So Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. has been on Amazon.com pre-order for a week now. Like many authors (or so I’ve learned), I’ve become addicted to watching that little ole Amazon sales rank. Interestingly, or perhaps not, there are a lot of people obsessed with trying to figure out how it works. What does that all-important rank mean in the grand scheme of pre-sales?
My book doesn’t hit the shelves until September, so it’s a marathon. And we’re just at the start. After a quick start (as I posted last week, my sales rank hit 13,000 last weekend, only to drop like a lead balloon the next day into six-figure territory. Most of the week, however, my ranking has wandered between 20,000 and 60,000, and it would seem that’s a fairly respectable number (from what I’ve read), all things considered.
Mid week, the book went up on Barnes and Noble’s website as well. Like the Amazon listing, there’s no image of the cover; no description. So any sales on either front is strictly word of mouth effect. So, how to generate word of mouth?
I’ve begun to create “a presence” as an author. So, I did what every red-blooded author does and created a Facebook fan page. I paid for a little advertisement to let people know about it. I ran the ad for two and half days and it cost me about $170. In two days, I gained 459 fans. I’m not big on Facebook; I’m more of a twitterer. But I can post longer bites on Facebook–and the links and posts don’t fade into the ether within 10 minutes.
I also created an website for the book. I’m still trying to get the hang of it, and today, at the suggestion of my literary agent, I posted some excerpts from the book’s preface (although I haven’t yet received the manuscript back from the copyeditor). My publisher has asked me to gather a list of House fan sites that might be interested in reviewing the book or doing a “giveaway” once the book hits the stores this September.
I have also begun trying to figure out what else I need to do to make the book a success: Business cards? Bookmarks with the cover art on it?
Well, gotta get back sales rank gazing (oy. It’s 94,000 and dropping)
Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. 