Best-seller, the goal of every author. In the dim and distant past (before the internet), a best-seller was crowned by the likes of the NYTimes, the USA Today, and various trade and genre groups. While based on sales, the rankings were greatly impacted by the connections between publishers, reviewers, and editors. Working together these folks not only tabulated sales they also influenced what people chose to read. Getting named a best-seller by these titans of the publishing world vaulted many authors into the stratosphere of literary fame.
The literary world is far more fragmented today. Sure making it onto these premiere lists remains a great way to reach readers. However, they are no longer the exclussive gate-keepers to the reading public. The internet changed everything, in particular the rise of the sales behemoth who’s very name strikes fear in the industry.
Amazon
By some estimates Amazon controls 50% of the print book sales and nearly 75% of the ebook market. The latter number excludes ebooks sold through Amazon’s ebook publishing arm. To put this number in perspective, WalMart comes in at #2 with 9% of the print sales. This dominance has created a wasteland of middle-sized and small independent booksellers. Favorite retailers like Waldenbooks and Borders are long gone, while stalwarts Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million eek out a meager existence.
On the positive side (at least for authors & readers), the new literary landscape offers a way around the former titanic gate-keepers of the marketplace. Since the rise of the new overlord the number of published works has grown rapidly. In just ten years (2011 to 2020), US published books grew from less than 300,000 to more than 4,000,000 per year. Over the same period book related revenue grew roughly 50%. You don’t have to be a math wizard to recognize that on average there’s less money available per book, but it’s not all bleak and grim.
Ranking Dominance
Amazon rose to the top by making it easier for customers to quickly get what they want. Amazon’s ranking system is one of the keys to that success. The secret algorithm not only ranks books, it also places them in tightly defined categories. Think something like: Teen & Young Adult Time Travel Arthurian Legend Fantasy, for example. These categories enable customers to fine tune their searches of the millions of titles on Amazon. Basically it’s like a super-charged Dewey Decimal System. Amazon preferentially suggests the highest ranked books in categories that match a buyer’s likes.
An important milestone is breaking into a category’s top100. In addition to the category rankings, Amazon awards their coveted Amazon Best-seller moniker to titles that reach #1 in their category for ebooks, print, and audiobook formats. The audio version of Penny Preston and the Raven’s Talisman briefly peaked at number 11, and still ranks quite well. With just a little help an Amazon Best-seller badge is possible.
What can YOU do?
In an ideal world, I’d now tell you how to explicitly manipulate the ranking algorithm to move my books to the top of the list at little or no cost to you. Sadly, the smart folks at Amazon recognized this strategy. Besides keeping the details of the algorithm a secret (rumors are it’s under tighter guard than the KFC recipe or Coke’s formula), they also fine tune it with frequent changes.
Obviously one thing you can do is buy my books. To help make that easier for you, I’ve worked with my publisher to feature the first ebook in each of my series for only 99¢. This is a limited time offer. Because of Amazon’s categorization system, each individual sale has a tremendous impact.
Ebook Connections:
99¢ Link for Penny Preston and the Raven’s Talisman
99¢ Link for The Poisoned Princess (Warders Book 1)
Audiobook Connections (via Amazon’s Audible site):
Link with preview clip for Audiobook Penny Preston and the Raven’s Talisman
Link with preview clip for Audiobook Penny Preston and the Silver Scepter
I realize that the audiobooks cost $19.95, but there are two ways to avoid that cost. First if you sign up for audible.com trial you get a free book. There is a recurring monthly charge of $14.95, which you can avoid if you quit the service after your trial month.
The second and by far easier (and ethically cleaner) way to listen to one of these books for FREE is to enter a Rafflecopter powered contest. Simply click on this FREE Audible Code Contest Link and follow the prompts. You earn a ‘ticket’ for each action, e.g., following this blog, commenting on this blog, or visiting my FB fan page. At the end of the contest winner(s) will be contacted with prize information.
My apologies if the blatantly self-interested commercial slant of this post offends you; however, it’s a tough world out there and I could use your help. If you’ve enjoyed any of the more than 100 Map Monday posts, book reviews or other posts, please consider lending a hand. Just sharing this post or forwarding it to an interested friend would be helpful. If you’ve already read one of my books, thank you, and please consider leaving a review or rating on Goodreads or a retailer of your choice.
As always thank you for your support.
Armen