No, not like that. I saw a Substack note that made me chuckle. I agree heartily with the part about a backlist being valuable, perhaps even more so than the initial launch velocity.

What amused me was my contrary mind looking at her last sentence, and thinking ‘well, some books do go bad!’ I can think of a few ways in which that would be the case.

Topical books, like I occasionally run across in used book stores, for instance. You know what I mean. “Cobol for Dummies” or “Introduction to Mechanical Drawing” which to the right person might indeed be useful. I own the latter book, because I was a decent draftswoman in high school and keep meaning to incorporate elements of that into my art. These books were going to do well until they became obsolete.

On the other hand, there is the more subtle spoilage you might not notice until you picked up the book and started to read. Fiction with highly topical viewpoints, one way or the other. I’ve read an ebook recently of a book originally published in the 1980s which had a disclaimer at the beginning of the book warning the reader, very seriously, that cigarette smoking was portrayed in the book and that did not reflect the publisher’s viewpoint (or something to that effect. A trigger warning, or perhaps a socially unacceptable warning). I myself have been reading aloud fairy tales for my sister recently from the Blue Fairy Book and opted not to read one, because it contains repugnant stereotypes I do not care to perpetuate. I’ve even bowlderized a Kipling story while I was reading it aloud and recording that, changing one word that would have gotten my Youtube channel in trouble.

It doesn’t necessarily even have to be a century-old book for it to contain elements that stink. I know we’ve all come across moderns that made us hold our nose and gingerly carry it to the nearest bin for disposal. Some books do go bad, very rapidly, if they are written for the trend of the moment.

There’s also the first book. I know my first book is out there, doesn’t sell, and I’m kind of okay with that. I keep thinking I should pull it. It could probably stand for a full rewrite. I don’t know that I have time to do that, and I really don’t know that it would be the same book when I finished with it. I’m not the same person I was when I wrote that, almost two decades ago now. I’m undecided so it sits there in the backlist, slowly dessicating.

Books do go bad! But not the backlist. The backlist is a fantastic way to let new-to-you readers find you through one book, then have a bunch of lovely books to munch through before they run out and then come to you with their bowl saying ‘please, might I have more?’ and let me tell you, that’s a great thing to hear as an author.