antishurtugal_reborn | Entries tagged with amazon rankings

One thing I like to do, for my own curiosity, is look up the Amazon rankings of Paolini's books about a week or so aftwer release.

Murtagh: 11 days after release

Audible audiobook:

#12 in Audible Books & Originals

Hardcover:

#32 in Books

Kindle ebook:

#244 in Kindle Store

Compare that to Fractal Noise, which was somewhere around #4,297 in ebooks and #3,249 in Books (hardcover edition) only 15 days after release.

I think it's clear to see there is still significant interest in the Inheritance Cycle, far more than there is in the Fractalverse. Paolini would be wise to focus his writing on pumping out a steady stream of World of Eragon books, and put Fractalverse on the backburner as a passion side-project.

torylltales

I thought it would be interesting to look at the Amazon rankings for Fractal Noise, especially as we can compare directly to the rankings for To Sleep at roughly the same time in its sales cycle (within the release month).

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars: September 2020. 5 days after release.

#284,586 in Books (Paperback version)

#87,730 in Kindle Store (ebook version)

#39 in Audiobooks (audiobook version)

#339 in Books (hardcover version)

Fractal Noise: May 2023. 15 days after release.

#342,028 in Books (Paperback version) (worse than To Sleep by 57,442 ranks)

#4,297 in Kindle Store (ebook version) (better than To Sleep by 83,433 ranks)

#674 in Audiobooks (audiobook version) (worse than To Sleep by 635 ranks)

#3,249 in Books (hardcover version) (worse than To Sleep by 2,910 ranks)

So it looks like the Kindle version of Fractal Noise is doing better than To Sleep did, but all other formats are doing worse.

Is this an indication of Amazon's market share, given all the controversy about staff treatment and workforce practices? Does it show that Amazon is shifting more into the ebook space than physical copies? Are more people buying fork their local chain or independent bookstores rather than Amazon?

There are lots of factors that could cause this overall drop in rankings, but it's tempting to suggest that readers just aren't as interested in this one now that they've seen what Paolini can do in the sci fi genre.

torylltales

This just in:

5 days after it was released, To Sleep In A Sea of Stars is now ranked...

#284,586 in Books (Paperback version)

#87,730 in Kindle Store (ebook version)

#39 in Audiobooks (audiobook version)

#339 in Books (hardcover version)

#1,062 in Books on CD (Audio CD version)

So, the audiobook is relatively popular, at least among audiobooks being purchased on Amazon. But the rest of those numbers? Damn. This soon after release, these sorts of rankings are almost inconceivable. The Brisingr paperback is an order of magnitude more popular at #28,498 in Books (paperback), and that was published in 2008!

For comparison, Dune (published in the 60s!) is currently at number 39 in Books. (edit: It has come to my attention that Dune is currently bestselling again because there is a new Dune-based TV series either planned or showing on one of the various streaming services).

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is at number 95.

I think it's fair to say the launch of To Sleep was a bit of a flop. Let's see if it increases in popularity over the next few months.

edit: a few hours later, the paperback has jumped up to #69,581 in Books, and the audiobook is number 6 in Science Fiction (audible audiobooks). The Kindle ebook has jumped to #57,053 in Kindle Store.

I think the audiobook might be so much more popular both because of Jennifer Hale, and because it is currently free to Audible subscribers. Compared to $15 for the ebook and $26 for the paperback. That second point probably makes a difference.

Where the Heart of Anti-Shurtugal Rises Again.

Entries tagged with amazon rankings

Navigation

Murtagh Amazon Rankings: 11 days later

Fractal Noise Amazon Rankings

A Week After Release...

Profile

June 2025

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags