As ebook discovery draws more focus and more readers and authors speak out about the need for guidance in finding new great reads, several companies are making a concerted effort to highlight some books that are doing well in terms of sales and overall traffic. Ebook distribution platform Smashwords and publishing industry news mainstay Publisher’s Weekly have collaborated on a new bestseller list project that will spread the word about titles on a monthly basis.
Today, Publisher’s Weekly printed the first monthly bestseller list aggregated from sales that were distributed by Smashwords, and will continue to publish the list in an on-going format. Today’s list highlights the books who were top sellers through Smashwords in May 2013. The list includes titles by authors J. S. Scott, Abbi Glines, Kirsty Moseley, Katy Evans, J.M. Stone, Melody Grace, Shayne Parkinson, Pamela Ann, Mia Dymond, Katie Ashley, Quinn Loftis, Madeline Sheehan, Meek Mill, Colleen Hoover, Jon Acuff, and Chanda Hahn.
According to a post by Smashwords’ CEO Mark Coker, “This will be an ongoing feature. I’m excited by where we and PW can take this list in the future, and how it will help shine a bright and deserving light on the 60,000+ amazingly talented writers who publish and distribute with Smashwords. Stay tuned for the our bestseller lists for June, July and beyond!”
While the monthly Smashwords bestseller list will include the top twenty-five ranked books from across its distribution network, Publisher’s Weekly will print the top ten titles in its publication. The post this morning went on to include some helpful hints for authors whose work may not be enjoying the discovery that they had originally hoped.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.