I haven’t yet mentioned here: Exciting Books is doing well. Like, really well.
Like, bestseller-dom well.
The still-new reality of Amazon and a current literary marketplace is staggering. Used to be, bestsellers were determined by pretty much one place, and one place only: the New York Times. The infamous grey (or is it gray?) lady? The venerated bastion of journalism and culture, the heights to which every author aspired. Theirs always was the list to be on.
I’m not saying this is changing.
However.
Do you go to the paper for your news any more?
I don’t. I can’t remember the last time I even saw an actual newspaper I wasn’t picking up solely to throw away. Though I did download an issue of The Washington Post to my Kindle. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
If I want news–real, right now, happening-outside-my-window news–I come here. Well. Not here. Not to my site. I used to post, sometimes, about news, and mean to start again, but obviously not right here.
No, I come online. I come to dot-coms. CNN and MSNBC. I come, in fact, to Twitter, to see what’s trending.
Right now.
Which is why I think cracking the Amazon bestsellers list may be even more relevant than hitting the grey lady. Especially considering Sparks, a Kindle-only publication.
I don’t know how the NYT ranks its list, nor what figures it bases its tabulation upon. I know that it doesn’t include every sale in America; that’d be impossible.
For a newspaper.
Not for Amazon, though.
When Sparks broke the top 50 on Amazon, it legitimately meant that, right then, Sparks was selling more at a faster rate than other books. It wasn’t select bookstores. It wasn’t a sampling. It wasn’t a pre-tabulated list merely being confirmed.
It was in real time and based on real sales.
***
And speaking of sales:
Did you just get a new Kindle? Do you have an iPhone? An iPad or iPod? Any Android device? How about a PC or Mac?
Most importantly, do you like good books? Or know someone who does?
If so, you can take advantage of the Winter 2010 Exciting Books Fire Sale. Because that’s what you get when you apply sparks to kindle.
For the next few days, while I’m sitting around a fire with my faithful friends who are dear to me gathered near to me once more, Exciting Books is slashing its Kindle prices. Are you looking for stories for your new Kindle? Are you looking for something to read on a long weekend off? Have you had your fill of nog and ham? Ready to kick back, relax, and fall asleep next to the fire with your Kindle in your lap?
You need Sparks. Every Kindle does.
You also need Entrekin and Meets Girl.
So for the next week, for the low-low price of just 99 cents, you can experience Exciting Books. You can read fiction that inspires and thrills. You can read the sort of book that isn’t just going to stay with you but is going to make you want to approach a friend and say, “Hey, you know, I read these cool stories the other day.”
Exciting Books has a mission, and that’s it: to be the stories you want to share.
So this holiday season, fill your Kindle with Sparks and Exciting Books. Share Sparks and Exciting Books with those same friends who are dear to you, whether they are gathered near or not. Because Amazon and Kindle have a great, new function: you can gift a book to your friends. Just use the one-click.
December 22, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Re: gray vs. grey—I always use gray. First, because it’s better. Second, because I heard once that “grey” was the British spelling, and regardless of whether that was true, it was enough of a reason to make sure I always used “gray.” Third, Google Ngram finds “gray” to be more common, especially over the past 20 years, thanks to a trend that shows it now appears nearly twice as often as “grey” (http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=gray%2Cgrey&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=3).
Just sayin’.
December 22, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Ah. You make a good point, except I tend to like to be the uncommoner choice. For those of only the most discerning taste, if you will.
Which I realize doesn’t align with the whole bestseller-dom thing.
I never said I make sense.