Great question! My role isn’t to provide advice about how to act on the data. Even if it was, I doubt there would be any advice that would universally apply to all authors. There are way too many potential factors to say that one is the strongest influence on book sales, plus every author’s situation is unique.
The closest I’ll probably get to providing advice is to say that data like this is just one factor to consider, but focusing on your craft and telling a great story is the most important thing. Writing in first person vs third isn’t going to make a crappy story into an amazing one.
My biggest takeaway is probably the need for better data literacy. I shared the POV findings on Threads and some authors despaired about the low number of books written in third person among the Top 100.
However, we can’t say the books in the Top 100 are best sellers BECAUSE they are written in first person (there are too many factors to determine causation). But it does indicate a correlation, which could be due to reader preference or due to more romance authors writing in first person now or a combination of many factors. So if you write in third person, please don’t despair!
I won’t be advising anyone to write in first person POV. However, if you’ve been thinking about trying to write in first person, now might be the time to test that out. But if you hate writing in first, I definitely wouldn’t change your whole writing process because of this one data point.
Apologies for such a long answer!! I hope this helps 💜
No worries! For context, I'm a data person myself. I enjoy asking this sort of question of everyone I've ever worked with in the data world, and I love getting the same. Sometimes, there's something the person in the data just sees or feels, and you just need to poke them to encourage that good stuff.
Of course, I couldn't possibly expect that to be objective or universal! My favorite saying related to data analysis in general is "There's lies, damn lies, and statistics." 😂
I've always found asking for deeper insights to be a fun exercise that encourages discussion. Sometimes it even generates useful brain bursts on a new way to examine data!
Analysis of the book industry is somewhat barren, leaving numerous possibilities for how to take insights to the next level.
Absolutely! I expect more of that will emerge over time with more months of data to compare. It feels like I’ve barely scratched the surface at this point!
This is fascinating, thank you! So interesting to see what people are buying (or at least downloading under Kindle Unlimited). It would be really interesting to see how this correlated to star rating and see if the most bought matches with the highest rating. Maybe I'll have a poke around Amazon and Goodreads!
There are a lot of issues with ratings in general, so I’m not surprised there isn’t a correlation. Star ratings are very subjective with no standard definition, so everyone has their own interpretation of what a 5 star, 4 star, 3 star, etc book is. Lots of people rate based on personal feelings vs quality of the book as well. Review bombing is an issue too.
I find the whole thing fascinating! I was thinking of writing a post soon on what it takes me to give a five-star review; I would kind of like everyone to do the same 😂
Also keep in mind that I only looked at the correlation between the rank and star rating among these top 100 books. All of these books had fairly high ratings, all 4.0 and above. There may be a correlation between rank and rating if we looked at a much larger group of books, but we only have data for the Top 100.
This is incredibly valuable and comprehensive analysis.; thank you. I especially loved the book cover infographics and the trad v self publishing data is inspiring! As an emerging Masala Romance writer (specifically SFF / romantasy), I find your missive helpful and encouraging… thanks again!
Thank you so much!! I’m so glad you found it helpful. I’m excited to share data that includes more self-published books, and see what trends emerge over time.
This is really great analysis, thank you!
I am curious about your biggest takeaways from these findings. Anything actionable or would you say it is just general trends at this time?
Great question! My role isn’t to provide advice about how to act on the data. Even if it was, I doubt there would be any advice that would universally apply to all authors. There are way too many potential factors to say that one is the strongest influence on book sales, plus every author’s situation is unique.
The closest I’ll probably get to providing advice is to say that data like this is just one factor to consider, but focusing on your craft and telling a great story is the most important thing. Writing in first person vs third isn’t going to make a crappy story into an amazing one.
My biggest takeaway is probably the need for better data literacy. I shared the POV findings on Threads and some authors despaired about the low number of books written in third person among the Top 100.
However, we can’t say the books in the Top 100 are best sellers BECAUSE they are written in first person (there are too many factors to determine causation). But it does indicate a correlation, which could be due to reader preference or due to more romance authors writing in first person now or a combination of many factors. So if you write in third person, please don’t despair!
I won’t be advising anyone to write in first person POV. However, if you’ve been thinking about trying to write in first person, now might be the time to test that out. But if you hate writing in first, I definitely wouldn’t change your whole writing process because of this one data point.
Apologies for such a long answer!! I hope this helps 💜
No worries! For context, I'm a data person myself. I enjoy asking this sort of question of everyone I've ever worked with in the data world, and I love getting the same. Sometimes, there's something the person in the data just sees or feels, and you just need to poke them to encourage that good stuff.
Of course, I couldn't possibly expect that to be objective or universal! My favorite saying related to data analysis in general is "There's lies, damn lies, and statistics." 😂
I've always found asking for deeper insights to be a fun exercise that encourages discussion. Sometimes it even generates useful brain bursts on a new way to examine data!
Analysis of the book industry is somewhat barren, leaving numerous possibilities for how to take insights to the next level.
Absolutely! I expect more of that will emerge over time with more months of data to compare. It feels like I’ve barely scratched the surface at this point!
This is fascinating, thank you! So interesting to see what people are buying (or at least downloading under Kindle Unlimited). It would be really interesting to see how this correlated to star rating and see if the most bought matches with the highest rating. Maybe I'll have a poke around Amazon and Goodreads!
I just checked and there is no correlation between rank and star rating!
Oooh thanks for checking! So the books people are buying most aren't necessarily the books people are most enjoying 🤯
I’ve seen a number of Bookstagrammers post their rating system/criteria!
There are a lot of issues with ratings in general, so I’m not surprised there isn’t a correlation. Star ratings are very subjective with no standard definition, so everyone has their own interpretation of what a 5 star, 4 star, 3 star, etc book is. Lots of people rate based on personal feelings vs quality of the book as well. Review bombing is an issue too.
I find the whole thing fascinating! I was thinking of writing a post soon on what it takes me to give a five-star review; I would kind of like everyone to do the same 😂
Also keep in mind that I only looked at the correlation between the rank and star rating among these top 100 books. All of these books had fairly high ratings, all 4.0 and above. There may be a correlation between rank and rating if we looked at a much larger group of books, but we only have data for the Top 100.
This is incredibly valuable and comprehensive analysis.; thank you. I especially loved the book cover infographics and the trad v self publishing data is inspiring! As an emerging Masala Romance writer (specifically SFF / romantasy), I find your missive helpful and encouraging… thanks again!
Thank you so much!! I’m so glad you found it helpful. I’m excited to share data that includes more self-published books, and see what trends emerge over time.