We as writers would love to have our novels number one and I believe I've touched on this subject before. It's human nature to watch the ratings on the websites that sell our books, like Amazon and Fictionwise. We wait with anticipation to see where it will end up from week to week and give ourselves a big woohoo when we aren't last, sometimes our novels reach the first or second pages as bestsellers -- that deserves a huge, huge woohoo!
Yet, I wonder why we do it to ourselves, especially when there is no way to decipher how the book rankings work. Example: Last week I was number 4 on Fictionwise, under Wings ePress Inc., Mainstream category -- an excellent number. I was also number 23, under Wings ePress Inc., Romance category and number 47 out of all books sold by Wings ePress Inc. on that site. An incredibly wonderful week. This week, I'm number 7 under Wings ePress Inc., Mainstream category, a very good number. However I'm hovering between middle and bottom on the other two and I say hovering because if you're not in the top sellers, your book will jump around and can go from 243 to 1123 in an hour, then the next hour it can go back down to 93 (remember the lower the number the better, working its way to number 1). It's confusing I know, but you get what I'm saying.
Watching the numbers individually all the time will drive you crazy (well crazier than we already are), wondering why one minute you can be in the top 25 and the next, your almost at the bottom -- we'll never know how they rank the books. My advice --look at the bigger picture. If Absolute Obsession holds its own and continues to sell one or two and doesn't drop out of the rankings completely (meaning absolute last) then I'm happy, someone is bringing Michael and Rose alive in their minds -- that was my goal and I have accomplished it. Now that doesn't mean that I won't brag and celebrate when it moves back up in the ranks, it's human nature.
Having said all that, I want to congratulate my friend, Laura Burks the author of the YA novel, Altered, for ranking number one this week on Fictionwise, under Wings ePress Inc., Romance category and number one, under all the books Wings ePress Inc. sell there. Congrats Laura.
Have a great day.
C. Elizabeth
