Epic Fantasy Analysis April 8, 2013

This is the sixth in the series and is from data as of 4/08/2013. Links to review previous data:

• 01/03/2013
• 01/24/2013
• 02/17/2013
• 03/03/2013
• 03/14/2013

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

• 78% of the titles remain from the last snapshot which is down from 86% of last time
• 24 titles (17 more than last time) went through a price change (3 increased in price, 21 decreased)

The following table summarizes the changes:

Full List Statistics

Traditional Author Analysis: Traditional continues to gain spots and is now 57% half the list, picking up 3 spots.  Authors that gained titles include: Martin (1 more title on the UK list), Sanderson Jordan (new title on UK list) Kate Elliot (2 titles), Erickson, Salvatore, Pratchett, Weeks, Card. Almost all of the new titles are relatively low priced ($5.59-$6.64) which shows traditional publishers are starting to lower prices to move some older titles. I’m glad to see that A Memory of light was lowered (again) when it debuted it was $16.99 then it went to $14.99 and is now at $12.74. The biggest surprise is the deep discounting of popular titles. In particular The Way of Kings at $2.99 is an incredible deal and we’ll see how long it stays there.  But even more interesting is that all of the top titles from Sanderson have been decreased in price. Then there is the huge price reductions on the Wheel of Time Books all (except the first and last) are now $4 – $6. Most of the other price drops were minor adjustments. New pricing on Kate Elliott brought her to the list. The items that fell off the list show nothing of particular note, except maybe Brook’s Witch Wrath only because it was on briefly. Still it is awhile until release, so it will certainly re-appear.

The traditional authors on the list break down as follows:

• 13 – Robert Jordan (4 w/Sanderson):  5-$3.99, 2-$4.49, 3-$4.99, 1-$5.99, 1-$12.74, 1-unavail
•  9 – George R.R. Martin: 3-na, 3-$9.99, $14.99, $29.99 (omni), $39.99 (omni)
•  7 – Brandon Sanderson (4 w/Jordan): $2.99, 2-$4.99, $5.99, $12.74, $13.08 (omni)
•  4 – J.R.R. Tolkien: 2-$6.97, $7.56, $9.00
•  3 – Terry Brooks: $0.99 (short), $7.99, $12.99
•  3 – Peter V. Brett: 2-$7.99, $12.99
•  3 – R.A. Salvatore: $3.99, $5.59, $9.78
•  2 – Brent Weeks: $5.59, $9.99
•  2 – Justin Cronin: $7.99, $13.99
•  2 – Kate Elliott: 2-$6.64
•  1 – Robin Hobbs: $12.74
•  1 – Michael J. Sullivan: $7.99 (omni)
•  1 – Deborah Harkness : $12.99
•  1 – David Mitchell: $11.99
•  1 – Patrick Rothfuss $9.99
•  1 – Stephen King: $8.99
•  1 – Joe Abercrombie: $9.79
•  1 – Jim Butcher: $9.99
•  1 – Mark Lawrence: $7.99
•  1 – Kim Harrison: $12.99
•  1 – Steven Erikson: $5.99
• 1 – Terry Pratchett: $8.00
•  1 – Orson Scott Card:  $5.99

Once again much of the list was dominated by authors with multiple titles on the list. More than 78% (42 of the 54 spots) were occupied by traditional authors with multiple titles in the top 100. There were many more authors making the list with just one book this time around.

• 43.9% (25 books) by 3 authors with 6+ books on the list (Jordan, Sanderson, Martin)
• 33.3% (19 books) by 7 Authors with 2 – 5 books (Tolkien, Brett, Cronin, Brooks, Salvatore, Weeks, Elliott)
• 22.8% (13 books) by  13 Authors with 1 book (Hobbs, Sullivan, Harkness, Mitchell, Rothfuss, King, Abercrombie, Butcher, Lawrence, Harrison, Erikson, Pratchett, Card)

Amazon & Small Press Author Analysis: Amazon and small presses gained one spot and is 13% of the overall list. The Anderson team returned to the list with 3 Godling Chronicles Books. Frank Tuttle made his first appearance. The Wizard of Oz left the list as did the Amazon Crossing title.

• 4 – Jeff Wheeler: 3-$2.99, $4.99 (Amazon)
• 3 – Greg Bear, Stephenson, Teppo, Eric Bear, Brassey, Moo, Galland, Grell: 3-$2.99 (Amazon)
• 3 – Brian & Jonathan Anderson: $2.99, 2-$3.99 (small)
• 2 – Aya Knight: $0.99, $2.99 (small)
• 1 – Frank Tuttle: $1.99 (small press)

Self-Published Authors: Self publishing lost ground for the fourth time in a row this time losing 4 titles and is now just  30% of the list.  13 titles were lost, 9 were added. Of the authors losing titles the “big names” were: Mathias (2 books), Wells, Manning, Rathbone, Christensen, Gavin, Buroker, and Patterson.  The “lesser known” were: McCord/Chiodo, Maxwell, Arnquist, and Sweet. As for the added titles the “big names gaining titles include: Dalglish, Arenson, and Quyle and lesser known Kadan, McPhail, Fosberg, Delay/Albretch (2 books), and St. Claire. The full break down is as follows:

• 3 – Ben Hale: $0.99, 2-$2.99
• 2 – Daniel Arenson: $3.99, $7.99
• 2 – Michael G. Manning: $0.99, $4.95
• 2 – Joseph Lallo: 2-$2.99
• 2 – D.W. Jackson: 2-$2.99
• 2 – M. R. Mathias: 2-$0.99
• 2 – Delay/Albrecht:$0.99, $2.99
• 1 – Alexey Glushanovsky: $2.99
• 1 – Jason Derleth: $3.99
• 1 – David Dalglish:$0.99
• 1 – Fosberg/Fosberg/Sargent/Lambert/Young: $2.99
• 1 – Leeland Artra: $4.99
• 1 – Chanda Hahn: $2.99
• 1 – Morgan Rice: $2.99
• 1 – Tess Williams: $0.99
• 1 – Charles E. Yallowitz: $0.99
• 1 – J.D. Hallowell: $3.82
• 1 – P.S. Power: $4.99
• 1 – Jeffrey Quyle: 3.09
• 1 – John Kaden: $2.99
• 1 – Melissa McPhail: $0.99
• 1 – Julius St. Clair: $4.99

For the first time the list is evenly divided with 15 titles coming from authors with multiple books and 15 coming from authors with just one.

• 0.0% (0 books) by Authors with 6 or more books
• 50.0% (15 books) by 8 Authors with 2 – 5 books (Mathias, Hale, Manning, Lallo, Jackson, Delay, Albretch, Arenson)
• 50.0% (15 books) by 22 Authors with 1 book (Glushanovsky, Derleth, Dalglish, Fosberg/Fosberg/Sargent/Lambert/Young, Artra, Hahn, Rice, Williams, Yallowitz, Hallowell, Power, Quyle, Kaden, McPhail, St. Clair)

So there you have it. The sixthinstallment 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.