Category Archives: bestsellers

May 13, 2010   DG&B   Amazon, Apple, bestsellers, e-books, Michael, opinion, price wars  
7

It’s not a bestseller if no one bought it

by Michael

It seems that Amazon finally caught on to the fact that the top 10 books on the Kindle Bestseller list were all free books—they’re now creating two lists, one for paid books, and one for free books. As the LA Times Jacket Copy blog notes, at the very least, the “bestseller” label won’t be a misnomer any longer.

This is also as it should be. Comparing the downloads of free books to the download of paid books never made much sense—the whole point of making the book free is to entice people who aren’t willing to pay for the work in the first place. Without payment, it’s not a sale, it’s a gift. Including both paid and free books on the list is comparing apples to oranges, and I’m glad they’re making the distinction—as Apple does in their App and iBook stores. With more than half the books on the Kindle Bestseller list being free, it’s going to be interesting to see which books now appear in the paid list.

With more information about the paid books, I’m curious to see how pricing affects sales. We know that free books are frequently downloaded, but is there a big different between $12.99 and $9.99? Or $9.99 and $4.99? A quick look at the iBookstore bestsellers shows only 7 books under $9.99 in the top 50, and those books are not new and priced to move, but rather backlist titles available in mass market formats. But the titles in the iBookstore are much more limited, so it’s hard to really draw conclusions.

So what do you think? Was it a good idea to divide the lists? Or did lumping free and paid ebooks onto the same list tell us something important?

February 16, 2010   DG&B   advice, bestsellers, Chasya, selling  
10

Don’t quit your day job

by Chasya

The Millions has a good article that delves into the myth of the rags-to-riches career novelist. It’s a well-known, albeit depressing, reality in the publishing industry that most authors don’t have the luxury of writing full-time and supporting themselves through their work. But authors–don’t worry, you’re not alone! As the article points out, and as we can’t stress enough, as much as we’re obsessed with the J.K. Rowling-esque stories of writers who came from nothing and succeeded to become the most famous (and wealthy) authors of our day, this is the exception–not the rule. And, as it turns out, keeping your day job can benefit most of us. Among the perks? Well, being in the everyday world and gleaning from your everyday experiences. And, er, eating. Yes, that’s important! Because as much as we all have that curmudgeonly chain-smoking, black coffee drinking stereotype of an author in our minds, it’s important for even the most obsessive writer to keep up their strength.

January 08, 2010   DG&B   bestsellers, fun, Rachel  
13

Bestsellers of the past and the imagination

by Rachel

Here is a link you must click on from the Book Bench blog to read one hilarious tongue-in-cheek bestseller list by Steve Hely (this might cause smirking or laughing-out-loud), as well as a century’s worth of (actual) bestseller lists (this left me wondering about all the wonderful books I’ve yet to read).

Newer posts »