Introducing Amazon Author Rank
The above is the subject line from the email I received from Amazon.com today. The text of the email was:
Today we have added a new feature, Amazon Author Rank, the definitive list of best-selling authors on Amazon.com. This list makes it easy for readers to discover the best-selling authors on Amazon.com overall and within a selection of major genres.
Your Amazon Author Rank: 773 in Action & Adventure
Amazon Author Rank is your rank based on the sales of all of your books on Amazon.com. Just like Amazon Best Sellers, it is updated hourly. The top 100 authors overall and the top 100 in selected genres will be displayed on Amazon.com. You can see your Amazon Author Rank trended over time in Author Central.
You can find your Amazon Author Rank in Author Central under the Rank tab. Historical rank data is available from September 28, 2012.
We’re always interested in feedback, so please let us know what you think.
The Author Central Team
https://authorcentral.amazon.comP.S. You may have friends who are authors; feel free to pass this email along to them. Amazon Author Rank is a feature available to all authors registered in Author Central.
This is interesting, but what does it mean? And especially what does “Your Amazon Author Rank: 773 in Action & Adventure” mean? (Remember that the rankings are changed every hour.)
I went to my account on authorcentral.amazon.com and, besides the same info as in the email, there was the word RANK on the nav. I clicked on RANK and saw this list on the left-hand side of the screen (and you get to the sub-categories by clicking on these categories):
Author Rank
All Books
Kindle eBooks
Fiction
Business & Investing
Mystery & Thrillers
RomanceBooks
Business & Investing
Literature & Fiction
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Teens
Then I started checking my author rank in various categories. I focused on “Kindle eBooks” as that is the arena in which I invest my book marketing activities.
At the time I am writing this post, I am 790 in Kindle eBooks > fiction > action adventure. But there is no indication which of my three fiction ebooks are included in this ranking.
Therefore, I checked the Amazon page for each of my three fiction ebooks, and only LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS is in the sub-category “action & adventure.”
It would appear that it is on the basis of only this one ebook that my Amazon author rank in Kindle eBooks > fiction > action & adventure is 790 at this moment. I then assumed that, if I had two titles in “action & adventure,” my Amazon author rank would be based on a combination of the two ebooks.
To check out this assumption, I looked at the two of my three fiction books — LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS and CIA FALL GUY — that have some form of a sub-category of thrillers. At the moment, my Amazon author rank is 930 in Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers.
Confused? I am too and here is why:
While according to Amazon “the top 100 authors overall and the top 100 in selected genres will be displayed on Amazon.com,” what am I as an author suppose to do about my rankings?
From what I can see, while it would be terrific if I had an Amazon author rank in the top 100, short of that honor the Amazon author rank feature is just one more thing to distract me from my writing.
What do you think?
KDP Select tip: I am in the midst of a 90-day KDP Select period for MRS. LIEUTENANT. I wanted to set a free day for the novel for Veterans Day — a promotion the triad is doing together (see https://www.millermosaicllc.com/triad-us-military-war-novels/)
I have just learned that November 11th is in my next 90-day KDP Select period, and thus I have to wait until this current 90-day period ends before I can set a free date in the following 90-day period.
(Note: The unanswered question: Is the above true because I have NOT used all my five free days in this 90-day period? Or is the above true even if I had used all my five free days in this 90-day period?)
In either case, I hope to save other authors from the frustration I experienced trying to find out why I could not set a free promotion date for November 11th. (Now I will do this after October 19th, when this 90-day KDP Select period for MRS. LIEUTENANT expires.)
For more Amazon author tips, click here for the Kindle ebook TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON AND FACEBOOK
Don’t have a Kindle? No problem. You can get a FREE Kindle app for your iPhone, iPad, Android, PC or Mac at http://amzn.to/NBoSGU
© 2012 Miller Mosaic LLC
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks. A new nonfiction ebook of hers is book marketing ebook TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO MARKET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON AND FACEBOOK and her newest fiction ebook is the romantic suspense spy story CIA FALL GUY.
Click here to visit her Amazon author page at amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller
She also has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the online marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com
Phyllis, I totally agree about the author rankings…unless we’re both missing something, I don’t get the importance of this…Unless one’s book were to be 101, what difference does it make?
I check Amazon Top Rated lists everyday–and I absolutely believe there is a sales component to those algorithms. Sometimes “Your Gift to Me” goes a week without getting a new review, but it still manages to hold onto several high (or low, depending on one’s POV!) ratings.
I’m grateful to Amazon, but sometimes it just makes my head hurt!
Bonnie
Bonnie — You are so right that Amazon can make authors’ heads hurt!
And I also agree that there is “a sales component to those algorithms.”
Phyllis,
When I got that e-mail from Author Central about the new author ranking, my first thought was: Oh great, just one more number to drive me CRAZY! And like you said: just another distraction. I decided that I’m going to focus on words and not numbers to drive my career.
I found your blog so very refreshing.
Kathleen
Kathleen — I love your statement that you are going “to focus on words and not numbers”! I resisted the urge to check my Amazon author rank this morning and I am determined to actually work on my fiction today.
Thanks for leaving this comment!