Business reality, alas. The book biz isn't as bad as movies, which are made or broken by their first 48 hours of box office receipts, but 80% of sales still oc

Business reality, alas. The book biz isn't as bad as movies, which are made or broken by their first 48 hours of box office receipts, but 80% of sales still occur within 3 months of publication (in hardcover, with a similar bounce when the book goes paperback). First-week sales are what count for (a) bestseller list presence and (b) bookstore re-orders based on (a). And pre-orders count towards first-week sales!