Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Can You Hear Me Now?


Just a reminder: It's okay to leave comments!


Every now and then I check my author ranking on Amazon. Here's what it looks like for the past six months:

Amazon author ranking for K. R. Smith for the last 6 months.
My author ranking

You'll probably have to click on the picture to see any detail, but it's been reasonably steady for the previous 365 days with numbers between about 30,000 (best) to 300,000 (worst). Not a bad showing for a writer that doesn't even have a book published under his own name. Everything I've done has gone into an anthology of some sort.

Most of the anthologies to which I've contributed continue to sell at a steady, though dreadfully slow, pace. These are not the ones keeping my author ranking as high as it is. Most all of it is due to one book: In Creeps the Night.

This book is a Halloween-themed horror anthology, so I was wondering why it sells at such a consistent rate, especially since it is a couple of years old now. I contributed a small story to the effort: Little Monsters. It's an okay story, but I doubt it is the major draw for this work. There are maybe 30-40 authors who have stories in this book.

While the Kindle version sells well, what appears to be the major force behind the rankings is the audio version. It is narrated by Elizabeth Phillips.

Audiobook sales for In Creeps the Night
Audiobook sales for In Creeps the Night

The audiobook sales are really something special for a book with no real advertising behind it. Almost everything driving my Amazon author ranking is from this audiobook. I am very grateful for being included! Here are the current rankings for the audio version of In Creeps the Night on the US Amazon page.

US Amazon rankings for In Creeps the Night
US amazon rankings for In Creeps the Night

I don't know if other audiobooks are having the same success (please feel free to chime in on that), but it seems adding one to your publishing options might be wise.

That's all I have at the moment. Anyway, an hour has passed, so I have to go check my rankings again. I did say now and then...

P. S. Sadly, I make no money on the book. It is a charity anthology. But I'm okay with that.


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