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Apparently getting compared to Neil Gaiman is a good thing
As all writers know, most of an author’s day is spent obsessively checking your Amazon ratings, with little bits of writing thrown in here and there when the Internet is down.
All right, I kid. A little. Most writers I know do check their Amazon ratings from time to time because it’s one of the few ways they can see how their book is doing. The problem is that when you see a spike in sales, you often have no idea what’s caused it. Did you get a good review somewhere? Did a popular blogger link to your work? Did you make the Bad Sex in Literature Award again? It’s all a bit of a guessing game. Most of publishing is….
Sometimes you can trace the direct cause and effect, though. Yesterday my first Cross book, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, got a very kind mention on the CBC show The Next Chapter, hosted by Shelagh Rogers. (The bit begins around the 41 minute mark.) Robert Wiersema, a fine writer and one of Canada’s most thoughtful reviewers, compared The Mona Lisa Sacrifice to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Now, it’s a huge honour to be mentioned on The Next Chapter at all. And to be compared to Gaiman? Well, that left me feeling humbled and beyond honoured.
I remember travelling to Toronto years ago to see Gaiman give a reading, back when I was still a struggling writer. It was a magical experience for me, partially because of his wonderful stories and charming performance. He’s a charmer, that Gaiman. But I also saw how much he loved what he was doing, and how he was doing it on his own terms. Gaiman became an inspiration for me in that moment. I wanted to be a writer who made people love stories again, just like Gaiman. I never thought I’d be compared to him in casual conversation, let alone on a national radio show.
I don’t really have words for what the CBC thing meant. It was one of those moments when you’re feeling exhausted and discouraged and thinking about throwing in the towel at this writing game and then someone’s kind comment reminds you why you’re doing this and drives you back to the computer.
But back to that cause and effect. I was a kids’ fun park most of the day, playing subterranean mini-golf with my son — yes, apparently subterranean mini-golf is a thing — so I didn’t have my usual time to obsessively browse Amazon. Damn kids adding to my quality of life! Late at night, after everyone was in bed, I finally got around to checking Amazon to see if the CBC thing had connected me with any new readers. I was totally blown away by what I saw. The Mona Lisa Sacrifice managed to hit the No. 1 and No. 3 spots in Amazon.ca’s Historical Fantasy bestsellers (for paperback and Kindle versions) and No. 3 and No. 5 in Amazon’s Contemporary Fantasy bestsellers — bookending Gaiman’s American Gods at No. 4! It even hit No. 3 and No. 5 on the Canadian Literature bestsellers.
I was a bit shocked by this. I’ve made joking posts in the past about trying to hit the No. 1 spot in an Amazon category — any Amazon category — but I never really expected to manage that. It turns out getting compared to Neil Gaiman can really help your sales! Who knew?
Sales rankings are just numbers, though. They rise and fall — usually, like the numbers in my bank account, they keep on falling. What those rankings really mean is that some people are now reading The Mona Lisa Sacrifice who hadn’t heard of it before yesterday. So thanks, Robert Wiersema, for the shout-out! Thanks, Shelagh Rogers and The Next Chapter, for hosting such an incredible book party! Thanks, Neil Gaiman, for being you! And thanks most of all to everyone who’s ever taken the time to read any of my books! You’re the reason I sit down at my computer and write every day. When I’m not checking my Amazon rankings, of course….
(The thing that makes this better is I interviewed Gaiman once for The Province newspaper where I work and he was one of the nicest and most charming writers I ever met. Good karma all around.)
It’s gods all the way down
Holy hell. Robert J. Wiersema is on CBC’s The Next Chapter comparing my first Cross book, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Comparing it in a good way! It’s moments like this that inspire me to get back to the computer and write some more. Thanks, Rob! (The segment starts around the 41 minute mark, but the whole show is worth a listen.)
Ebooks back online, self-destruct sequence terminated
In a celebration of spring, the ebook versions of my Cross books, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice and The Dead Hamlets, have returned. The books disappeared a few days back as my publisher, ChiZine, switched distribution providers. But now the Kindle and Kobo versions are back, and the other formats will be online again shortly.
And the flowers did bloom and the clouds did part, and the angels did sing their glorious song. And then Cross murdered them for their grace.
Well, that was unexpected
Updated to reflect the new rankings. OK, I really have to go and do some work now!
One of the interesting things about watching The Dead Hamlets go out into the world — don’t forget to call, Hamlets! — is the way the book has renewed interest in the first Cross novel, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice. I knew some people would come to The Dead Hamlets first and then pick up The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, but I’d just assumed it would give the ol’ Mona Lisa a minor boost in sales.
Instead, the two novels have been running neck and neck, and The Mona Lisa Sacrifice has had intriguing spikes in sales where it shoots ahead of The Dead Hamlets. (Yes, I compulsively check my Amazon ratings, just like any other author. I need to do something when I’m not writing but the baby is napping on me!) So it’s nice to see the second book renew interest in the first one — or generate new interest, whatever is the case.
I was blown away and excited to see The Mona Lisa Sacrifice hit No. 5 in Amazon.ca’s Contemporary Fantasy bestseller list, while The Dead Hamlets hit No. 9. Mona Lisa also hit No. 7 in Amazon’s Historical Fantasy bestsellers, while Dead Hamlets hit No. 9. I don’t think any of my books have charted that high before. As a bonus, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice hit No. 25 in the CanLit bestseller list. I never expected to be a CanLit bestseller at all with these books!
Anyway, thanks for reading my Cross books. Knowing there are people out there who like them makes it that much easier to finish the third book in the series.
Ebooks now 50% off!
My publisher ChiZine is selling all their ebooks at 50% off until Sunday, March 15th, to make up for the technical difficulties as they switch ebook distributors for Kindle, etc.
Get The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, the first book in the Cross series, for $5.
Get The Dead Hamlets, the sequel to The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, for $5.
That’s right, you can get each book for less than the price of a Starbucks drink. And they’re better for you than that Starbucks junk. Well, better for your body. The books are probably kind of harmful for your mind….
Awwww
My two Peter Roman books are like best friends on the charts. I can’t wait to see how they get along with the third book!
Some more review love
I was happy to see a nice review of The Dead Hamlets in the Vancouver Sun, one of my hometown papers. Actually, it’s a nice review of the Cross series, so that’s even better. My favourite line: “Come for the chase scenes and the grave-digging, stay for the literary references, strewn like candy thrown from a parade.” He’s right — I am having a great time writing these books!
We have a winner, may his soul rest in peace
The dice have spoken and there’s a winner of the Black Quill giveaway contest I held to publicize my new novel, The Dead Hamlets. I will be dispatching the dreaded Quill and a free copy of the new book by undead courier, post-haste. I won’t speak the winner’s name here for fear of summoning various unnatural things, but rest assured that he was most instrumental in getting word of the new book out. So blame him for all the ails the book causes in the world.
I had a great deal of fun with the contest, and I’d like to thank everyone who took part. Thanks for helping promote the new novel — it certainly needs all the help it can get in these uncertain times for the publishing industry.
The best way to buy my new book
I’ve had a number of people ask me the best way to buy my new book, The Dead Hamlets. Normally my response is to say buy it at your local bookstore or favourite online site. Unfortunately, while Chapters sells the book through its website, it isn’t carrying many copies of The Dead Hamlets in stores. (U.S. readers: Chapters is the national bookstore chain in Canada — sort of like a Barnes and Noble only with more pillows and picture frames. The book is available at Barnes and Noble stores.)
I’m not entirely certain why this has happened. Part of the problem is likely Chapters’ ongoing shift to a cultural lifestyle store, which means they’re carrying fewer books for a shorter amount of time. Small publishers like ChiZine are obviously going to get hurt by this. At the same time, ChiZine’s main distributor, HarperCollins, decided to get out of the distribution business in Canada right around the same time the book launched. I can’t help but think that The Dead Hamlets got lost in the shuffle. So the book got hit by a double whammy at the worst possible time. It’s almost like there’s a witch’s curse or something….
I’m not really blaming Chapters here. People are ordering more books online or simply giving up on print altogether and ordering ebooks. Unless you’re a bestseller or have bestseller potential, it’s becoming harder to get shelf space in bookstores. As for the distribution changeover, well, that’s the way the industry goes sometimes.
I am kind of crushed by this development, however — every author wants their new book in bookstores, after all. This is kind of the author’s life, though. Business happens.
So that gets to the question of how you should buy my book. A number of people have asked if I’m selling them directly at events. I am, and you’re welcome to buy a book from me in person. Seriously, if you see me walking down the street, just come at me with money in your fist. I will almost certainly stop to talk to you.
But I would prefer you didn’t buy the book directly from me. Instead, I would appreciate it if you buy The Dead Hamlets — or any of my other books — from a bookseller. Why? Well, it’s good for the cultural ecosystem and all that. So there’s my public service announcement of the day. But more importantly, it’s good for the author. If people order the book at Chapters bookstores or even order it online from the Chapters website, where it is available for sale, then maybe Chapters might think twice and stock more copies of it in stores.
Similarly, if people order it from Amazon or Kindle or whatever, that also helps me. Every sale on Amazon boosts my sales ranking, for instance, which helps more people to see the book. Plus, whenever someone buys a book through Amazon, the algorithms send that out through the system and populate other people’s recommendation lists with the book. So if you buy say, A Game of Thrones book and The Dead Hamlets, then The Dead Hamlets will show up for other people who go looking to buy A Game of Thrones book. Or something like that — the Amazon system can be a bit of a mystery sometime.
You can always buy it from your local indie bookstore, too. They’re often the ones with the best selection, and they need support in these times more than ever.
The point is buying a book from a retailer helps me way more than buying a book from me in person does. This will be especially important when it comes time to publish the third book in the Cross series.
Wherever and however you find The Dead Hamlets, I hope you enjoy it. If you do like it, please consider giving it a shoutout on social media or a review on Goodreads, etc. That sort of thing really does help book sales.
Thanks for reading!
The Dead Hamlets is featured on The Hook
I had the distinct pleasure of kicking off The Hook, a new guest post feature on Alex Shvartsman’s site. Alex is the author of Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma, which is perhaps the best title for a book ever. And it’s only $5 and change on Kindle! Why are you still reading this and not buying the book?
Anyway, Alex just launched The Hook, which lets writers explain why they opened their books the way they did. So click the link to find out why I began The Dead Hamlets on a dark and stormy night!
Thanks, Alex!
There’s a long tradition of dark and stormy nights in the theatre — lots of blackouts and thunder sound effects. The first stage directions of Macbeth, for instance, are “Thunder and lightning.” So I was hinting at the subject matter of my book in its opening lines. Shortly after that initial scene, I have Cross stumble into a theatre full of the dead — at which point things really get dark and stormy!
peter darbyshire 