What BookScan Is and Why It Matters to Your Career
Once you’ve published a book, you gain a number that follows you from book to book, publisher to publisher. That number is your sales history, and it’s tracked by BookScan.
Founded in 2001 by Nielson, BookScan is a data service that tracks book sales across most major outlets, creating a snapshot of how well a book is doing. While the number isn’t fully accurate, it’s the closest thing to it that publishers can access (unless, of course, the book in question was published by one of their own imprints). Because of this, it’s become the standard data source the industry uses to evaluate sales performance.
The Way It Works
BookScan tracks point-of-sale data at the register from thousands of outlets across the U.S. When a book is scanned at checkout at Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Costco, Walmart, Target, and other major brick and mortar retailers, the sale is reported to BookScan. Many independent bookstores also report sales to BookScan. The data is aggregated and made available to paying subscribers soon after the transaction is completed. The sales info is searchable by title, author, ISBN, publisher, and publication date.
The sales number is attached to the book itself, so changing genres, publishers, or agents doesn’t alter the information. It’s one of the key things editors (and some agents) look at before making an offer. This is true for all types of publishers, including audiobook presses. Knowing the ins and outs of BookScan, then, is a crucial aspect of being a savvy career author.
Who Has Access
BookScan is a for-profit business model, and publishers have to pay to play. That means the information isn’t publicly accessible. However, most literary agencies and publishers all have paid access, and they routinely use it to make decisions about writers and books. It’s an expensive yearly subscription, so few authors choose to invest in it.
What BookScan Captures AND What it Misses
It’s important to know that BookScan’s numbers are not the whole picture. In general, it captures 75%-80% of the print book sales at reporting retail outlets. That means there’s a definite gap between what you’ve sold and the sales picture a publisher or agent can easily access.
Here’s what BookScan misses:
Ebook sales
Audiobook sales
Most of what is sold on Amazon. Amazon believes their sales figures are “proprietary information” and therefore doesn’t willingly share them with BookScan. Some print sales are still recorded through their print book division, but not much.
Library sales
School and classroom sales
Bulk or corporate sales
Direct sales from your author website
Specialty market sales
Sales from smaller independent retailers not in the network
This means your book could be performing strongly in ebook and library sales but look like an underperformer to BookScan. It’s crucial to understand how this number works so that you know when you may need to provide context for the whole picture. The good news is that literary agents and publishers all know about this gap, so making the case for strong sales by providing ebook and other sales data is welcomed.
How BookScan Numbers Are Used
Agents might research a prospective client’s BookScan history before offering representation if that writer has previously published work. Low numbers can make a writer harder to sell to publishers. Agents get paid only when they sell your work, and they know that publishers pull sales data when making a decision about offering on a manuscript. The lower the sales, the harder it is to get a publisher to commit.
However, there are definitely agents who will take a chance on a writer with low sales when the quality of the new work is high enough and the market opportunity is clear. If you’re querying, and you have a sales record that could hinder you instead of help, make a compelling case for why this new work has strong market potential. (New genre or subgenre? Your platform has significantly expanded? You have a fresh premise in a hot market?)
Publishers use BookScan numbers to help decide if they should take the risk of offering you a contract. An editor can fall in love with your manuscript and get the rest of their team on board, but at the acquisitions meeting, the sales and marketing team has to evaluate your sales history before a decision is reached. If your numbers are low, the editor has to make a case for this new book performing differently. Publishers who decide to make an offer on a manuscript also use previous performance to project future performance, and that affects the size of the advance.
What The Numbers Mean (Genre Matters!)
A “good” BookScan number varies dramatically by genre. Nonfiction has different benchmarks than fiction. A literary novel selling 4000 copies in its debut year might be considered a reasonable performance while a commercial thriller with the same sales would be seen as a disappointment. Category romance has much different benchmarkets than upmarket women’s fiction. Genre matters, but so does the market. What was considered a successful sales benchmark in YA in 2018 is much higher than what is considered successful now because the YA market has softened considerably since then.
It also matters what size publisher you’re pitching to. A number that might look modest to one of the big five could read as successful to a smaller or mid-size press.
This is one of the major benefits of having a literary agent when subbing to publishers. An agent knows the current market landscape, what the sales benchmarks are by genre right NOW, and can help you navigate how to position your manuscript if your previous BookScan numbers aren’t hitting those benchmarks.
What Matters as Much as the Total
Publishers don't just look at your lifetime sales total; they look at when you sold and whether the trend is moving in the right direction. Slow builds and backlist growth can actually be positive signals, particularly for literary fiction and word-of-mouth driven books. A book that sold a lot of copies in its first few weeks but then dropped off quickly could raise questions about whether you can sustain sales momentum and reader buzz. A book that doesn’t have flashy sales but that has consistent year-over-year growth could signal a building readership that might be capitalized on your next title. There’s a bigger picture here, which means there are multiple paths toward demonstrating that your new manuscript is a good business risk.
The Gap Between BookScan and Actual Sales
If your BookScan numbers don't reflect what you know you actually sold, then include that context in your pitch! Remember, an agent or editor isn’t going to have access to library sales, bulk orders, ebook sales, direct sales, or accurate paperback sales on Amazon. If you sold significantly through channels that BookScan doesn’t track, document that so that you have solid data to support your ability to reach readers with your work.
So, What Do You Do With This?
If your BookScan numbers are rough, and you don’t have strong data to show sales in other channels, switching to a pen name is one option. Another option is to focus on building strong sales in non-reporting channels so that you have that data to bring to the table. Write an ebook-only series for indie publishing or create a series that you sell directly from your website, and focus time and budget on a consistent, high-yield ad campaign. Build relationships with libraries and book events. Focus on creating a strong, multi-pronged strategy that simultaneously builds your audience reach and your sales data. Both of those are super helpful numbers to bring to the table when you pitch your next manuscript for traditional publication.
Ultimately the best response to BookScan pressure is to build the kind of readership that drives sales at launch, which requires starting long before the book comes out. Strategies that help you perform well:
Build an email list
Create a street team
Show up consistently on your social media platform(s)
Engage regularly with your reading community
BookScan rewards authors who have audiences; building that audience is the most direct thing in your control.
Want Help?
If you want help building a publishing strategy that takes all of this into account, from launch planning to audience building to navigating the business side of a long career, we’re here for you! Our ICONIC mentorship program has helped writers land agents, get publishing deals, build platforms, and launch indie careers! Check it out HERE.
