Folks, I am delighted to report that HUNTER: A Thriller is now a genuine “bestseller.”
As of noon on 11/28/11, HUNTER was listed at #23 on the overall Kindle bestselling sales list. That ranking is out of about a million Kindle ebook titles.
Within the 24 hour period that ended at midnight last night (11/27), my debut thriller sold an incredible 1,919 copies, almost all of which were Amazon Kindle ebooks.
In Kindle categories, HUNTER currently is ranked as the #1 bestseller in “Spy Stories” and in “Romantic Suspense,” #4 in “Romance,” #7 in “Thrillers,” and #10 in “Mysteries & Thrillers” (a broader category). Overall, it is the #22 hottest-selling work of fiction on Kindle, and #23 among all ebooks. HUNTER also ranks #2 on Amazon Kindle’s “Movers & Shakers” list — books that have had the biggest recent percentage jump in sales.
Absolutely incredible!
How did this sudden surge occur?
Well, yesterday, and without my prior knowledge, HUNTER was named a Kindle “Editors’ Pick” — one of 18 books selected by the editors of Kindle to be featured, top/front and center, on the Kindle “Cyber Monday” promo page.
In addition, it is also listed front/top/center in the best position among all the titles appearing on the Kindle “home page.”
And it is a selected participant, prominently listed in the Kindle “Big Deal” promotion.
I had no idea that Amazon was going to do the first two things. And it’s clear that these spotlighted placements are what is driving these sales. Countless thousands of Amazon customers are seeing my book cover for the first time, and they are buying it at an incredible clip. During certain periods yesterday, the book was selling at a rate of 2.7 copies per minute.
And the sales surge continues. From midnight until noon today (11/28), HUNTER has already added 894 more sales.
I’ve buckled in for the rest of this wild ride. Let me tell you, I never saw this coming.
UPDATE, as of 12:01 a.m. 11/29/11:
Total books sold Monday, 11/28: 3,084.
Total books sold Sunday, 11/27: 1,919.
Total books sold during the 2 days: 5,003.
Total books sold so far this month: 5,687.
Kindle Bestseller Category Rankings, as of 12:01 a.m. 11/29/11:
#11 #10 in “Ebooks” and in “Fiction”
#8 #7 in “Genre Fiction”
#6 in “Mystery & Thrillers”
#5 in “Thrillers”
#2 in “Romance”
#1 in “Romantic Suspense” and in “Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue”
Barring something extraordinary, this is as high in those rankings as HUNTER is likely to go. The competition ahead of it is formidable; the next fiction title above HUNTER is the latest Alex Cross novel by James Patterson, and above that, in ascending order, are 9 recent releases by the late Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, John Grisham, Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich…well, you get the idea. Almost impossible for an unknown to compete against new releases by those icons. Besides, the Amazon promotion won’t last much longer, and when it does, HUNTER will sink back down to a lower sales level — though likely far above where it stood two days ago. And this unexpected success will serve as a platform for the book’s sequels.
Photo (c) by Debbie Scott
