Epic Fantasy Analysis Feb 17, 2013

This is the third in the series and is from data as of 2/17/2013. I’m revising the format that I provide this data, now I’m using table which should make things a bit more clear. Links to review previous data:

• 01/03/2013
• 01/24/2013

As always this data comes from the   Amazon Kindle Epic Fantasy Bestseller List. For readers, you’ll be able to see what authors are selling well and find some titles that are worth checking out.  For authors, you’ll be better informed when choosing between self-publishing and traditionally. My hope is that overtime we’ll see some new and interesting trends.

Changes

• 72% of the tiles were on both lists
• 9 titles that went through a price change (3 increased in price, 6 decreased)

The following table summarizes the changes:

Full List Statistics

Traditional Author Analysis: Traditional continues to occupy a little more than 50% of the list, gaining 4 spots as 6 titles were removed but 10 were added.  Authors that gained titles include: George R. R. Martin, R.A. Salvatore, Terry Brooks, Robert R. McCammon, Brent Weeks, Peter V. Brett, R. A. Salvatore and Rachel Aaron. Brooks’s title is a $0.99 short story. McCammon made it onto the list because of kindle daily deal. Brett’s new release is bolstering his earlier titles. Aaron’s entry onto the list is a direct result of a price reduction to $2.99 by the publisher. I’m not entirely sure why Weeks picked up a few slots. I did notice that his titles went through a price change, so maybe there was some additional marketing done by either his publisher or Amazon. The authors who lost spots: Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson, Ted Dekker /  Tosca Lee / Henry Leyva, Mark Lawrence, Terry Goodkind, J. R. R. Tolkien. Of these, the only thing to note is the Dekker/Lee title which seemed to have momentarily popped onto the list because of a $2.99 sale. Now that it is priced near $9 it no longer is appearing.

• 12 – Robert Jordan (3 w/Sanderson):  $2.99(short), 6-$7.99, 2-$8.99, 3-$9.99
•  9 – George R.R. Martin: 3-na, 3-$8.99, $14.99, $29.99 (omni), $39.99 (omni)
•  6 – Brandon Sanderson (3 w/Jordan): $2.99 (short), $7.99, $8.99, 2-$9.99, $20.69 (omni)
•  4 – J.R.R. Tolkien: 2-$7.61, $7.81, $9.00
•  4 – Peter V. Brett: 1-na, 2-$7.99, $12.99
•  3 – Brent Weeks: $6.64, $9.99, $16.99 (omni)
•  2 – Justin Cronin: $7.99, $13.99
•  2 – Michael J. Sullivan: 2-$7.99 (omni)
•  2 – Terry Brooks: 2-$0.99 (shorts)
•  2 – R.A. Salvatore: $7.59, $9.78
•  1 – Robert McCammon – $8.54
•  1 – Deborah Harkness : $12.99
•  1 – David Mitchell: $11.99
•  1 – Patrick Rothfuss $9.99
•  1 – Rachel Aaron $2.99
•  1 – Stephen King: $8.99
•  1 – Joe Abercrombie: $8.69
•  1 – Jim Butcher: $9.99

Once again much of the list was dominated by authors with multiple titles on the list. More than 84% (43 of the 51 spots) were occupied by traditional authors with multiple titles in the top 100. There were much fewer authors making the list with just one book this time around.

• 47.1% (24 books) by 3 authors with 6+ books on the list (Jordan, Sanderson, Martin)
• 37.2% (19 books) by 7 Authors with 2 – 5 books (Tolkien, Brett, Weeks, Cronin, Sullivan, Brooks, Salvatore)
• 15.4% ( 8 books) by  8 Authors with 1 book (McCammon, Harkness, Mitchell, Rothfuss, Aaron, King, Abercrombie, Butcher)

Amazon & Small Press Author Analysis: Some big uptake for Amazon with this group taking 10% of the list. Most of this was due to Jeff Wheeler (who was originally self-published and has moved to 47 North). Amazon put out a number of titles back-to-back and priced all but one of his titles at a $2.99 price point.  We’ll keep an eye to see how these do in the long run.  Two small presses had titles on the list both with low price points ($0.99 & $3.99). In fact 80% of the titles were under $2.99 and the highest priced title was $4.99. It would appear that Amazon is using a “low-price” strategy for their titles and for the most part Wheeler and the Mongoliad series seem to be the only titles making the list.

• 4 – Jeff Wheeler: 3-$2.99, $4.99
• 4 – Mark Teppo: (1 w/mulitple authors)$1.99, $2.99
• 3 – Greg Bear, Stephenson, Teppo, Eric Bear, Brassey, Moo, Galland, Grell: $2.99
• 1 – Aya Knight: $0.99 (small press)
• 1 – C. R. Daems, J. R. Tomlin (small press)

Self-Published Authors: This snap shots data resembles data from Jan 3 more than it does the last data point.  Historically the list has been divided 50% / 50% between self and traditional, but this time around a large amount of the spots usually occupied by the self-publishers have gone to Amazon and the small presses.  12 titles were added mostly by veterans of the self-publishing environment including: 3 by Daniel Arenson, and single additions by Toby Neighbors, Ben Hale, D.W. Jackson, Andy Gavin, D.W. Jackson. A few names that are either new or not often seen include: Morgan Rice, Michael J. Arnquist, Tess Williams, R. James McCord, Thomas Head. The number of titles that left the list was substantial – 21 in all. Some of the self-published elite lost 2 titles including: Christopher Williams, David A. Wells, David Dalglish, John Forrester, Julius St. Clair. The prominent self-pubbers who lost a spot include: Ben Hale, Brian Kittrell, Lindsay Buroker, GJ Kelly, Jeffrey Quyle, J. L. Doty, P. S. Power, T.B. Christensen.  Those less known that lost places included: Dean McMillin, Isaac Hooke, and Michael Bushnell / Ali Vossoughi. 22 authors occupied the 39 available spots. The break down is as follows:

• 4 – M. R. Mathias: 2-$0.99, $4.88, $6.88
• 3 – Daniel Arenson – $2.99, 2-$3.99
• 3 – David A. Wells: 3-$2.99
• 3 – Ben Hale: $0.99, 2-$2.99
• 3 – Michael G. Manning: $0.99, $2.99, $4.95
• 2 – T.B. Christensen:  $0.99, $3.99
• 2 – Toby Neighbors: 2-$2.99
• 2 – John Daulton: 2-$3.99
• 2 – Joseph Lallo: 2-$2.99
• 2 – Aaron Pogue: $0.99, $4.99
• 2 – Brian Rathbone: 2-$2.99
• 1 – Chanda Hahn: $2.99
• 1 – David Dalglish: $5,99
• 1 – Jason Teasar: $2.51
• 1 – Morgan Rice: $2.99
• 1 – Michael J. Arnquist: $4.99
• 1 – R. James McCord: $0.99
• 1 – D.W. Jackson: $2.99
• 1 – Thomas Head: $1.99
• 1 – Andy Gavin: $2.99
• 1 – Brian D.& Jonathan Anderson: $3.99
• 1 – Tess Williams: $0.99

Once again the list is not as top-heavy as the traditional where 3 authors occupy most of the spaces. The breakdown between authors with multiple books and those with single books is almost identical to last time.

• 0.0% (0 books) by Authors with 6 or more books
• 71.8% (28 books) by 11 Authors with 2 – 5 books (Mathias, Hale, Arenson, Wells, Manning, Pogue, Rathbone, Daulton, Lallo, Christensen, Neighbors)
• 27.1% (11 books) by 12 Authors with 1 book (Anderson, Hahn, Jackson, Dalglish, Tesar, Arnquist, Rice, McCord, Williams, Head, Gavin)

So there you have it. The third installment of data for epic fantasy as 2013. I’m going to try to keep doing these every 15 – 20 days so we can get a good picture across several snapshots. I hope you try some of the books by authors on this list as their sales are a good indication that they are writing fiction that many are finding enjoyable. And for those with multiple books on the list, it proves that people keep coming back for more than just the first one. We’ll see how things progress from here.