A Slow and Sure Success

What’s in a price? Rambling Syd Rumpo and Tracy’s Hot Mail

A Slow and Sure Success

I keep a watchful eye on the Amazon rankings and the movement of my books. You’ve probably noticed. It’s not an obsession… well it is, but it’s not for the sake of taking any gratification. I watch them closely to ensure that nothing is dropping out of sight. When it does, I tend to move on it and remind readers that it’s still there.

And naturally, I keep records. This morning, with nothing better to do than let my new upper denture nag me, I had a scout through the records and came up with a surprise, which really shouldn’t be a surprise at all.

Except for two days in June, The Filey Connection, first of the STAC Mysteries, has never been out of the Amazon UK British Detectives Top 40 since January 12th this year. In fact, it’s been in the Top 10 ever since the beginning of July.

July 1st, of course, was the second day of the week-long Crooked Cat Summer Sale. It’s now over, the books have reverted to normal prices, and that’s evident from the way they’re sliding down the charts. Filey, however, has always been 77p (or thereabouts) and while other titles are slipping down, settling to more realistic sales levels, Joe’s first adventure is actually rising. It came up from #9 to #6 earlier today.

Most commentators will say that price isn’t as big a factor as you might imagine. The STAC Mysteries are priced between £1.50 and £2, which isn’t a lot to pay for a novel. I’ve paid more for secondhand paperbacks in charity shops. But price does still have an effect. According to my best estimate for the sale last week, when all Crooked Cat titles were 77p, I shifted about 1,500 books. 98% of them were STAC Mysteries.

That is a threefold increase on my normal weekly sales, and remember this is only an estimate based on Novelrank’s figures.

The latest title, The Summer Wedding Murder, came out top, but plodding along behind it, was The Filey Connection. A classic tortoise and hare situation. Like a supernova blazing into the night sky, new books rocket up the rankings and burn out in a matter of a couple of months, but Filey shines surely steadily. Downloaded over 3,000 times since its release 15 months ago, it is the bestselling STAC Mystery.