Yep, that's it exactly. Publishers advance some of these authors millions of dollars for books that they have not yet written, sometimes many books in advance resulting in a huge liability if they fizzle out rather than strike gold. These are the writers who's work the publishers push hard to the vendors like Barnes and Noble and Amazon to buy large quantities expecting repeat NYT ratings, although it doesn't necessarily work out that way. Still, these are the books that get bought in bulk up front, while everyone else gets the toe-in-the-water test first.
- Randy