[Consuelo Saah Baehr]

After a desolate few weeks where sales were hard to come by, I see a break in the clouds.  Only a few days to go on but it looks like a solid turnaround.

Oddly, rankings are down (it used to take 12 - 15 sales per day to keep a title in the 10,000's.  Now it only gets you to the 14,000's. What's up with that?

 

[ElisaBlaisdell]

After a desolate few weeks where sales were hard to come by, I see a break in the clouds. Only a few days to go on but it looks like a solid turnaround.

Oddly, rankings are down (it used to take 12 - 15 sales per day to keep a title in the 10,000's. Now it only gets you to the 14,000's. What's up with that?

There are more e-books being sold overall, so, even though you're selling more, other titles are overtaking you. Nothing to worry about--what matters is how much you sell. (What's overtaking you is probably written-long-ago backlist from well-known but not famous traditionally published authors. I noticed with pleasure, recently, that the complete works of Patricia Wentworth were up.)

 

[Quiss]

Gonna hold you to that, Consuelo!

I'd like to get back my 12-15 per diem any time now! 

What I really see affecting ratings are huge daily gaps. So if I pick up 6-8 sales in the evening, by morning I've slipped again. Then I get a wee batch in the morning, but by the evening I've tanked.
It's a conspiracy, I tell you!

 

[Consuelo Saah Baehr]

Elisa, thanks for the update.  I'm one of those authors who put their backlist up and I'm happy to see others do likewise.  It is our moment of glory for all those trad pub days when books were yanked off shelves a few weeks after publication.

You are right:  sales are what matters.

 

[StrokerChase]

Agreed I am seeing an upturn. I work hard so during the tough times I'll get the most out of it when things get better. I think it's much harder to be disciplined when your sales are bad but there's always been an upturn so I  always have faith. Sometimes it's difficult though

 

[Consuelo Saah Baehr]

Quiss:

Please hold me personally accountable. Let's all get our decent daily sales back.   Your sales pattern mimics mine:  most sales arrive after six p,m. and another batch in the middle of the night.  I've always thought that was the West Coast sales sweep.  

 

[Kathleen Valentine]

So far I am liking 2013. December was better for me than Sep-Oct-Nov but January is starting out pretty good.

I've stopped looking at rankings. As long as my books sell, that's all that matters. I'm just focusing on getting more titles out there.

 

[JRTomlin]

Quiss:

Please hold me personally accountable. Let's all get our decent daily sales back. Your sales pattern mimics mine: most sales arrive after six p,m. and another batch in the middle of the night. I've always thought that was the West Coast sales sweep.

Since sales aren't being reported in real time, my guess is that they assign the server time to catching the reports up at night when it's not needed for more essential tasks.

 

[Quiss]

See, that's what confuses me (and I'm easily confused)

Sales are tied to ranks, right?
So if your ranks tank, how will people find you?

Frankly, I have no idea how people are finding my books, other than perhaps by going through the 30 and 90-day release list.

 

[JRTomlin]

See, that's what confuses me (and I'm easily confused)

Sales are tied to ranks, right?
So if your ranks tank, how will people find you?

Frankly, I have no idea how people are finding my books, other than perhaps by going through the 30 and 90-day release list.

I rather doubt that sales are necessarily tied to ranks unless you are in the Top 100.

There are a lot of ways people can find books. Also boughts. Searches. Pop list (though God knows staying high on THAT is hard)

ETA: I have a hard time being negative about sales. For most of the year, my sales were fairly steady with some minor ups and a slight downward trend in August, September and October. December was my best month ever and January, so far, looks mind blowing. But I was never a Top 100 author either, so maybe I'd feel differently if I'd had novels in the Top 100 and didn't now. But for a "mid-lister" like me, I can't see the doom and gloom.

 

[Kathleen Valentine]

Since sales aren't being reported in real time, my guess is that they assign the server time to catching the reports up at night when it's not needed for more essential tasks.

I've also wondered if there isn't some element of reports being made in alphabetical order. I have 21 active titles so I see this from time to time. There will be nothing for a couple hours then I'll have a number of sales of titles at the beginning of the alphabet, then later on I'll see an increase towardhe end of the alphabet. Maybe I'm crazy -- or checking sales too often.

 

[Quiss]

New prediction for 2013:  Amazon will limit the number of times an author can click on their report button to 5828 per day.

 

[Steve Vernon]

December has been my best month yet. I am very pleased with the sales so far. January is percolating nicely as well.

 

[Lexi Revellian]

New prediction for 2013: Amazon will limit the number of times an author can click on their report button to 5828 per day.

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lexi

 

[George Berger]

New prediction for 2013: Amazon will limit the number of times an author can click on their report button to 5828 per day.

Not a huge deal. Gotta eat and go to the bathroom and scream at telemarketers sometime, right?

 

[H.M. Ward]

Frankly, I have no idea how people are finding my books, other than perhaps by going through the 30 and 90-day release list.

I was wondering if Amazon was sending out IF YOU LIKED ____ THEN YOU'LL LIKE _____ emails for indies. I got one the other day. First of all, they seem kinda whacked for what they think is similar, but in terms of seeing Indie books on there, I saw several. I was wondering if anyone's seen mine. I didn't think so. I'm not sure how they pick which books to use for that. Anyway, up til now, I'd only seen trad pubs in it. This last one was equal indie and trad.

 

[Incognita]

I was never a Top 100 author either, so maybe I'd feel differently if I'd had novels in the Top 100 and didn't now. But for a "mid-lister" like me, I can't see the doom and gloom.

I only ever aspired to the mid-list, so I'm pretty happy with where I am now. I'm not going to subscribe to the doom and gloom, either.

 

[Rayna Corday]

Yeah, December was also my best month, and January is off to a great start.

One of my newest books has only been live for about thirty hours, but it's already sold 35 copies... and it's ranked under 10,000, which is an important first for me!

 

[George Berger]

I was wondering if Amazon was sending out IF YOU LIKED ____ THEN YOU'LL LIKE _____ emails for indies. I got one the other day. First of all, they seem kinda whacked for what they think is similar, but in terms of seeing Indie books on there, I saw several. I was wondering if anyone's seen mine. I didn't think so. I'm not sure how they pick which books to use for that. Anyway, up til now, I'd only seen trad pubs in it. This last one was equal indie and trad.

I've gotten two emails in the last ten days from Amazon suggesting I buy Michael Wallace's newest book, which I think may be published by one of their imprints. And I'm pretty sure I get at least one email a month from them suggesting I buy one of Hugh's Wool titles.

 

[Patty Jansen]

December was my best month ever. Not huge compared to some people, but enough to pay some bills.

My problem is: I'm selling next to nothing on Amazon, and there is obviously a huge potential there.