BookBub listing gives The Heron Kings a boost

So sales of The Heron Kings have been in the tank since release, and after complaining to my publisher’s marketing head they got it listed as a daily Ebook deal on BookBub. This is a mailing list that sends out links to deeply discounted or free books. It has a pretty big number of subscribers and typically gives those books a bump in sales. The Kindle and Nook versions of The Heron Kings were marked down to 99 cents/pence last week and listed by BookBub on September 24th. The effect was temporary but very nice- it ultimately shot to #277 in the Kindle store overall, #56 in Fantasy and #4 in Action & Adventure Fantasy! It also snagged a 5-star review at last.

 

Of course it has since begun to sink back down quickly, but I’m hoping it’ll stay high enough for long enough to appear in those lists of recommendations you get whenever you click on something similar. All hail The Algorithm I guess. I have no illusions about making any money on this thing; I just want it to sell well enough that the publisher will consider also doing the sequel, which I’ve already written and sent off to my editor back in May…

Update: Yep, we’re doing the sequel! I hope it will come out sometime in ’22, but everything behind the publishing curtain is a complete black box, to boldy mix metaphors, so who knows. My editor finally got back to me, and he says he quite enjoys it as much if not more than the first one, so that’s encouraging. This one will be much less grimdark (or my attempt at it) than the first, though it still has its moments. I also added an actual speculative element so it has a bit less tenuous claim to being in the fantasy genre.