Self-published books got a lot of face time over the last week with the mess from retailers taking down their e-books in stores. However, they didn’t see any attention on the Digital Book World Best Sellers List.
For the second week in a row, not one self-published made the Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller list, according to Jeremy Greenfield. The list was dominated by the Big Five with the lone standout being The House of Hades by Rick Riordan (Hyperion).
I don’t think after two weeks there should be any concern for self-published or indie authors. Best seller lists can be fickle. A book could be on top one week and be pushed off the next.
Although, I wonder if the lack of self-published books has anything to do with many self-published books being removed from stores, regardless of topic over the erotica issues. With less availability through regular outlets, it’s likely not as many people were buying self-published e-books because of the lack of exposure.
It’s something to definitely keep an eye on over the coming weeks when things – hopefully – return back to normal.
Another note: Since all the books on the best sellers list were from traditional publishers, the average price of e-books on the list rose to $8.53
Sorry, but I can’t take Digital Book World’s “bestseller” list seriously. If you look at the calculations they use to arrive at their list, you will see that – by accident or design – the rules count hugely against self-publishers (things like penalties if you are only available on one store – no matter how much you actually sold, penalties if you are selling at a lower price, etc., and arbitrary bonuses for appearing in stores (like Google) that have a tiny portion of the market and that self-publishers don’t tend to bother with).
@David, that’s interesting. Where did you find their calculations? I’d like to take a look at them.