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BOOK BOMB! After Action Report

Brian Niemeier
As far more people than I’d expected are aware, superstar author Larry Correia held one of his celebrated BOOK BOMBS for my debut novel, Nethereal.
Obligatory BOOK BOMB! Explanation: For those who are unfamiliar with Book Bombs, how it works is that Larry picks a book, usually by a new writer, and encourages all of his fans to buy it from Amazon on the same day. This mass influx of sales drives the book’s rankings to ever loftier and more rarefied heights. As a result, the book finds lots of new readers and the author GETS PAID!
Lots of folks have been asking me how my BOOK BOMB! went. To be honest, the aftershocks are still being felt. Nevertheless, I can now share some details about the initial impact on Wednesday.
By the numbers
Larry kicked off the BOOK BOMB! late Tuesday night. Here’s what Nethereal’s Amazon numbers looked like when the festivities commenced:
NETHEREAL Starting Ranks:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,367 Paid in Kindle Store
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,369 in Books
All things considered, that’s a pretty strong starting position. It’s about 20,000 places higher than Bad Penny by John Brown (remember: when it comes to Amazon ranks, higher is worse). I mention John’s book because its BOOK BOMB! performance is the most similar to Nethereal’s among novels in a series.
 
Now that we’ve established the starting point, where did my book finish?
NETHEREAL Best Rankings:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #418 Paid in Kindle Store
  •  #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera
  • #5 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Opera
  • #13 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror
This is absolutely earthshaking, and I’ll tell you why.
First, as you can probably tell, I did my homework. By my calculations, the normal effect of a BOOK BOMB! is to reduce a book’s ranking by one degree of magnitude. That in itself is awesome.
Not only did Nethereal enjoy double that effect, the drop in rank by almost 56,000 places and its best ranking of 418 makes it the fourth most successful BOOK BOMB! I could find records for.
I’m deeply grateful to everyone who helped get Nethereal so high on that list. We showed that my readers can roll with some of the heaviest hitters out there.
Thanks to you guys, for one day I was the 28th best selling horror author in the world. I outsold every Stephen King book in that category except for Misery.
Yep. I’ll take that 🙂
Follow the money
Let’s get down to brass tacks. What everybody–especially other authors–want to know is, “How much is a BOOK BOMB! worth?”
I’m not trying to weasel my way out of giving a direct answer; I will point out that the answer varies based on several factors, including cover price, royalty rate, whether you’ve got to split the loot with an agent, etc.
However, this should give you an idea of the awesome power of a BOOK BOMB!
In the week leading up to the event, I was averaging eight sales a day (a figure which I’m sure was boosted by pre-BB announcements).
Yeah, Wednesday’s sales exceeded the average by more than a factor of 75.
Considering how my books are priced, and taking into account that I get a 70% royalty rate, each sale earns me around two bucks, which is actually pretty decent.
As the Lord of Hate hath prophesied, the BOOK BOMB! sales boost is still going. All told, I’ll make out with a total windfall equivalent to a standard advance for a first-time author.
Except my royalty rate is 5.6 times higher than that hypothetical new author’s, I don’t have to give fifteen percent to an agent, and I don’t have to pay it back 🙂
Instead I can invest the profits in my business. Soul Cycle Book III is gonna need editing and a nice cover, after all. Plus, I’m cooking up some plans for other projects. Keep watching this space.
In conclusion
Next month marks my first anniversary as a self-published novelist.
When I first started out, I had no idea if my book would break even, never mind turn a profit. For that matter, I didn’t know if anyone would buy them at all.
I’m thankful to my readers for making me sell twice as well as most indie authors even before the BOOK BOMB!
I’m prostrating myself in awe before Larry Correia and the Monster Hunter Nation for multiplying that success by almost ten times!
Special thanks to my author friends who boosted the BOOK BOMB! signal, including Russell Newquist, Mike Cernovich, Vox Day, John C. Wright, Declan Finn, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Nick Cole, Jeff Duntemann, my Sci Phi Journal editor Jason Rennie, and my Geek Gab cohost Jasyn Jones.
And of course, thanks to my family and friends who supported me.
The ride’s just getting started.
There’s still time to hop on.
Follow me on Twitter: @BrianNiemeier
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