My Book Industry Ramblings
Of late I have been devoting my weekly blog posts to my new psychological thriller, Symbiosis (released last Thursday). Click here to read the reviews. In preparation for the release of Symbiosis I conducted some book industry research, some of which I relay here. I hope you find it interesting.
The bestselling adult Fiction printed book of 2015 was Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Total units sold in 2015: 1,599,189.
Amazon’s bestselling book of 2015 was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. It is set to become a film starring Emily Blunt later this year.
Most fortuitous current book title — Girl on a Train by Alison Waines. Lots of readers confused the title with The Girl On The Train, resulting in tens of thousands of sales for its previously unsung author.
Current bestselling self-published book — A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest. Yes, vampires again.
Most anticipated book of 2016 — There are many books vying for this accolade, including The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville. This alternative history novel is destined to be a bestseller.
Most anticipated non-fiction book of 2016 — Again this is a matter of opinion. There is certainly a lot of excitement over the release this spring of Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship With a Remarkable Man by William Shatner. It celebrates the man behind Mr. Spock from Star Trek.
Genre currently on the rise — Adult colouring-in books. I was really surprised to discover this. Did I like colouring-in when I was a child? Quite. Do I want to do colouring-in now? Not really. But lots of people do. It’s cathartic apparently. I’m considering trying one out.
Genre to look out for — Bizarro Fiction is an up-and-coming genre. Bizarro Fiction titles are indeed bizarre. Take Adolf in Wonderland for instance.
The most lucrative genres are Romance and Erotica.
And now for some industry news.
Indie authors currently make up about 20% of the book market.
Amazon borrows are growing at the expense of sales. This is not surprising when one considers that Amazon Prime is now in 38% of American households. The Kindle Owner’s Lending Library (KOLL) is certainly controversial, and some well known authors have opted out of it altogether. Currently I am a fan. This is because KOLL was primarily responsible for lifting my 2nd novel, Necropolis, from obscurity to the lofty position (yesterday morning GMT) of No.11 in the Kindle – Dark Comedy category on Amazon.com.
