Christmas is strange month for book sales and those all-important pages read. During the early part of this Holy month, many authors have been seeing a reduction in the number of pages read of their book per day—even though their rankings have remained high, and their books have remained highly visible. For some, this could be seen as something of a disaster—pages read dropping during the first half of the month? How can this happen during the biggest selling month of the year?
“It’s unexplainable,” one author told me. “I can’t understand why people aren’t reading my books like they were in November!”
It’s not unexplainable at all. Folks have lives outside of buying books. People are living their lives and getting themselves ready for the big day. Presents are being purchased, wrapped and placed under the tree. Ah, the tree! The tree, of course, has to be put up and decorated. Cards are being sent. Writers are saying they can’t find the time to write books—well, readers, I’m sure are struggling to find time to read. Those good folks who two months ago were whiling away their evenings reading books are now hotly discussing who gets to cook the turkey!
That said, the month certainly has commercial value. Even though readers aren’t voraciously buying and reading every book they come across— there’s still enough readers left who are buying books and putting them into good positions on the bestseller charts. A Western launched today could climb the charts quickly and reach a good position in time for the readers to return en masse, and they will. After Christmas we should see all those readers returning to their favorite pastime—reading Western fiction.
December is an excellent month for launching new Westerns and getting them positioned for the new year. December can even be an excellent month for sales after the big day is done and folks are easing into the quiet time that comes after Christmas Day—but if you’re seeing lower pages read and sales during these days of December, don’t despair. Readers are human too, and they have a lot going on.
With Christmas just around the corner, I would like to take this chance to wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas. It’s a pleasure to know you all.
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