Atticus Lish’s “Preparation for the Next Life” got the kind of reception that first-time novelists only dream about. The gritty debut novel, set in the violent, dangerous margins of New York City, was one of 2014’s genuine literary sensations, earning ecstatic reviews and landing on many top-10 lists. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, critic Sam Sacks called the novel, “a tour de force of urban naturalism” and “a love story that’s as bold and urgent as any you’ll read this year.”

But in a stark illustration that fiction writing often doesn’t pay, Mr. Lish has so far made only $2,000 for his novel, which took five years to write.

Unwilling to trade on his literary connections—his father Gordon Lish was Raymond Carver’s legendary editor —Mr. Lish struck a deal with an obscure publisher, Tyrant Books. By eschewing a larger publishing house, Mr. Lish potentially left a hefty advance on the table. In October, for example, “The Longings of Jende Jonga,” a debut novel by Cameroon-born Imbolo Mbue, was grabbed up by Random House for seven figures.

The bleakness of Mr. Lish’s novel may have precluded an advance of that magnitude. But all involved agree he could have gotten more than he did.

Tyrant’s founder, Giancarlo DiTrapano, had high hopes for the book but wasn’t prepared for the avalanche of critical praise it would trigger. Opting to print it in paperback, not hardcover, he says he took the advice of his distributor and ordered an initial print run of 3,500 copies—the largest the publisher had ever done. The book was released on Oct. 20. By Nov. 12, the day the first glowing review came out in the New York Times, it was clear it would sell out quickly, just as the critical holiday season got under way.