Midlist 2295469 220649231 2008-06-20T21:57:33Z GentlemanGhost 1432059 Wikified links <!-- {{Move to Wiktionary}} --> <!-- {{prod|non encyclopedic tone, dicdef}} --> <!-- Please replace this with a better definition, but so far as I can tell the midlist is the list, most often a list of books from a publisher, that have been determined to do okay, but not be their bestsellers. So a midlist author would be someone who constantly writes books that are almost the at the top of the list, but not quite. --> '''Midlist''' is a term in the [[publishing industry]] which refers to [[book]]s which are not [[bestseller]]s but are strong enough to economically justify their publication (and likely, further purchases of future books from the same [[author]]). The vast majority of total titles published are midlist titles, though they represent a much smaller fraction of total book sales, which are dominated by bestsellers and other very popular titles. Authors who consistently publish acceptable but not bestselling books are referred to as '''Midlist authors'''. Midlist publications were negatively affected by the [[US Supreme Court]] decision in the case [[Thor Power Tool Company v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue]], which changed how [[book publisher]]s have to account for and can depreciate unsold inventory each year. This has been somewhat mitigated by the development of [[On-line book|online bookselling]], which makes less popular titles more accessible to average readers. (For more on this phenomenon, see [[The Long Tail]].) ==External links== *[http://www.sfwa.org/bulletin/articles/thor.htm How Thor Power Hammered Publishing] by [[Kevin O'Donnell, Jr.]] <!-- ==References== needed - but there's no good summary out there, you have to talk to a dozen booksellers, publishers, writers, editors, economists to really get this wrapped up. --> [[Category:books by type]]