Are all authors as obsessive as I? I have a new book (ONE GOLDEN RING) set to be released Oct. 1, and I've been checking my "numbers" at amazon and B&N.com several times a day -- even though B&N (whose numbers also include in-store sales) doesn't change its numbers throughout the day like amazon does. I got really excited on Sept. 20 because my B&N ranking went down to 409 -- which is fabulous. My book was listed as one of the Top 100 sellers that day. Two days before that, I was number 711 on amazon. I thought -- since my book hadn't even been released yet -- that this book was going to zoom onto those bestseller lists, which is something I've never done before.
I told myself this is the best book I've ever written, and the reviews seem to have borne this out. Romance Designs (historicalromancewriter) gave it a Perfect 10, Huntress Reviews gave it 5 stars, as did Harriet Klausner. AND Sue Grimshaw, the head buyer for the Borders, Waldens, Bretanno chain, e-mailed to tell me it was the best book she'd read in a long while.
Well, my book has been shipped. It should be shelved Saturday, and . . . no great big splash. No bestseller lists. No show on Neilsen's BookScan.
I keep asking myself if there's anything I can do now to up the all-important numbers. And, of course, I can't.
I know everyone says "Write the best book you can" and success will follow. But it ain't always so.
Last time I checked today, my book was 7,199 on B&N. Woe is me.
This book is my first Christmas book, and I've been told they sell really well. Has this been the case for those of you who've penned Christmas books?
Grasping and gasping for great numbers . . .
6 comments:
It's nice knowing you're just as whacko as the rest of us, Cheryl. We all obsess in one way or another, though I've never done it on B&N or Amazon numbers. It will be interesting to see if I feel differently about my next one since it isn't category. I'll keep you posted.
Alfie
Cheryl, I don't have an answer to your question re Xmas books except to speculate on whether, with this lead-in, your book sales might increase yet??? As for the numbers -- I tell myself not to even look since they're such a small % of total sales. I tell myself, but then the lists come out...! :) Congratulations on the great reviews, BTW. I hope your book sells mega-copies.
Oh, Cheryl, I can so relate. I tell myself those numbers mean very little (true), but still, I can't help looking.
I didn't re-up on my Bookscan just to give myself one less thing to obsess over.
Hugs... and don't be surprise if this book takes off as the weather changes and people's thoughts turn to the holidays. It may be the kind of book that takes a little time to get its feet under it but does great all the same.
Fingers crossed.
Cheryl, good to know you're as crazy as the rest of us. LOL. Honestly, we'd all be so much better off if we'd just concentrate on writing and if we never looked at RT or the lists or read other reviews or anything else. But who can do that? Still, I do believe that cream eventually rises to the top, and you're definitely cream.
Pat Kay
Cheryl,
The one holiday book I did for Kensington did really well. The print runs were big, they got some store placement, I think. That was back in 2001 and I'm still getting money from it every period.
Hang in there. Holiday books are usually a good thing, and I agree with Colleen--once the weather gets a bit cooler, people will start thinking more about the holidays.
Shelley Bradley
Cheryl, I just checked your rank so you won't have to. Guess what? You're up to 291 on BN. Wow.
Alfie
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