Release begins at 4, right now it's...
3:48 PM:
Beautiful is at 11 copies sold, though I think the reporting feature on my Author dashboard isn't catching up with reality just yet....
Sales: 11
Rank: 14, 842
Jess says the book is #3 on the paranormal fantasy/vampires list, but I can't find it....
4:09 PM:
Sales: 12
Rank: 16,198
Unless amazon has done some major overhauls on how things work, we won't see a rank change until sometime after 5. That might be different, actually, because it changed mid-hour today already, so I'll keep an eye on it. Anyone that finds my book in the top 100 of any list, please post a comment here or on my wall on facebook. I can't seem to find the one my wife told me about.
4:42 PM:
Just a quick update, as amazon is failing me in my hour of need: sales figures are NOT updating in real time. Confirmed by the fact that at least half a dozen people have bought it and told me they did, yet the sales haven't showed up yet.
5:12 PM
Sales: 16
Rank: 16,198 (no update yet)
Sales reports trickling in slowly, still not showing up in real time. On the upside, this link shows that right now, I'm #1 in recently popular books tagged with "Paranormal Fantasy--Vampires". Admittedly a small group, but I'll take what I can get. Much like winning arguments in a marriage...
5:23 PM
Amazon's system is really laggy, as my rank dropped just now to 17,452. I assume that it will update correctly next hour, and we'll see a huge jump in that number, probably under the 10,000 mark. Hopefully better. It WOULD be today that the system has to work so hard, right?
6:10 PM
Sales: 23 (Doubt this is accurate, though)
Rank: 17,452 (not updated)
Well, I was hoping for more functionality from Amazon, but Saturday is a big night sales-wise for them. Hopefully as the flurry of people buying eBooks dies down tonight we'll see some more accurate numbers. Will update as soon as the sales rank does.
6:35 PM
Sales: 23 (unchanged)
Rank: 15,109 (This is wrong)
The rank system isn't working properly. Sales aren't being registered there as they should be. I'll keep an eye out, but I doubt at this point that my rank and sales are accurate in the least.
7:17 PM
Sales: 24
Rank: 15,109 (unchanged. Again.)
Nothing really new to report. Watching to see when the rank changes. I don't expect it to go much lower unless the system recognizes more of my sales.
7:25 PM
Rank is now at 13,411. Anyone who hasn't grabbed the book yet, let's keep the momentum going!
8:13 PM
Sales: 26
Rank: 13,411 Looks like the rank is updating around half past the hour, so we'll see how it goes...
8:26 PM
Sales: 27
Rank: 4,827 !!!!!! AND I'm in the top 100 contemporary fantasy books! I know you're gonna say "pics or it didn't happen", so....
9:12 PM
Sales: 28
Rank: 4,827 in paid Kindle Store, 90 in contemporary fantasy
I'm anxious to see how the rankings look when they update. I'm thrilled to have gotten this far, and I hope the momentum lasts!
9:21 pm
No new sales, but I have one review (4/5 stars, YAY!) and....
Rank: 4,371 in paid store, 78 in contemporary fantasy
I'm realistic enough to know that without some new sales, this is likely the peak position Beautiful will reach tonight. Here's hoping the sales updates are even slower than I initially thought so more will show up.
10:10 PM
Sales: 29
Rank: 3,925 in paid kindle store. #71 kindle contemporary fantasy, #99 in contemporary fantasy for ALL BOOKS on amazon! WOOOOOHOOOOO (again)!
11:18 PM
Sales: 30
Rank: 4,340 in paid store, #78 contemporary fantasy on kindle.
I've seen one purchase that won't have gone into this, so unless more pop up between now and midnight I'm calling it a night. If some more people buy the book I'll try to keep on even if it means passing out on my laptop...
12:36 AM
Sales: 33
Rank: 4,480 in paid store, #82 in kindle contemporary fantasy
I'm going to go to the next update at least, since sales have happened in the last forty minutes. I'd like to see if we can hit a high point before I slump over unconscious.
1:14 AM
Sales: 34
Rank: 4,937 in paid store, #94 in kindle contemporary fiction
Not a bad night. I assume the numbers will jump a bit after two since they obviously didn't fall into this update, but I don't think I'll be awake to see it. I'll check back in when I wake up, but overall I'm pleased. We cracked the top 4000 and got on a top 100 list. Good times.
7:42 AM
Sales: 35
Rank: 5,382 in paid store
I'll be keeping an eye out off and on until 4 when the event ends, but I don't expect miracles. The metadata for the book isn't fully functional yet, which means it isn't showing up as a suggested sale anywhere at the moment. That will probably take a few days.
2:18 PM
Sales: 37
Rank: 7,040 in paid store
With just less than two hours to go for the event, I've got two sales that came as a bit of a surprise after a slow morning. I'll keep an eye on the numbers, and I'm already planning another one of these donation drive events not too far down the road. There are some interesting things going on behind the scenes that could be very fun...
3:14 PM
Sales: 37
Rank: 7,638
Looks like we're on the tail end of our rush efforts. I'll give another update after the 4:00ish numbers come out.
Ok, no more sales since the last update! That's it for this promotion for charity, and the release day for Beautiful is officially done! Thanks to all of you who followed the blog, bought the book, or just cheered me on. You all rock!
