Erotica dominated our Self-Published Bestsellers list this week, as the steamy genre captured four out of the ten spots on our main list.
To help GalleyCat readers discover self-published authors, we have compiled lists of the top eBooks in three major marketplaces for self-published digital books: Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.
We update these lists every week, tracking how writers perform inside these booming marketplaces. You can read all the lists below, complete with links to each book. If you are an author, check out our Free Sites to Promote Your eBook post and our How To Sell Your Self-Published Book in Bookstores post.
Amazon Self-Published Bestsellers for Week of July 16, 2012
(Last week’s rank in parentheses)
1. Slammed by Colleen Hoover: “Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she’s losing hope.” (2)
2. Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover: “Layken and Will’s relationship persevered through hardships, heartache and a cruel twist of fate, further solidifying the fact that they belong together.” (4)
3. Anything He Wants by Sara Fawkes: “Lucy Delacourt’s temp position isn’t quite her dream job but it pays the bills…barely. The highlight of her day is riding the elevator in the mornings: she always manages to time it so that she sees the handsome stranger every day.” (3)
4. Training Tessa by Lyla Sinclair: “Tessa Greer is so desperate for work she leaves Michigan and travels to Houston. She’s thrilled to land the ‘Receptionist Plus’ position at Maddox Brothers Inc. Now she can continue to pay the bills for her mentally ill mother’s care facility.”
5. Weekends Required by Sydney Landon: “Claire Walters has worked for Jason Danvers as his assistant at Danvers International for three years, and he has never thought of her as a woman until the day she jumps out of a cake at his friend’s bachelor party.” (6)
6. Easy by Tammara Webber: “A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?” (7)
7. Nerves of Steel by CJ Lyons: “Dr. Cassandra Hart is fighting a war. And losing. A deadly drug epidemic, a killer stalking her hospital…meet the ER doctor who never gives up.” (5)
8. Bedding the Billionaire by Ruth Cardello: “Lil Dartley’s life is upside down. Her previously steadfast and predictable sister is marrying an influential billionaire and needs help planning the wedding of the century in less than a month.” (9)
9. By His Desire by Kate Grey: “Keith Logan has something that Sarah Harper wants, and he’s going to use it to get what he wants. Her. All his life, Keith’s money and good looks were enough to charm anyone–except for shy, beautiful Sarah. (-)
10. Anything He Wants 2: All’s Fair by Sara Fawkes: “Lucy Delacourt has all but signed her body over to CEO Jeremiah Hamilton, promising to do anything he wants. Now she’s Paris-bound and determined to resist him and the diamond-studded world of the ultra-rich.” (-)
Barnes & Noble Self-Published eBook Bestsellers for Week of July 16, 2012
1. Slammed by Colleen Hoover
2. Sand Castles by Antoinette Stockenberg
3. Training Tessa by Lyla Sinclair
4. For His Keeping by Kelly Favor
5. A Month at the Shore by Antoinette Stockenberg
6. For His Pleasure by Kelly Favor
7. Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover
8. Married by Monday by Catherine Bybee
9. A Charmed Place by Antoinette Stockenberg
10. For His Taking by Kelly Favor
Smashwords eBook Bestsellers for Week of July 16, 2012
1. The Last Shaman by William Whitecloud
2. Wisdom by Amanda Hocking
3. Lucky Stars by Kristen Ashley
4. Old Blood by Karina Halle
5. Fairest by Chanda Hahn
6. The Phoenix Rising by Richard L. Sanders
7. The Great Convergence by Joseph Lallo
8. Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley
9. The Battle of Verril by Joseph Lallo
10. Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan
These three eBook lists were recorded on Monday, July 16, 2012.
For the Amazon list, we found the highest ranked self-published bestsellers in Amazon’s Top 100 Paid Kindle Books list. For the Barnes & Noble list, we highlighted the bestselling PubIt! eBooks from self-published authors. Finally, the Smashwords list was drawn from the bestselling titles in the company’s fiction list. None of these companies have released actual sales figures for the individual books.
If you believe your book should (or should not) be included in our rankings, feel free to email GalleyCat with your concerns. Our list will not include writers attempting to game the system by using the names of famous authors.
Editor’s Note: After riding the top of our list with Beautiful Disaster, novelist Jamie McGuire landed a traditional publishing deal for her romance novel. (Image via Horia Varlan)