Rankomancy...

[seawasp]

This is the term for "looking at one's rankings on Amazon and trying to derive far more information from them than can reasonably be expected, but hell, you'll be waiting at least six months to get any REAL sales info so why not?"

The past couple of days have seen an interesting little potential shiift. Both GCA and Threshold appear to be on the (expected) decline (peak sales are expected within a month of release, often within the first couple of weeks). But the interesting thing is that for the past couple of days, GCA has been better-ranked than Threshold. This is doubly interesting in that GCA is a full month older than Threshold and is, of course, mine and mine alone; it doesn't have Eric's name on it.

What this *could* (mumble mumble handwave smoke and mirrors) indicate is that GCA has a "strong tail" -- that is, its sales will decline much more slowly and remain reasonably strong for some time. This would be ideal for me, of course.

Well, no, ideal for me would be to get starred reviews in PW or School Library Journal, then in major newspapers, and then be paid millions of dollars by Sam Raimi or JMS or James Cameron to adopt GCA into a major motion picture.

But barring Mr. Roarke from FANTASY ISLAND visiting me, this is pretty good, in a vapory kind of way. :)

Comments

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to be able to buy your books soon and I can't wait to read them. I loved the snippets you posted!!!

[seawasp]

You know, I could just send you copies; I don't want you spending money that you're still trying to put together to guard against the NEXT Evil Thing that Destiny throws at you.

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Help! Help! Life is awful and mean. So Help! I stubbed my toe, Mr Tavian threw up a hairball & I didn't go to ConVergence. I need books to console my fevered brow, many books, lotsa books I say.

PS: I liked very much all of yours I've read Ryk & spent real plastic to get them. :)

[seawasp]

Thanks!

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

Hey! I got a B&N coupon and I ordered one of them online today!!! I can't wait until it arrives. (I sneak in books occasionally before the nasty things attack!)

How are you feeling, BTW?

[ricdavis.livejournal.com]

I suspect GCA is the kind of work that benefits greatly from word of mouth advertising, especially amongst people who read EE Smith a few years ago.

[seawasp]

It's possible, although I'd think -- alas -- that the number of people in the latter group is small enough now that it might not even be large enough to support one book.

(If I calculate correctly I need to sell nearly 17,000 copies to break even, which is a lot of copies)

[xander-opal.livejournal.com]

If Raimi were to direct a movie based on one of your books, who would Bruce Campbell play?

[seawasp]

Depends on the book and what type of role Bruce wanted. He could probably do a decent Elias Klein if he doesn't mind going up in flames. In "Diamonds Are Forever" he could play Clint's dad or with a little makeup grandfather. Boundary, well, he's too old to play Joe. Maybe one of the secondary characters along the way.

GCA, the problem is that most of the cast is way too young for poor Bruce nowadays, and the only guy old enough is also my only black cast member; I'd hate to have someone accuse Sam of whitewashing when it was just a matter of making sure Bruce got a slot. He could do one of the aliens, though.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

paperback vs hardback?

[seawasp]

You mean, maybe that's the difference? I don't think so -- Threshold's been well ahead since even before it was released (pre-orders, I presume), and only now did it cross over.

(ETA: the difference got rather drastic this evening; I just checked and GCA was at 19k and Threshold at 50k!)

[davidcook.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I'm reading GCA now, although my purchase doesn't help your Amazon rankings, got it from a bookstore in Melbourne :-)

[seawasp]

But your purchase helps the only ranking that REALLY counts -- my sell-through and earn-out, which determine whether the publisher is happy with me.

[goodluckfox.livejournal.com]

I found you when Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary plugged "Boundary." I've been hooked on your sci-fi ever since, and always bought directly from Baen as an ebook (except for GCA which I had already read as a beta reader and I bought in dead-tree edition at Barnes and Noble).

[seawasp]

Yeah, and now that I'm recovering I have to send him copies of Threshold and GCA, both of which of course reference him as well.

Schlock Mercenary in THRESHOLD?

[niall-shapero.livejournal.com]

Ok, I'll bite - where? (I missed that reference, obviously.) (And I haven't had the time to read my wife's copy of GCA ... yet).

Re: Schlock Mercenary in THRESHOLD?

[seawasp]

The Tayler Corporation, manufacturers of "carbonan" carbon nanotube materials which were necessary for building Meru (the Indian beanstalk) as well as the special spacesuits in both Boundary and Threshold.

Re: Schlock Mercenary in THRESHOLD?

[seawasp]

And of course in GCA where AIs' intelligence is measured in Taylers.

[randallsquared.livejournal.com]

"and then be paid millions of dollars by Sam Raimi or JMS or James Cameron to adopt GCA into a major motion picture."

...but not M. Night S., since you probably wouldn't want your book Airbendered. :)

[seawasp]

For a percentage of gross, even if it bombs like Cutthroat Island? I wouldn't give a flying F*** if he cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jason Wood and had Jason duke it out mano-a-mano with Virigar atop the Empire State Building.

Really, nothing they do in an adaptation has any effect on the original. If they pay me enough that I'm no longer worrying about where my next house payment's coming from, why should I care if they mangle it?

(I haven't seen "The Last Airbender" yet, so I can't actually judge. I do know that Shamalyan has generally seemed to me to be a one-trick pony, and his trick worked really well for me in "Unbreakable" and not so well in other stuff.)

[ldsman.livejournal.com]

Annoying enough, the local BAM has sold out of Threshold and it'll take about 10 days to get an order in.