 He says he deliberately released the Bachman novels with as little marketing presence as possible and did his best to "load the dice against" Bachman.King concludes that he has yet to find an answer to the "talent versus luck" question, as he felt he was outed as Bachman too early to know.The Bachman book "Thinner" (1984) sold 28,000 copies during its initial run—and then ten times as many when it was revealed that Bachman was, in fact, King.