifts.)
In addition to my work:
I live in Brooklyn — I have some strong opinions on NYC politics. TLDR: Don’t rank Cuomo.
I’m married to a truly excellent husband — he’s the kind of guy who sets new years resolutions to host people for dinner every Saturday and then actually does it. (We’re currently booked thru mid-July.)
I’ve got two daughters, a 2.5 year old and an 8 month old — I wrote some advice for new parents here. Between the kids and my dog, I deal with a lot of literal shit before 8am.
Otherwise, I read a ton, try to work out occasionally, send this Substack out most Fridays with whatever I feel like writing about, and most relevantly to the reason you may have subscribed, I just published a new book, When We’re in Charge, which you can buy now:
I’ve been in full book-selling mode for what feels like a lifetime (or two-ish weeks.)
I wrote on Sunday that if you were ever going to buy the book, now’s the time, because while I wasn’t basing all my self-worth on hitting a best-seller list, I really wanted it.
The good news is the book is actually selling pretty well! Everyone who works in the industry (including my publisher and my agent) are happy about the pre-orders and first week numbers, and keeps telling me that I should be happy, too.
But alas, since the various bestseller lists all measure slightly different things, ranging from format of book sold — hardcover, e-book, audiobook, etc — to where the books were bought and when, it seems like I just didn’t sell enough books in the right places or formats to hit any of those lists.
So the bad news is I was totally lying to myself — when Wednesday came and went, and all the various lists came out without When We’re in Charge on them, I was shockingly sad.
I really didn’t expect myself to be so bummed.
I knew going into this: It was going to be hard! Selling a book under normal circumstances is challenging; selling a book right now is nearly impossible.
Even with a book that feels so damn relevant, I had a bunch of TV hits and press stuff get bumped in the last few weeks as the news kept changing. Algorithms make it so all the social in the world only barely gets seen, and anything with links gets de-valued. And beyond all that, seems like people don’t read anymore, etc, etc. (Thoughts and prayers to those who write fiction, which seems to be even harder than non-fiction to break through.)
But I think in part because I had said it publically, I felt a little embarrassed. I had set a goal and failed. Yikes.
And upon further reflection, I think I had somehow convinced myself that hitting a list would validate all the time I spent on this book — the work I’d put into it on top of my day job and parenting; the social media I felt sure was annoying my followers and friends; all the exhaustion would be worth it if there was some kind of external proof that the book was a success.
Objectively I know none of that is true.
As I wrote last week — so much about book sales are out of my or anyone’s control.
Setting a goal and not hitting it is nothing to be embarrassed about it — it’d be more embarrassing to be afraid to try at all.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I got so much out of this experience beyond sales (which again, are good! I’m being crazy!).
And I know without a doubt that I did and am doing everything I can to get this book out into the world — plus, I feel very lucky to feel extremely supported by my publisher at Zando, which I know is not the usual story for most authors.
But most importantly: I wrote a good book.
That feels like a no-duh thing to say, or self-important, or maybe kind of overly confident, but above all else, I really know it: The book is good.
And I’ve heard as much from readers who’ve finished it. I perused the early Goodreads reviews — and while there are of course a few boomers mad at me, the people who I wanted to get the book, got it.
At each of the events I did in DC and NYC, as I talked through the themes of the book and told anecdotes, nearly the entire room would nod in recognition. People are feeling seen —and even better, they’re considering how they might lead differently.
I keep reminding myself: Stuff like the gossipy Biden book that’s all over the place has to sell a bunch of copies in week one because after it’s out and all the juicy bits have been dissected, who will ever read it again? The book won’t have a shelf-life past July 4th.
When We’re in Charge is the kind of book that (I hope) people will read and then tell their friends about, or buy as gifts, or pick up for their book club or their networking group. It’s a “oh you just got that promotion??? you gotta read this” book that I hope will sell steadily for months and hopefully years.
That’s what I want it to be, anyway. And now that week one is out of the way, that’s my next task.
A few of the places I’ve been chatting about the book in the last week:
The Daily Beast has an excerpt from my chapter on social media, in which I confess to having a parasocial relationship with AOC and talk about how haters gonna hate.
I wrote a quick essay for
about how Democrats have forgotten the #1 rule of leadership: It’s not about you.I Zoomed in to WGN morning news in Chicago to give some hot leadership tips — come for the metaphor about thermostats and thermometers; stay for the news anchor basically telling me a four-day-work-week is ridiculous.
CNBC has some of my best advice for gen Z, including “don’t ask? don’t get” and why it matters for gen Z to hold firm on wanting work not to suck.
Plus I did an event in DC and got to wear a suit I hope to be buried in.
Some other book recs — all romance novels to help me turn my brain off a little:
Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan - The third in her Skyland series about three friends in Atlanta. (This will all likely be a TV show at some point so get ahead of it now.) This one is about Hendrix, a 40 year old very successful talent manager who falls for handsome billionaire Maverick, all while dealing with her mom’s Alzheimers diagnosis. Very hot, very classic Kennedy Ryan.
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune - Struggling photographer Alice goes to the lake with her grandma for the summer and reconnects with handsome Charlie, who she hasn’t seen since she was 17. Sparks fly. Also classic Carley Fortune.
What Happens in Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon - Dani moves to Amsterdam to try and figure out what to do with her life and runs into her old high school ex-boyfriend — a Dutch exchange student who’d lived with Dani’s family and then suddenly dumped her when he returned home. Sparks fly, marriage of convenience occurs, etc, etc. This was not my favorite of her books but it was good enough and it absolutely made me want to go to Amsterdam.
No other links this week — too much going on to read anything besides the news during the day. But I’ll be back next week with other stuff!
I just started reading it!
As a fellow high achiever, I totally get this. I hope you do something to celebrate all you've made happen with the book and it's release!