Let me share some numbers to illustrate the competitive nature of publishing in the US: 292,000; 800; 45,000; 6; 70,000; 6,000 & 60%.

* It is estimated there are as many as 292,000 new titles published every year in this country,
* That breaks down to 800 new titles published each day,
* The major New York publishers produce approximately 45,000 new titles each year,
* There are six major publishers in the US which represent about 95% of the main stream book sales in the US,
* It is estimated there are over 70,000 small publishers,
* There are around 6,000 main stream booksellers in the US, and
* The only number that should matter to an author is their percent of sale, and that benchmark is 60%.

If an author under contract to a big NY publisher sells at least 60% of their books, they can have a very nice career as an author.

Now you get a picture of the competitive nature of traditional main stream publishing.