Because I’m an independent author I have a set of circumstances that, in theory, make selling books harder than it is for someone who is attached to a big publishing house. I believe that can be the case and I’m finding there are roadblocks and challenges in my publishing path that wouldn’t be there if I had a big publisher behind me.
So, like a small business owner, I must push and prod, and plod down my indie path and hope that my book sells itself as much as I try to sell it. So, as I’m collecting as many Amazon reviews as I can and hoping that my formal reviews come back glowing and happy, I’m also trying to market The Last Letter and create a following that would rival any author with a big company behind her.
One of the things I did was change a category on my Amazon listing. Blake Crouch posted on JA Konrath’s blog about how he was pushing his sales up the success ladder a few weeks back. One of the things he did was narrow one of his categories from the loaded thriller category to the more sparsely populated horror category. That made a difference in his rankings and he sold more books.
I would consider The Last Letter primarily a Historical Fiction book. But, it is set in Dakota Territory and Des Moines, Iowa around the turn of the last century. Therefore, according to some writings I’ve seen, the book could fall into the Western category as well. It’s not a John Wayne type Western and certainly I would put Family Saga as the next best category, but that isn’t a choice. Western is.
And so….I’m so happy to announce the following:
Product Details:
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #6,349 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#26 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Westerns
#40 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Westerns
To some, those numbers might mean nothing. They also could change completely by the end of the day, but for this moment, this day, this little slice of life, I’ll take it!
PS, that overall bestsellers rank, needs to rise, so go on over and buy a book! Support a small business owner–Push me into the overall top 100!
And thanks. It means a lot!