“In yesterday’s book world, no one except publisher and author — and sometimes not even author — knew how many copies of a book were sold. Sales figures were proprietary. [But today,] when a veteran writer’s agent submits a manuscript to a new publisher, the publisher calls Bookscan to check the writer’s track record – ‘the track’ – to see how many copies of previous books were sold. If the numbers are flat or trending down, the publisher may pass.” And a bad sales record can stick to an author like glue, to the point that many authors are beginning to use pseudonyms in an effort to “fool the track.”