On Readership: The Balance of Knowing and Not Knowing

A single-digit number of people have preordered my novel. (I mentioned this in yesterday's article, as those of you who've been following along surely recall.) (This would be the 1 person who clicked on yesterday's article, according to LinkedIn analytics.) (This would be me.)

The novel comes out in two days.

I know who has preordered, because they are acquaintances who told me they preordered my book. I can tie every preorder on my sales report to a person who's told me they preordered—except for one extra preorder on the sales report. Just one! That person remains unknown to me.

I like the knowing and the not-knowing.

Knowing that certain friends have bought my book is a nice feeling.

The sale of unknown origin also makes me happy, because any person I meet could have made that preorder. There are 7 billion people alive on this planet. Were I to assume an equal probability that any human being might have placed the order, each person I meet has a 1 in 7 billion chance of being that person. So, when I meet an acquaintance, I never think to myself: Oh, this person definitely didn't preorder my book. There is a nonzero chance that they did!

And when I meet a person, I hope, for their sake, they'll win the 1-in-7-billion lottery and get to enjoy this novel. (Because it really is a good novel, I think.)

This is sort of a retroactive wish because, whoever that 1 in 7 billion may be, they already preordered.

My "wish" is based on my non-knowledge of who they are, but they already know who they are.

It's unnecessary to "wish" that one "wins" this "lottery." If you want to guarantee yourself a copy, order the paperback from Bookshop or Amazon or the ebook from Kobo, Itch-io, Gumroad, or Kindle. Do it. The future changes. Try it.

Most Famous Short Film of All Time by Tucker Lieberman, published by tRaum Books in Munich, comes out September 20, 2022.