| |
| |
|
Book Marketing Information |
|
|
|
Navigating the Amazon Sales Ranking
First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate its sales ranking is proprietary, the details contained herein are extrapolated from research and field tests. The resulting consensus finds Amazon's system to provide marginal sales data at best. To whit, read Amazon's own definition of its system, slightly paraphrased from their FAQ: "The Sales Ranking system exhibits how books are selling. The lower the number, the higher the sales. The calculation is based on sales and is updated each hour to reflect recent and historical sales of every item sold. We hope you find the Amazon.com Sales Rank interesting!" This last sentence seems to indicate Amazon's own perspective on the importance with which the sales rankings should be viewed. You're not supposed to find the sales rankings informative or helpful. You're supposed to find them interesting. In actuality, the process is somewhat more convoluted than they let on. Only the top 10,000 books are updated every hour and the ranking does not depend upon the actual number of books sold, but rather, on a comparison against the sales figures of the other 9,999 books within that same hour. Simultaneously, a trending calculation is applied to arrive at a computerized sales trajectory. So, hypothetically, a book that held a ranking of 2,000 at 2pm and 3,000 at 3pm, might hold a 4,000 ranking at 4pm, even if it actually sold MORE books between 3-4 than it did between 2-3. Books with rankings between 10,000 and 100,000 are recalculated once a day, rather than once an hour. Current projections, as well as historic sales information play a key role in these calculations. In fact, the predictive nature of the Amazon ranking system is what makes it possible for a newly-released book to outrank an older established title, even though the actual sales figures for the latter far exceed the former. Books with rankings over 100,000 are also recalculated every day and applied with historic sales information and projections, although in the case of these books, history takes a back seat. Sales projections and trending take an active role here, which is why a book's ranking can leap from 900,000 to 200,000 in the span of 24 hours or less. Does this mean the book has sold 700,000 copies in 24 hours? Absolutely not! What it does mean is that recent activity (i.e. purchases) for that book is trending higher than those 700,000 books it just surpassed. But, don't get excited just yet; since the activity of those 700,000 other books range from slow to stagnant, one or two orders are sufficient to catapult a ranking. If a book's ranking breaks into the top 100,000, the sales history calculation starts to rear its head, which is why a "phenomenon" book has a hard time maintaining a high, legitimate ranking. A phenomenon is defined by a book that leaps from the high hundred-thousands into the lower thousands (or better) in the span of 24 hours or less, usually due to some concentrated marketing initiatives. Since Amazon's sales history for that title doesn't support the leap, the spike occurs and then quickly drops again. HOW DOES ALL THIS TRANSLATE TO ACTUAL SALES FIGURES? Since the data is recalculated every hour and/or every day (depending upon a book's current ranking), it's impossible to get cumulative sales figures, although those figures are applied to the algorithm during the calculation. No, to get a very rough idea of the actual number of books being sold, the sales ranking has to be dissected dynamically, with the same immediacy as the ranking being calculated, (hourly for top 10,000 books or daily for top 100,000 books). Chart the ranking of a top 10,000 book every hour for 24 hours and divide by 24 to arrive at its average daily ranking. In the case of a top 100,000 book, take its ranking every day for 7 days and divide by 7 to arrive at its average weekly ranking. Bear in mind that this next piece of information is extremely arbitrary, based upon sales ranking/sales figure comparisons and data received from third party sources. In other words, it's probably completely wrong. But rather than disclaiming this chart until the cows come home, I'll just say this: It is difficult to make sense of something that doesn't make sense. But it sure is interesting, and now, perhaps, even slightly helpful. If the book's average ranking is: 2,000,000-plus, then perhaps a single inventory/consignment copy has been ordered. 1,000,000-plus, the current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 40. 100,00-plus, then current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 200. 10,000-plus, you can estimate between 1 - 10 copies are being sold per week. 1,000-plus, you can estimate between 10 - 100 copies are being sold per week. 100-plus, you can estimate between 100 - 200 copies are being sold per week. 10-plus, you can estimate between 200 - 1000 copies are being sold per week. In the top 10, you can estimate over 1,000 copies are per week Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press Publishing at OutskirtsPress.com and author of Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer. Information at http://outskirtspress.com/publishinggems
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Oh No! A Bad Book Review! Have No Fear...Advice For Dealing With The Blues Of A Bad Book Review You've just been notified a review of your book has been posted. You're all excited and can't wait to see what has been written. Are You Ready For The Publishing Revolution? Writing has traditionally been considered a solitary craft. You wrote you article or book in seclusion. Marketing Your Book on Radio Have you listened to radio lately? If you have, chances are you've heard an author talking about his or her latest book. According to the "Let's Talk Radio Marketing" Website, "Radio advertising has proven to be one of the most cost-effective means of reaching your target audience. The Perfect Book and Where to Find It! If I was asked to describe the perfect book, one that's in high demand, moves off the shelves quickly, costs little or nothing to produce, involves the least amount of work possible, and offers multi-income streams, I'd say it included one, preferably more of the following features:It Must Be Quick To ProduceTime is money and the sooner your book is ready to sell, the sooner you'll make money from it.So let us consider just a handful of many ways to create a book in a day, or less than a day, perhaps in just a few minutes!1) Profit From Resell RightsResell rights - a confusing term with conflicting definitions, but a great way to acquire best selling books quickly, at little cost, complete with marketing materials, web sites, representing the easiest and fastest way to start your publishing business. Book Events - Make Yours Successful A book event (a book signing) is a popular way for authorsto create awareness for their work. Most large publishinghouses require authors to participate in a 10-city booktour, at the minimum. Plain Speaking - 4 Secrets For Getting Your Book Purchased What can be more infuriating to a potential purchaser of a non-fiction book than chapter headings which give no clue as to their contents? After all, if someone is looking in the non-fiction section of a book store, it implies they want facts, not a fancy and "clever" table of contents! Here are 4 sure-fire ways to make your text grab the reader's attention:1. Make sure the text on the front and back covers is compelling. How to Market Your Unsold Books on the Internet: Its Easy Your book expresses your wondrous information, your creativity, and your genius. It's your dream come true. How a Book is Born: One Authors Story Not all books come out whole, all at once. In fact, most books ease out little by little. You , Your Book and the Internet! Authors, especially self published, small press and Print on Demand authors should understand the power of the Internet when promoting a book. There is POWER in cyberspace authors and it's only getting bigger and better. Online Book Promotion Beats Traditional Seven to One - Part 1 While traditional marketing can work for the book author or publisher, the return is dim for the huge effort it takes. You must promote 90% of the time to even get a milligram of attention. Attract More Buyers to Your Book: Use Metaphors Surprise your potential buyers. Give them chocolate frosting!After we entered school we had a lot to learn. 10 Reasons Why People Attend Book Signings This is the survey result of 325 people conducted by myselfso I can improve at my own book signings. After completingthe survey, I saw the wealth of insight it had given me. How To Get The Most From Your Free eBooks Marketing Campaign First, your ebook needs to have an attractive title.The title should grab the attention of your intendedtarget audience. 19 Ways to Secure Non-Returnable Book Sales and Sell More Books Surprisingly, book stores are not always your greatest source of book sales. Most authors and publishers do want their books to be available in all of the book stores, and rightly so. Promote Your Books on Talk Shows and Make More Money Successful authors are convinced that radio interviews are the very best way to reach large audiences and publicize their books. Interviews give authors an opportunity to expound on the topic of their book and disclose personal feelings. Book Titles that Make Big Bucks Do you know how readers decide to buy a book? 1) They get a referral from a friend. 2) They see an interesting book title on the best-seller list. Top Six Lies About Book Marketing: (And the Truths to Set Your Book Free!) If you're like me, you have a book and the passion to spend the rest of your life making it a success. But, with all the ways to market your book, the costs and the inevitable sinking feeling of utter helplessness, what can you do?You COULD run around in circles trying to get your book in every bookstore in town. 8 Easy Online Ways to Market Your Book For Free Marketing your book whether you went the POD, e-book, or traditional route can be a daunting process. Figuring out what works and what doesn't can take time, energy, and if you're not careful a lot of money. Online Book Marketing: How to Sell Your Book Even If You Are Not a Salesperson What you do after you have written your book is as much, if not more, important than the actual writing of it. You can take a great book and poor marketing and have very poor results. Book Signings Are Pure Gold So you've written a book, had it published by a publishing company and you are now facing the dreaded book signing or book launch. Your palms sweat at the thought of facing droves of people and actually having to talk to them.
|
| Book Marketing home | Book Marketing site map |
| © 2006 - www.worldpaidshop.com |
