Daniel Ganninger's Blog, page 2

amazon rankings sale chart

I have been actively searching for a good explanation of where a book ranks after a sale and where you can expect your book to fall (or rise) in the rankings according to the amount of sales.  I stumbled upon the best site, and conveniently a chart, that outlines one author's experience (and I'm sure tireless work) in determining where you can expect your book rankings to be.  I'm not sure how she did it, but it is amazingly accurate.  Her name is Theresa Ragan and the her sales ranking chart is here.  She has a large catalog of books so she bases her estimates on these numbers.  She also has an update for December 2013.  It has been extremely helpful in determining what my books ranking means and why it moves the way that it does.  Now just to clarify, this is for the books bestseller that you see below the product description.  Don't forget there is another list; the popularity ranking.  I think it can be accessed at the very bottom of the page. There are no numbers for this list and is different than the bestseller list, and updates much less frequently.  It is a little confusing, but doing a search on the difference between the two will get you some good explanations (better than what I could do at the present time).  So for other authors out there that had the same questions as I did, check out Theresa's list and her explanation.

sNOW cONE cOMING IN FOR A TASTE

Snow Cone, Case File #3 of Icarus Investigation, is coming along nicely, but still a ways to go.  As a teaser I'll just say that the story will take place in a rather cold climate (for just some of the book).  The fellas are also moving out of sunny SoCal to a new location.  My goal is to have a release date around mid-April; if the stars and planets align for that to happen.  I plan for it to be another fun and exciting adventure for the gang of Icarus Investigations.

promotion results

        It has been a good couple of weeks for Flapjack and Peeking Duck.  The promotion numbers are in for the two days Flapjack was free, Dec 16-17th.  The numbers were quite staggering, and way, way, beyond my expectations.  When it started the morning of the 16th, I thought, wow, okay, 116 downloads by 8:30 AM.  Not bad.  By the time I checked at 9:30 it was 515.  At 10 o'clock, it was at 1120.  From there it went off like gangbusters.  At one point  it was averaging 2500 to 3000 downloads an hour.  It settled down by the end of the 1st day at around 2000 per hour.  It is almost impossible to wrap the old gray matter around those numbers.  I did a little math, and it averaged out to be (at one point) 87 downloads, A MINUTE.  By the end of the day one Flapjack had topped the 36,000 mark.  I would have been happy to hit 10,000 in 2 days, heck I would have been happen with a thousand (I had 328 in another free promotion). 
        Day two was no different, but obviously slower.  By this time the downloads averaged around 1200 an hour.  At the end of day two it had an additional 11,000 downloads.  In total, there were over 47,000 downloads of Flapjack and it was #1 in the free Kindle store for 24 hours.
        Reality then struck.  47,000 people had a copy of my book.  What had I done?  Even if 10 percent read the book, that would equal 4,700 people.  To me, still an incredible number.  The goal was to put it out there, and see what stuck, take the chance, roll the dice, (enter your cliche here).  Thanks for everything BookBub, I won't soon forget the time we had together.  Even if I don't sell another copy, I can at least say my book is bouncing around on a lot of Kindles.   

peeking duck released

Peeking Duck, the 2nd book in the series, Case Files of Icarus Investigation, is out now on the Kindle, and soon to be out in paperback.  Check it out, if you dare!  Thanks to everyone who pre-read the book for me. Look for the "secret link" to discover what happens to one of the characters after all is said and done (Hint: it's on the last page and it pretty much says click here).  The name of the 3rd book in the series is at the end of Peeking Duck, but I'm not going to spill the beans.

The big promotion for Flapjack is today on Bookbub.  Hopefully it reaches a lot of readers.

peeking duck sample chapters

New sample chapters available prior to the release of Peeking Duck on December 14th here.  The book will be available for the Kindle with the print addition following by next week.  This has sure been a fun book to write and you'll find it has a bit more action than the first, but I'm ready to have it done.  I hope you enjoy it and remember to look for Flapjack on Bookbub.com under the mysteries section, or in their daily email on the 16th.  I'm really excited about this new, upcoming promotion.

Oh, and by the way, I always told myself I would never get a Twitter account, but I fibbed a bit.  Technically it's only for the books so I think I'm okay.  If you're interested it's here, or search for DanielGanninger on Twitter.  I'll be posting things such as new release dates, price changes, promotions, and anything that keeps you informed of the series.  Thanks again for all the support.

NEw upcoming promotion on bookbub

In anticipation of the release of Peeking Duck, the second book in the series (Case Files of Icarus Investigation), Flapjack (Case File #1) will be available for free on the Kindle for two days, December 16th and 17th.  I am excited to have Flapjack picked for a daily e-mail feature on BookBub on December 16th to celebrate the release of Peeking Duck .  The editorial staff has recommended it be placed in the huge category of Mysteries which has a reach of 750,000+ subscribers.  BookBub has a reach with its daily email features of over 1 million subscribers.  This is an excellent opportunity to get the book out to as many readers as possible.  Peeking Duck is scheduled for release on December 14th. The cover is complete and I am finishing up some of the final edits with the help of many great proof readers.  Thank you everyone for your help.

title of 2nd book in series

I am happy to announce that I have a title for the second book in the series, "Case Files of Icarus Investigation", continuing the adventures of Galveston, Murphy, and the rest of the crew.  I won't give anything away yet, but I will say the story involves a pirated ship, some unsavory bad guys, and loads of action.  I hope to have some sample chapters up soon on the website for everyone to peruse, but for now I only have the title.  In continuing with the theme from the title of the first book, the second adventure will be called Peeking Duck.  Obviously a play on words of the Chinese food of the same name and pertinent to the story of what Galveston and Murphy have to go through this time.  Most of the book has been finished and I have been partaking in the laborious process of editing with many helpers that have bid their time in helping me get it done.  If all goes according to plan, I hope to have a firm release date in mid-December (though things seldom go according to plan).  Look for those sample chapters and the new cover art for the 2nd book coming soon!

Next book release date

I have moved up the release date of the second book from the Spring 2014 to December 2013.  It is next in the series after Flapjack and the series will be called Case Files of Icarus Investigation.  I'm not sure of the exact date as of yet in December, but hopefully earlier than later.  I'll have some sample chapters up in the next couple of weeks as soon as the final edits are done, some teaser material, and then I can give you the name of the new book as well as I set date of release.

the most remote places on earth

Annapurna South Face It seems as though every corner of the globe has been explored or connected with the rise in global communications, satellite imagery, and air travel, but there are still areas on earth so uninhabited, isolated, and reclusive that they have become the most remote places on the planet.
According to the dictionary the meaning of remote is far apart, out-of-the-way, secluded, or distant in time. All these areas had to meet that criteria in one way or the other, but one thing is for certain, these aren't areas you can pull up on a friendly travel website.

Highest
The most highest most remote place on earth? It has to be Mount Everest, right? At 29,028 ft above sea level it is definetely the highest place on earth, but remote? Not so much, at least in the secluded sense. There have been over 5,100 ascents to the summit by more than 3,000 climbers. Not all of these ascents were successful, but in May of each year, hundreds of climbers ascend on Mount Everest to test their skill, and luck, against the world's tallest peak. So what is the highest remote place on earth? You would think it would have to be the 2nd highest peak, or the 3rd, or even the 4th. No, the most remote, and also the most dangerous is the 10th highest peak in the world, Annapurna I, in the Himalayan Mountains in the central Nepal. The height of Annapurna comes in at 26,545 ft and has seen the fewest climbers ascend to its peak, only 191, less than any other mountain. In addition, Annapurna has a fantastical death rate of 61 persons or approximately 41%, meaning 1 out of 3 climbers who attempt this mountain will lose their life on the ascent or descent, making it one of the deadliest remote places in the world.
Lowest
The lowest natural point on the earth's surface and also the most remote would be Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench near Guam in the Pacific Ocean. This area is so deep that if you turned Mount Everest over and put the tip into the trench you would still have 7,000 ft between the mountain and the surface of the water. Only three humans have made it to the bottom of the trench at 36,070 ft. In 1960 in the bathyscaphe Trieste, Jacques Piccard and US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh made the descent and stayed at the bottom for approximately 20 minutes before surfacing. In 2012 film director James Cameron, of Titanic fame, dropped to the depths in the submersible Deepsea Challenger and stayed for over two hours. There are other planned missions to journey to the deepest part of the ocean, but as of yet, none have taken place. There won't be any travel deals to these parts anytime soon.
Tristan da Cunha Most Remote Inhabited Spot
The British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha claims the title as the most remote area with people actually living on the land. This island is far away from everything and anything, situated in the center of the South Atlantic Ocean. Tristan da Cunha boasts a population of around 275 people and is 1,750 miles from the nearest land, Africa, and 2,088 miles from South America. There is no airport on Tristan, instead the islanders must rely on fishing boats from South Africa to resupply the island eight or nine times a year.

If Tristan da Cunha wins for most remote in the Atlantic, and most remote overall, then the runner up would be the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Pitcairn is also a British overseas territory and has about 48 inhabitants. A good argument could be made that Pitcairn is even more remote than Tristan because of its low population and general inaccessiblity, but Pitcairn does lay near Magareva of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia which has an operating airport.

While Tristan da Cunha and Pitcairn would be beasts to get to on any leisurely excursion trip, one other group of islands ranks as the most isolated population center on the planet, and that is the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii is a whopping 3,850 miles from Japan and 2,290 miles from California, making it the most remote by distance, but with a population of 1.39 million people, hardly the most remote. At least on the travel sites there is a plethora of options for getting to Hawaii and you can still feel confident in telling your friends that you went to one of the most remote places in the world.

why a treadmill feels like prison

Ever wonder why a treadmill feels like a medieval torture device? No? Well I do. We've all spent countless hours on that incessant machine, whiling away our time and spending most of it watching the seconds tick past tirelessly slow.  But where did the term treadmill come from and why do we sometimes want to smash it with a rock? The answer dates back to the early 1800's when Sir William Cubitt, an English engineer, decided this would be a novel way to rehabilitate prisoners. It was collectively known as a treadwheel and looked like a giant hamster wheel, with climbing the equivalent of a small mountain as punishment. Someone finally got the bright idea this technique could be used more efficiently and the prisoners began to use the contraption to grind grain in a mill, hence the term treadmill. It wasn't until the late 1960's when Dr. Kenneth Cooper (of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas, and in existence to this day) brought the treadmill to the masses with his research on the benefits of aerobic exercise. So now when your puffing away those pounds on the endless belt that never stops, just remember, it could be worse.