I read a lot of posts on author blogs bemoaning publishers’ ruthless interest in chasing the dollar. It’s true that I want every book I publish to make money — preferably a lot — but let’s give this some perspective.

1) Books only get read if they get bought. Writing great books does not change the world. Lots of people reading great books does. One reason publishers care about sales is because they care about readers, they care about giving readers what they are looking for. Unless you are aiming only at libraries, books don’t get read much unless they sell.

2) Publishing is our livelihood. We work in publishing because we love books. We love reading them, we love buying them, we love browsing through book stores and libraries. But we also love our wives and families, and want to provide for them. For most authors, writing is a sideline — almost a hobby that happens to make money. For people who work in publishing, it is the income that they rely on.

3) Publishers get a buzz from seeing readers LOVE the books they publish. When one of my books gets a 5-star review, or a complementary email from a reader, I get a real buzz — more than I do if a shoddy book gets lucky and sells well. Books that are designed to sell are also designed to please customers. The two qualities go hand in hand.

4) We want to feel successful. Musicians are successful when people go to their show and have a great time, or when listeners rave about their songs and albums. The best musicians are not the ones that sell the most tickets or albums, but they are ones that sell SOMETHING. You don’t have to ‘sell out’ by appealing to everybody. Appealing to a small niche is just as satisfying. Some of the books I am proudest of are not large unit sellers, but were perfectly aimed at their narrow target audience.