A Book Launch in the Time of COVID-19 and Cyberwar (Continued)
In the first two weeks, BookScan reported 110 Weird World War III US retail print sales in the first week and 49 in the second week. I suggested this report omitted key observable data such as 41 US retail print sales in the Philadelphia region. Based on this critical omission, I concluded that the book was likely doing better than BookScan’s data would suggest.
Below are the BookScan US trade paperback sales as reported by Amazon for the period of October 19th through October 25th by geography. As a reminder, BookScan compiles point-of-sales data from ~10,000 retailers throughout the US, including Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Target, and Buy.Com. Retailers such as Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club do not participate. As such, BookScan estimates that this point-of-sales data represent about 75% of all brick-and-mortar and online retail print book sales in the US. It does not include ebook sales, sales outside the US, sales to libraries, or used book sales.
According to Bookscan, Weird World War III sold 27 copies last week, which is less than the 49 sold in the second week. However, the book’s Amazon rankings have stabilized to plus or minus 100,000 for both print and KDP sales. Also, the Philadelphia region’s print retail sales only increased by one book week-over-week, so Between Books‘ 41 sales still haven’t materialized. So again, the data is highly flawed. I’ll check in again next week, but my sense is I won’t have a clue how this book is doing until January, if and when returns come in.
Stay tuned!
On the plus side, Amazon reviews for Weird World War III continue to trickle in, and all have been four or five stars, so at least there’s some forward momentum there.
Also, if you’re reading this and still haven’t purchased a copy yet, please do. All you need do is click one of the links below. If you have purchased a copy, thank you so much. If you don’t mind doing a quick Amazon review, I would be even more grateful.
Onward!
Through A Glass Darkly 
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