News and views from the award-winning author of the novels The Skinny Years, America Libre, House Divided and Pancho Land

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Adult Fiction: Just 19 of Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers

As an author of fiction for adult readers, I was not expecting this. While checking on the status of my own novels today (a near-onanistic habit most authors indulge in), I decided to scope out Amazon's Top 100. This is terra incognita for my titles and I was startled to find how few adult fiction titles made Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers.

Just 19, to be exact.

Granted, this is a snapshot of a list that changes hourly. All the same, I cannot imagine this is a freak trend.

Below is a breakout of the adult fiction titles by genre…
Literary: 5
Erotica: 4 – by same author
Thriller: 3
Fantasy: 3
Horror: 2 – by same author
Romance: 1
SciFi: 1

So here's an observation for aspiring writers. Want to be a bestselling author? Consider writing a diet or self-help book. Between them, they make up more than 50% of  Amazon's Top 100.

The 19 adult fiction titles and their rank in Amazon's Top 100 are listed below.