Jacks Full of Aces. My latest novel. 59000 words. According to Amazon it's "183 pages." They allegedly estimate page count by the number of words that appear on the screen after each page turn. That would mean 327 words on each Kindle screen. On my Kindle, it's actually about half that. (Yes, I counted)
Strike Battleship Argent. My first military sci-fi novel. Same series. 97000 words. According to Amazon it's "591 pages." Presumably both books have their page counts estimated the same way. (Or not, apparently) You can check for yourself. Both books are linked in my signature.
There's a math problem here. Argent works out to 164 words on a screen. About half the number for Jacks Full of Aces. Interesting that number also matches the number I came up with on my Kindle. Based on these numbers we can conclude Argent is being estimated correctly, while Jacks is being penalized for some reason.
Why the different criteria for page count? Nobody will ever know. What I do know is my book is dead. We're six days in and it's all over but the shouting. All the mailing lists and ads in the world can't help it. When people arrive at the page they think they are being sold half a book at full price. Result? Jacks Full of Aces sank like a rock. In fact, it's sales rank steadily dropped even when it was selling. I know. It's shocking. Had a two-week schedule of launch events for this book. All wasted.
Jacks Full of Aces still isn't part of my series page. I requested that a week ago. Oh sure there's an empty space where my book should be, but my book isn't linked. So now it looks like there's something wrong with the fifth book in the series. How is that going to affect sales? How to people usually respond to brokenwindows web pages where they are being asked to spend money? More sales lost.
There's no look inside, so nobody will be able to sample the story. (I have a hell of a first chapter) Even more sales lost. Just a few little details is all it takes to make my work look inferior and cheap. I believe even if I tried I couldn't come up with more effective ways to drive readers away.
Competing books, on the other hand, come out of the gate with dozens of reviews and all the details on their buy pages in perfect working order. Here's a good example. Brand new book. Brand new series. Page count looks accurate. Six reviews in three days. Has a series page even though there isn't a series yet. Top 300 book. Best seller. Clearly J N Chaney is just a better writer. Well, Exodus Ark is in KU (alongside 100 other J N Chaney titles) with a $25 paperback and already has 17 pages of also-boughts after three days but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
Why is book five being treated differently from book one? Is it deliberate? Nobody will ever know. Might it be because I'm not in KU any more? Might it be because I'm not spending enough on AMS ads? (I'm spending zero). Is that why the buy page for Jacks looks so empty and unappealing and broken and half-finished? How is this going to affect reviews, if any? Not much danger of it affecting the "algorithms," is there?
The truth is my book was suffocated in its crib. This isn't the first time either.
Strike Battleship Argent. My first military sci-fi novel. Same series. 97000 words. According to Amazon it's "591 pages." Presumably both books have their page counts estimated the same way. (Or not, apparently) You can check for yourself. Both books are linked in my signature.
There's a math problem here. Argent works out to 164 words on a screen. About half the number for Jacks Full of Aces. Interesting that number also matches the number I came up with on my Kindle. Based on these numbers we can conclude Argent is being estimated correctly, while Jacks is being penalized for some reason.
Why the different criteria for page count? Nobody will ever know. What I do know is my book is dead. We're six days in and it's all over but the shouting. All the mailing lists and ads in the world can't help it. When people arrive at the page they think they are being sold half a book at full price. Result? Jacks Full of Aces sank like a rock. In fact, it's sales rank steadily dropped even when it was selling. I know. It's shocking. Had a two-week schedule of launch events for this book. All wasted.
Jacks Full of Aces still isn't part of my series page. I requested that a week ago. Oh sure there's an empty space where my book should be, but my book isn't linked. So now it looks like there's something wrong with the fifth book in the series. How is that going to affect sales? How to people usually respond to broken
There's no look inside, so nobody will be able to sample the story. (I have a hell of a first chapter) Even more sales lost. Just a few little details is all it takes to make my work look inferior and cheap. I believe even if I tried I couldn't come up with more effective ways to drive readers away.
Competing books, on the other hand, come out of the gate with dozens of reviews and all the details on their buy pages in perfect working order. Here's a good example. Brand new book. Brand new series. Page count looks accurate. Six reviews in three days. Has a series page even though there isn't a series yet. Top 300 book. Best seller. Clearly J N Chaney is just a better writer. Well, Exodus Ark is in KU (alongside 100 other J N Chaney titles) with a $25 paperback and already has 17 pages of also-boughts after three days but I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
Why is book five being treated differently from book one? Is it deliberate? Nobody will ever know. Might it be because I'm not in KU any more? Might it be because I'm not spending enough on AMS ads? (I'm spending zero). Is that why the buy page for Jacks looks so empty and unappealing and broken and half-finished? How is this going to affect reviews, if any? Not much danger of it affecting the "algorithms," is there?
The truth is my book was suffocated in its crib. This isn't the first time either.