Michael J. Sullivan's Blog, page 13

Amazon Editor's Pick - Nolyn!

It's been two and a half weeks since Nolyn hit the retail shelves and the rollout continues with its strong momentum.  Today I took a look on Amazon and was pleased to find it's been selected as an Editor's Pick.  But what is even more important is what readers think about the release.  Here are the current recent stats:

Amazon: 4.5 stars with 129 ratingsAudible: 4.7 stars with 985 ratingsGoodreads: 4.6 stars with 814 ratings

 

In other news, finishing up Esrahaddon is going well. I have a long runway for this book (releasing in the summer of 2023), so that lack of pressure really helps me to take my time and wrap this series up in a really spectacular way.  I'm up to 155,000 words and still have a ways to go, so it's likely to end up being my longest book yet.

Nolyn #3 Bestseller for Fiction Audiobooks for week ending August 6th

So, Nolyn has officially hit the street, and we knew it was going well, but we didn't realize just how well until the Associated Press announced the Audiobook Best Seller List for August 6th.  Nolyn landed on it, and at #3!  Here are all ten titles that made the list.

And while that is exceptionally good news,  I have hit that list a few times in the past. But what I've never done in my 13+ years of publishing is "charted" on Amazon -- until now!

But the best news of all is that people seem to be liking the story.  At least according to the ratings/reviews that are coming in:Audible - 4.7 with 416 ratingsAmazon - 4.5 with 41 ratingsGoodreads - 4.4 with 567 ratingsNetGalley - 4.0 with 47 reviewsIt's been so very long since I started writing this book (because all like to write all books in the series, and while you hope that it will be well received, it's an anxious time when a book "rolls out" - I'm thrilled with how it's going so far.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better

 So, two days ago Nolyn "hit the street." As you might imagine, I was anxious to see how it would do.  When the audiobook made it into the Top 10 Bestseller list, I was thrilled. But this morning I woke up to this:

Number 2?  Is that really number freaking two? And how can I possibly be sitting next to a new Stephen King book that was released on the same day? That's beyond Surreal.  I know I express my gratitude all the time, but my thanks to everyone picking up a copy CANNOT be overstated. I do hope you'll all enjoy the listen.

A very good start

 

Well, we are now at release day + 1 and the launch of Nolyn went VERY well.  Here are some of the positive signs we noticed. It was one of ten Science Fiction and Fantasy books picked by Amazon editors as the best of August 2021.

Currently, the audiobook is #10 in the ENTIRE Amazon store for bestselling titles:

And that Top 10 ranking puts it #1 in fantasy - step aside Harry Potter!

But the even harder bestselling list to get on is is the one that takes into account all book formats: audio, kindle, hardcovers, paperbacks. And Nolyn is #1 in fantasy there as well!

This type of added exposure is a direct result of so many people pre-ordering and buying the book on release day, so our eternal thanks go out to everyone who jumped on the Nolyn bandwagon so quickly!  Robin and I thank you for your continued support! 

Release Day! Nolyn

 It's finally arrived! 

So I started this book on April 11, 2017 and today given the August 3rd release date that's 1,573 days (more than 4 years in the making). I can't wait to hear what people think about the first book in this new series, so if you do give it a read, please consider telling me what you thought about it at this link.

While getting exact numbers is difficult the best intelligence we have is that 16,400+ have purchased the book so far.  That includes: 

3,972 Regular Hardcovers1,136 Limited Edition Faux Leather books
5,868 ebook5,489 audiobooks.You can pick up your copies at the following places:
Buy Direct from the Author (including signed hardcovers)AmazonBarnes and NobleAudibleHaven't heard anything about the book?  Here's the back of the book blurb

After more than five hundred years of exile, the heir to the empyre is wary about his sudden reassignment to active duty on the Goblin War’s front lines. His mission to rescue an outpost leads to a dead-end canyon deep inside enemy territory, and his suspicion turns to dread when he discovers the stronghold doesn't exist. But whoever went to the trouble of planning his death to look like a casualty of war didn't know he would be assigned to the Seventh Sikaria Auxiliary Squadron. In the depths of an unforgiving jungle, a legend is about to be born, and the world of Elan will never be the same.

I hope you'll give it a try!

Preorder Excitement Continues to Build for Nolyn

 

Look what's #1 on the "Coming Soon" list for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Yep, it's Nolyn. I'm so pleased that so many people are excited enough about the new release that they are pre-ordering. This ensures you'll have the audiobook waiting for you on August 3rd.

If you haven't picked up your copy yet, you can do so here. And the first chapter and the Author's Note is already posted there so you can listen to them now!

Robin and I thank you for your continued support, and we'll do our best to keep the stories coming.

Nolyn: Moving and Shaking

 

We are a bit less than 2 weeks away from the retail release of Nolyn. Are you excited? I know Robin and I are.  It looks like some other people are as well because the rank is rising massively.  So much in fact, that Nolyn is #6 on Amazon's Movers and Shakers list (which is updated hourly and shows the biggest change in rank over the past 24 hours. It won't be long now!

Novel Notion's Top 10 Fantasy of 2021 (so far)

Petrik at Novel Notions just completed his top 10 Fantasy Picks for January - June 2021, and I'm thrilled, honored, and thankful to have a book on his list: The Crown Tower.  For those that don't know, this is the first book in the Riyria Chronicle and it details how Royce and Hadrian met and the first job they did as a team (later to be known by Riyria).  Here are all ten titles.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan - June 2021 - Goodreads: 4.26 | 638 ratings

The Helm of Midnight by Marina J. Lostetter - April 2021 - Goodreads: 3.88 | 366 ratings

The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan - August 2013 - Goodreads: 4.33 | 32,071 ratings

Bloodline by Will Wight - April 2021 - Goodreads: 4.53 | 7,148 ratings

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover - May 1999 - Goodreads: 4.09 | 11,234 ratings

Daughter of the Empire by Feist & Wurts - Jan 1987 - Goodreads: 4.28 | 33,758 ratings

The Shadow of Gods by John Gwynne - May 2021 - Goodreads: 4.44 | 2,253 ratings

The Hand of the Sun King by J. T. Greathouse - Aug 2021 - Goodreads: 4.54 | 35 ratings

Dreams for the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau - Oct 2020 - Goodreads: 4.48 | 428 ratings

The Empire's Ruin by Brian Staveley - July 2021 - Goodreads 4.30 | 50 ratingsI hope you'll check out some of these amazing titles and find a good summer read!

Anticipation Mounts!

Hey all, we are just a tad less than 1 month from the retail release of Nolyn, and we're starting to see a lot of excitement building.  For instance, the book has made not just one but two Most Anticipated lists.

First, there's Audible.com. They selected Nolyn as one of only a handful of titles to get their Most Anticipated Books of the summer approval.

And while I'm at it, I just want to say I'm thrilled that David Estes (a friend and fellow indie author) also made the list - so you might want to check out his book KingFall as well. If you haven't yet pre-ordered your copy of Nolyn please do so now!  Oh, and while you're on that page, check out the first chapter read by the amazing Tim Gerard Reynolds and the author's note read by yours truly.

As for the other list, we've just received an email from our book distributor that Canda's Largest Bookstore is adding Nolyn to its Most Anticipated Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books list.  This is especially good news because it comes with great savings. From July 5th to the 11th Canadian book buyers can receive Nolyn at 30% off the list price.

So if you are in Canada, wait a few more days and pick up your deeply discounted copy here.

Another positive sign that people are interested in Nolyn is the larger number of people who has entered our  Goodreads Giveaway.

So far more than 6,700 people have signed up for a chance to win one of the 10 free SIGNED copies. If you haven't yet signed up - please hurry. This is the last day to enter and there is only a bit over 18 hours left. 
And our last indicator comes from NetGalley where almost 200 librarians, booksellers, educators, and reviewers have grabbed their free complimentary ebook editions of Nolyn.
 

If you are a NetGalley Professional Reader, then please request your free copy.

Here are some comments from early NetGalley reviewers

"Nolyn was a beautiful story that broke my heart and made me grin in equal measures. I will think about these characters long after having put the novel down, and I look forward to seeing what's next in the series."

"I have always felt that Sullivan's books have great climaxes/conclusions and this book was no exception. I really loved how all the storylines tied together towards the end and the little clues and hints from throughout coming together. I also felt like this was really satisfying to read as a standalone, and felt like an end for the characters we are following whilst still managing to have some subtle setup for the other two books in the trilogy - and it's safe to say I am very excited for those!!"

"I am sure that anyone who has read Sullivan’s works before probably won’t be surprised by how good this book was. I am a first-time reader and I loved it!  Sullivan has written a top-notch story and I for one will be diving into his previous works so I can get some more!"

It's a bit difficult to know "exactly" how the sales are going (especially when there is a third party between me and the data (which is the case with print copies and audiobooks), but it's encouraging to see that Nolyn is on Amazon's 100 Best-selling New Releases in Epic Fantasy list.

We'll be watching the data over the next few weeks and hope to see that rise even higher!  As always, Robin and I thank you for your support.

An Aniversary and Some Good News.

 It's been exactly 5 years since the hardcover edition of Age of Myth came out. One always hopes that a backlist title will continue to sell well after the initial release, but only a very small % of books do. When sales remain strong over an extended period of time it is referred as "long-legged." In many ways, this type of title is even better than one that hits a major bestseller list (such as the New York Times or USA Today).  Why? Because bestseller status just means a book has had at least one really good week (or month in the case of audiobooks) worth of sales.  In most cases, a book that sells for many years will out-perform those "one and done" bestselling titles.  
Another aspect of book sales has to do with when the hardcover goes out of print. After the publisher's warehouses go bare they have a choice to make: Do they print up more, or do they put that version out of print? In the case of Age of Swords, the first print run sold out at a good clip, but the second print run wasn't flying off the shelves. Storing books in the warehouse is expensive, so not only did they put that title out of print, they also decided to "remainder'" the copies they had.  This usually means the books are sold for a few pennies a pound and the author receives no money on copies sold that way.  As an author, you DO NOT want your books to be remaindered.  In our case, there was a silver lining to the Age of Swords hardcover going out of print . . . all because Robin is a savvy business person.  She added to the contract the condition that before a book is remaindered, we get the chance to buy the excess stock.  Which we did.  I can't remember the exact number of books we purchased, but I think it was around 4,000 or so.  Since receiving them, we have been selling them directly to readers (which gives us a much higher % of the money paid because there is no publisher or retailer involved -- and we bought the books at a much higher discount than the standard 50%).  I'm pretty sure we have sold about 2/3 of them and have around 1,000 left.  
Why did I mention that? Well, an email arrived today from Penguin Random House announcing that Age of Myth's hardcover has gone into its 7th printing!  That means there are more than 23,000 copies of that version "in print!" So we have two things to celebrate today.  For most books, the hardcovers "run their course" in the span of 9 months to a year, but as far as Age of Myth is concerned, its hardcover is still going strong a full 5 years from its release.
According to the numbers we get from the author's portal it looks like this book has sold about 389,000 copies across hardcovers, paperbacks, audiobooks, and ebooks.  That's amazing!  Robin and I thank all the people who picked up a copy of this book. Here's hoping you are one of them.