An average of 20% of the books on the Amazon Charts Top 20 weekly lists this year are self-published.
Amazon also says that ‘thousands of Kindle Direct Publishing authors earned more than $50,000 in royalties in 2017’. It has previously revealed that more than a thousand earned over $100,000 in 2017.
I have reported on some significant indie successes in the Amazon Charts, including All These Worlds by Dennis E Taylor hitting the No 1 spot in August 2017 on the strength of its audiobook sales.
The Amazon Charts were introduced in May 2017 and feature two lists — Most Sold and Most Read. Indie authors were given a big boost by the fact that Kindle Unlimited borrows are included in the calculations as well as Audible listeners.
However, it’s not a great week for indies on the current Amazon Charts (week of October 14) as the Most Read List list is dominated by J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books plus her alter ego Robert Galbraith’s new novel Lethal White.
There is one indie — Mavericks by Craig Alanson at No 17 — on the Most Read list, down from fifth place last week. This is the sixth in the Expeditionary Force science fiction series.
There is also one indie at No 17 on the Most Sold list with vampire romance Bitten by the Beast by Alexa Riley making its first entrance on the chart. You can check out the Top 20 Charts at Amazon.com/charts.
The new figures from Amazon about the Charts have been released as part of a curated list of top-selling books from independent authors which appears to be at least partly based on customer ratings.
The list includes:
Code Name Camelot — A Noah Wolf Thriller by David Archer — Thriller — Overall rating: 4.3 stars.
This title was originally published in 2016 and is the first book in the very popular Noah Wolf series, which features a total of 12 books so far.
30 Days of Justis (Michael Gresham Series) by John Ellsworth — Thriller — Overall rating: 4.6 stars.
This was published in February 2018 and is the ninth book in a legal thriller series starring Michael Gresham. The 10th in the series has already been published — The Fifth Justice.
Not So Nice Guy by R S Grey — Romance — Overall rating: 4.6 stars.
Published in the summer, this standalone romcom is a big seller from a very prolific and popular author
The Land: Predators: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seeds) by Aleron Kong — Science Fiction & Fantasy — Overall rating: 4.8 stars.
LitRPG has a very active fan base but it’s got to be good to amass over 2,400 reviews (with 89% at 5-star) since publication in February 2018.
Due Process (Joe Dillard Series) by Scott Pratt — Mystery — Overall rating: 4.7 stars.
The ninth book in another legal thriller series from an indie author who has sold more than three million books.
Hell in a Handbasket: Rose Gardner Investigations #3 by Denise Grover Swank — Romance — Overall rating: 4.8 stars.
Amazon describes this book as a romance but I’d say it’s more of a mystery/suspense/rom as it’s the third of the Rose Gardner Investigations series. Published in April this year, the fourth in the series — Up Shute Creek — is due to be published in November.
The Red Ledger 1 by Meredith Wild — Suspense — Overall rating: 4.2 stars.
This is the first in a series of six novellas which are all being published in the space of six months starting in May 2018.
The Boy and His Ribbon (Ribbon Duet) by Pepper Winters — Young Adult — Overall rating 4.8 stars.
The first in a new series from a versatile author with the follow-up title in the ‘Duet’, A Girl & Her Ren, also published.
Audiobooks rocket indie science fiction author to No 1 spot on Amazon Charts
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos reveals over 1,000 indie authors earned more than $100K through KDP in 2017
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos reveals over 1,000 indie authors earned more than $100K through KDP in 2017