Self Publishing Diary: Three Different Books on Bestseller Lists

I have often told people that I think of publishing an eBook as planting a seed. One that can grow into something and keep growing for the months and years to come. In July, I noticed that I had two books on bestseller lists at the same time. Last night, I noticed that three very different books of mine were all on Kindle bestseller lists.

Go Forth and Kick Some Ass is again on the Kindle bestseller list for CREATIVITY! Yes! It's been slowly picking up steam again. I'm thrilled about this because even though some may think it's a bit cocky for me to write a "self help" book, this was a product of several sermons I gave as the "Rev. MYN" (Yes, I actually am an ordained minister believe it or not). I'd rather think of it as a book on how to channel your best work no matter what you do. I've often had people asking me about how to get motivated creatively, so I decided to put it all in an easy-to-digest ebook. I'm working on a follow-up to "Go Forth" which will be made up of those original Rev. MYN sermons. Look for it soon.



The Killing of Osama Bin Laden continues to sell regularly. It's been at the top or near top of the TERRORISM list since it's release in May. It's a short book and a very concise telling of how we got Bin Laden. Part detective story, part tech thriller and part Bruckheimer action blowout. I'm proud to say that this was the VERY FIRST book on Bin Laden's death published anywhere in the world and has sold many, many thousands of copies across the globe. Though the popularity of the topic has waned a bit, it was such a major historic event that I feel it will continue to sell copies every day for a very long time… and no, at this time I have no plans on writing a book about how Ghadaffi was killed… but only because I don't think the last chapter of that story has been told yet.

For me, publishing is a long tail business and Where's My F*cking Latte taught me that firsthand. This is a book that first came out in paperback in 2007, then for the Kindle in 2008 and then by 2009, started inching up the Kindle bestseller list for TELEVISION. For the most part it has sat at #1 on that list for the last 3 months. Just lately, it's crawled up to the top of the MOVIES bestseller list as well. I'm happy to say that, at least for the moment, it's #1 on both lists. I'm even outselling Roger Ebert's book!  Not bad for an indie.

In actuality, Where's My F*cking Latte is on 3 different Amazon bestseller lists: Kindle bestsellers for Movies and Television and Amazon's overall bestseller list for all books (ebooks and print) for Television (currently #6)

The Killing of Osama Bin Laden is also on 3 different Amazon bestseller lists: Kindle books for Terrorism, Middle East and also for all books on Afghanistan (Yes, there's a list for that! LOL)

So that's SEVEN, count 'em 7, bestseller lists that these three books currently sit on. Books that I don't really actively promote much, if at all. Am I stoked? Hell yes!

Bottom line. eBooks are seeds that, once planted, can grow into mighty oaks. It may take weeks, months or even years… but once that book is out there, it can continue to pick up an audience for a very long time.