Remember, a few days ago, when I mentioned the e-book for Wyldling Snare is available for pre-order on Amazon: http://mybook.to/wyldlingsnare?

Oops, I Did a Thing

Well… I may have gotten a wee bit impatient and published the paperback version two weeks early. I wanted author copies of the paperback in time for the e-book release, and I couldn’t get them without publishing the paperback first. You can’t set up a paperback book for pre-order on Amazon; either you publish it or you save it as a draft. Also, it takes up to seventy-two hours for the book to go live. I don’t trust myself to remember to publish the paperback three days before Amazon releases the e-book format as scheduled on September 10, 2022. And I thought it would be nice to have author copies in hand.

So, here we are. You can order the paperback, now. The link is the same: http://mybook.to/wyldlingsnare. You should see the Kindle option and the paperback option on the Amazon website. If not, please let me know. I’ll call Commander Storm and he’ll… um, wallop them into the next fortnight? Darn. Perhaps Commander Storm is not the best person to entrust with such a delicate task. Regardless, please inform me about any problems and I will fix them. Somehow.

The Vagaries of Amazon Rankings

While checking the status of the paperback, I came across something quite surprising. Apparently, Amazon ranked the Wyldling Snare e-book as number one for new releases in the Teen & Young Adult Christian Fantasy category. I was duly astonished, astounded, amazed, and various other words beginning with the letter ‘a’.

I even have proof of this serendipitous event:

I’m not entirely sure how this all works, but I believe the more sales you have, the higher your book ranks in a particular category. Having people pre-order your e-book can boost your ranking before the horse even leaves the stable, so to speak. But don’t get too excited. Much like Wisconsin weather, these numbers can change in a matter of moments based on customer activity.

Now, I don’t know what qualifies as a “new release” on Amazon; one book I clicked on was published this August and another is coming out in October. Perhaps someone who’s been in this self-publishing game longer than I have can enlighten us regarding the vagaries of Amazon.

But how many new releases can there be in a category like Teen & Young Adult Christian Fantasy? I counted twenty-one. Not terribly impressive, right?

And yet… a handful of lovely people took a risk on a new author and pre-ordered my book. That is something special, and it warms the cockles of my heart. I only wish I knew who they were, so I could extend a personal “thank you.” Along with a little help from my friends, I suspect the Twitter #WritingCommunity had something to do with it… Whoever the kind folks are, I am grateful to them for following this link: http://mybook.to/wyldlingsnare.

Have you caught on to my marketing tactic? I’m not subtle.

Next time, I will feature a fellow Christian author who also writes young adult portal fantasy, highlighting her existing work and share a little blurb about her upcoming publication. The books I’ll discuss are wholesome, heart-warming, fantastical, and truly “good reads.” I very much enjoyed them, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you!

As always, please drop a comment and let me know how you’re doing, make a constructive suggestion, or ask a question, etc.

Until we meet again, have a wonderful week!