Epic Fantasy Analysis August 18, 2013

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted one of my analysis posts. I’ve been gathering the data, but a few releases and some new writing projects has made it hard to dig in.  So, let’s take a look at where things stand as of August 18, 2013.  As in the past, this data is taken from Amazon’s Epic Fantasy Bestseller list for the Kindle.

Traditional publishing continues to dominate with 56% of the books published through that route. Self-publishing still is doing well with nearly 40%. Small press and Amazon titles makes up very few of the overall list.

analysis1.

When breaking down the list via authors we find that there are 50 authors who have books on the list and self-publishing is providing the greatest number of contributors.

analysis2

Most of these 50 authors have only one book on the list.

analysis4

The traditionally published authors with multiple books include:

  • Robert Jordan 12 books (6: $5.99, 2: $6.99, 3: $7.99, $12.99)
  • George R.R. Martin 6 books (3: $9.99, $14.99, $29.99 (omni), $39.99 (omni))
  • Brandon Sanderson 5 books ($5.99, $6.99, $7.49, $14.99, $16.03 (omni))
  • Mark Lawrence 4 books (N/A, 2: $7.59, $9.99)
  • Michael J. Sullivan 4 books ($2.99(omni), $7.99(omni), 2:$8.89 (1 omni))
  • R. A. Salvatore 3 books ($5.59, 2: $9.78)
  • Terry Brooks 3 books (2: $7.99, $12.99)
  • Terry Goodkind 3 books (2: $7.49, $7.99)
  • J.R.R. Tolkien 2 books ($7.49, $10.00)
  • Justin Cronin 2 books ($7.99, $9.99)

The self-published authors with multiple books include:

  • Michael G. Manning 4 books ($0.99, $2.99, 2: $4.95)
  • Morgan Rice 4 books (3: $2.99, $9.99 (omni))
  • Brian D. Anderson 2 books (2: $3.99)
  • Charles E Yallowitz 2 books (2: $0.99)
  • Chris Hollaway 2 books ($2.99, $3.99)
  • Joseph Lallo 2 books (2: $2.99)
  • M. R. Mathias 2 books (2: $0.99)
  • Martin Hengst 2 books (2: $2.99)
  • Michael Ploof 2 books($2.99, $4.99)
  • Shae Ford 2 books ($1.99, $2.99)

The Amazon/small press authors with multiple books include:

  • Jeff Wheller 3 books (3: $2.99)

The traditionally published authors with 1 book include:

  • Brent Weeks ($9.99)
  • David Mitchell ($11.99)
  • Deborah Harkness ($9.99)
  • Jim Butcher ($8.89)
  • Joe Abercrombie ($8.54)
  • Kim Harrison ($12.80)
  • Naomi Novik ($12.99)
  • Orson Scott Card ($5.99)
  • Robin Hobb ($4.74)
  • Scott Lynch ($7.99)
  • Stephen King ($8.00)
  • Steven Erikson ($5.99)

The self-published authors with 1 book include:

  • Aaron Pogue ($0.99)
  • Aya Knight ($0.99)
  • C. Greenwood ($5.99)
  • C.S. Marks ($0.99)
  • Casey Odell ($3.99)
  • Chanda Hahn ($2.99)
  • Christopher Bunn ($3.99)
  • Christopher Williams ($2.99)
  • Honor Raconteur ($4.99)
  • Jeremy Brooks ($3.99)
  • K.C. May ($3.97)
  • Lindsay Buroker ($4.95)
  • Mitchell Hogan ($7.99)
  • Thomas Rath ($2.99)
  • Will Wight ($2.99)

The Amazon & small press authors with 1 book include:

  • Neal Stephenson, Erik Bear, Bear Greg and Joseph Brassey ($3.99)
  • James Burnett ($2.99)

 

When we look at pricing. The majority of books are priced in the $4.99 – $9.99 range.

analysis3

When it comes to gender, male authors continue to dominate the bestseller list:

analysis5

In this respect it would appear that the women are having more success in self-publishing than traditional for instance:

  • 100% of the traditional authors with multiple books are male
  • 33% (4 of 12) of traditional authors with one book are female
  • 20% (2 of 10) of self-published authors with multiple books are female
  • 53% (8 of 15) of self-published authors with one book are female
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