 Fitzgerald himself blamed poor sales on the fact that women tended to be the main audience for novels during this time, and "Gatsby" did not contain an admirable female character.According to his own ledger, now made available online by University of South Carolina's Thomas Cooper library, he earned only $2,000 from the book.Although 1926 brought Owen Davis' stage adaption and the Paramount-issued silent film version, both of which brought in money for the author, Fitzgerald still felt the novel fell short of the recognition he hoped for and, most importantly, would not propel him to becoming a serious novelist in the public eye.