This world of indie publishing is new and uncharted territory for me (and many of us), so I spend a lot of time tracking sales and trends, trying to figure out what works (and what doesn't).
Much like traditional publishing, there's no one "key" to success, but there is a magical word that appears frequently on Kindle Boards: algorithms.
According to www.yourdictionary.com, an algorithm is "any systematic method of solving a certain kind of problem" and "the repetitive calculations used in finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers." What does this mean? I have no idea. I'm a humanities major, and the only numbers I'm interested in right now are sales-related, and only if they're increasing. :)
What I do know is that the Amazon algorithms are a powerful thing, and they can make or break an indie writer. I have no idea how it's all set up: sales play a role, rankings play a role, I think product tags play a role, reviews play a role. . . .
There are still a few days left in April, so I'm not ready to post final numbers or thoughts, yet, but this month was a perfect example of what happens when the algorithms kick in, and Amazon starts promoting you.
This list just represents Cross My Heart Sales for US Kindle during part of the month of April:
| DATE | Copies Sold |
| 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 9 |
| 5 | 6 |
| 6 | 10 |
| 7 | 10 |
| 8 9 10 11 | 8 9 14 12 |
At this point, I broke the #10,000 ranking on Amazon, and hit the Hot New Releases List and the YA Love and Romance Bestseller List.
| DATE | Copies Sold |
| 12 | 20 |
| 13 | 14 |
| 14 | 25 |
| 15 | 27 |
| 16 | 22 |
| 17 | 24 |
| 18 | 24 |
| 19 20 21 22 | 24 25 24 41 |
April 22 was a Friday, and it was the start of the Easter holiday weekend. By this point, I'd broken the #2,000 ranking at Amazon, and hit the "regular" (overall) books Teens/Love and Romance Bestseller List.
| DATE | Copies Sold |
| 23 | 44 |
| 24 | 50 |
| 25 | 54 |
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At this point, I hit the overall Children's eBooks Bestseller List.
Obviously, ranking matters. Similar to the way the "rich get richer," sales beget sales. The lower my ranking, the more "Customers Who Bought" lists Cross My Heart appeared on. The more books I sold, the closer to the beginning of those lists I appeared. I didn't even see 30 books a day. I jumped straight from the 20s to the 40s.
These numbers show that there's a steady, incremental increase in sales.
I also noticed that I'll get a surge of sales (two or three at one time), and then it will go dry for about an hour.
I'm wondering (and this is 100% speculation) if the Amazon algorithms are designed to push you out into the world slowly, and keep you there. It's almost as if it pushes/recommends me at certain times of the day to see if I can continue the pattern/sustain sales.
Otherwise, why wouldn't I have 10 sales one day and 50 the next? Why do I build over the weekend and maintain the sales through the week? You would think that sales would be more sporadic than this, but no: there is a slow and steady build here.
I don't know what this means, or if this trend will continue. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) it does. I'm obviously not speaking for every writer in this industry. . . . These are just my personal observations.
At any rate, you want to break #10,000 on Amazon. I noticed the surge around #7000-8000, so this could be the "sweet spot" that gets you noticed.
KK
