Amazon's Novel Rank

When matching my sales statements to what's reported for the same period on Novel Ranking, it has yet to be accurate.

Other authors have told me the same thing.

Don't know if it belongs here, but I have a related question.

Is there any way for someone to find the sales stats for a book someone else published?

If you have a Bookscan account you can find the Bookscan number for any book, regardless of who published it.

Remember, though, that that number reflects at best 60% of the market.

A buddy told me that my Amazon ranking had improved, so he figured I must have sold some books. I got excited and went online and checked, but I hadn't. Somehow my numbers changed without any related sales, so I don't know about the accuracy of the ranking system.

wizard tim said:

A buddy told me that my Amazon ranking had improved, so he figured I must have sold some books. I got excited and went online and checked, but I hadn't. Somehow my numbers changed without any related sales, so I don't know about the accuracy of the ranking system.

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The numbers can bounce around without a single sale - it depends on the other books in your catagory and all that.

I'm not sure what rankings really mean other than a fine way to keep authors rushing to check 'em out.

Could it not be based on reviews or number of people clicking on your entry but not necessarily buying? I know Amazon logs all that info so this could be one way they use it?

Novel Rank isn't actually an Amazon site or um, thingy, though. It uses the ranking data from Amazon sites to make a best guess about sales, no doubt using some arcane algorithm. I have my novel set up and was a bit obsessed with checking it for a while, bit the novelty wore off. (Novelty? See what I did there? ) I'm waiting to see Amazon sales in my royalty statements to check how accurate Novel Rank is.

Use your Amazon author dashboard, not the book's sales rank, to track your sales.

areteus said:

Could it not be based on reviews or number of people clicking on your entry but not necessarily buying? I know Amazon logs all that info so this could be one way they use it?

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Nah, reviews and clicks aren't counted.

It's been my experience that NovelRank is more accurate than I've read other people reporting. It lags about an hour behind Amazon's fairly real-time rank on your book's page, so if you have a decent batch of sales, NovelRank may not show your absolute lowest rank.

The only inaccuracy I've noticed is multiple sales reporting. While you get accurate figures (albeit incomplete) from BookScan on your author's page, Amazon ranking and the information available to NovelRank have not reflected multiple sales in a single order. I know of several book clubs that placed orders for my book, with each showing up as a single book sold. I'm guessing it's Amazon's way of keeping authors from manipulating their sales rank.

Scope, one sale a day would put your book at a rank of around 50,000. Two a day would easily keep it in the 30k range. But if you go two days between sales, it'll steadily climb up to 200k. One sale will then drop it right back down close to 50k again.

NovelRank does give you updated sales numbers (again, accuracy seems to be in the eye of the beholder), while the BookScan numbers on the author page is weekly -- although it does include 70 or so percent of all retail sales.

My two cents is that Amazon did a great thing by sharing BookScan numbers. Some agents feared it would drive authors crazy, but I figure they'd be crazy anyway. And I'm all for having as much information as possible.

Speaking for myself, when I compare my actual sales to what Novel Ranking reports, they are way off. They under report everytime by quite a substantial number.

I've been told by many other authors that the more you sell, the bigger that divide becomes.

brainstorm77 said:

I've been told by many other authors that the more you sell, the bigger that divide becomes.

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Ha, and I've heard it suggested -- by agents -- that some of the claimed inaccuracies have been ego related. IDK, it's simple accounting, not rocket science. I suppose cancelled orders could screw up numbers, but I don't see why Amazon hasn't nailed it down better than something vaguely accurate.

It's a fairly unique industry that sales numbers are so personal and carefully protected. I have a friend who sells Toyotas. His manager puts everyone's sales numbers up on a board in gigantic red marker. We writers are some fragile-ass mo-fos...

Novel Rank is not accurate, and it leans towards over-estimates. Do not go getting suspicious of your publisher based on Novel Rank estimates.

veinglory said:

Novel Rank is not accurate, and it leans towards over-estimates. Do not go getting suspicious of your publisher based on Novel Rank estimates.

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Just my experience, but I've never experienced a sale reported by NovelRank that didn't follow a sale on Amazon. Again, I'm only speaking for myself and what I've seen of my own numbers. I'd be curious to check out any sites or blogs that have tracked NovelRank's inaccuracies.

I have experienced many false positive with Novel rank, up to one in 5 false positives, which is why I stopped following it. I have also seen emails to author loop where publisher express a desire not to be harassed on this issue any more.

One sale takes you to about 50,000 but so for low selling books it will be about right. It may also be very close for extremely high selling books in the top 1000. But in between it seems to fall down.

veinglory said:

I have experienced many false positive with Novel rank, up to one in 5 false positives, which is why I stopped following it. I have also seen emails to author loop where publisher express a desire not to be harassed on this issue any more.

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Wouldn't it be a dead giveaway when someone's Amazon rank wasn't dropping to coincide with NovelRank sales being posted? Publishers getting harassed over over a third party reporting site? Too funny.

The whole point is that when sales blur together rather than being distinct ticks the estimate becomes off.

And I doubt many businesses find being accused of fraud funny.

colealpaugh said:

Ha, and I've heard it suggested -- by agents -- that some of the claimed inaccuracies have been ego related. IDK, it's simple accounting, not rocket science. I suppose cancelled orders could screw up numbers, but I don't see why Amazon hasn't nailed it down better than something vaguely accurate.

It's a fairly unique industry that sales numbers are so personal and carefully protected. I have a friend who sells Toyotas. His manager puts everyone's sales numbers up on a board in gigantic red marker. We writers are some fragile-ass mo-fos...

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Why would any agent say that?

It is simple accounting. When placed next to my publishers statement from what Amazon sends them in regards to my sales, it's always more than what Novel Ranking reports.

If someone chooses not to believe that, and thinks my ego is inflated. That's their problem.

Do I think I should share sales specifics with the world? No. That would be like me sharing how much I make a year at nursing, and that's none of anyone else's business.

veinglory said:

And I doubt many businesses find being accused of fraud funny.

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Uh, authors using a sketchy third party site to accuse their own publisher of fraud is hilarious...to me. And I'm certain of it. We must have a different sense of humor. But that's okay, right?

Like many things it probably gets less funny with repetition.

colealpaugh said:

Uh, authors using a sketchy third party site to accuse their own publisher of fraud is hilarious...to me. And I'm certain of it. We must have a different sense of humor. But that's okay, right?

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It is hilarious. But some do follow Novel Ranking thinking that those numbers are spot on. I mentioned it in an authors group not long ago. MANY replied stating they thought that site was accurate, while others thought Amazon ran it.

brainstorm77 said:

Do I think I should share sales specifics with the world? No. That would be like me sharing how much I make a year at nursing, and that's none of anyone else's business.

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I don't disagree that it's your own business...of course it is. However, a high school guidance counselor can tell a kid how much a nurse makes in any particular region of the US. I wonder what they tell kids a writer makes?

veinglory said:

Like many things it probably gets less funny with repetition.

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Someone's in a crappy mood. Not sayin' it's you. Just someone.

I'm gonna go walk my dog.