Hi everyone,
I'm currently finishing a thesis on the history of public relations in America, and I would like to put the sales number of one of my authors in context. Between 1928 and 1939, he sold 7200 copies of his book. Could anyone tell me if this could be considered a success ? Do you know the circulation figures of any authors in social sciences during that period ?
To provide you some context, here are the sales figures for Margaret Mitchell's block buster 1936 novel "Gone with the Wind". MacMillan publishing printed 176,000 copies in 1936 and by 12/31/1938 sold more than a million copies. A fantastic movie was based on this book in 1939 and MacMillan continues to sell 75,000 copies of Gone with the Wind every year since 1940. Of course, this was a block buster novel so these figures are much higher than a normal "hit novel".