Marketing Badge

I was scrolling through Facebook posts this past week and noticed a friend had achieved a #1 ranking, and I congratulated them on their achievement. The author responded by stating that the ranking was short-lived. I replied that they should take the win because nothing in life is forever. If only I could take that advice for myself. It has long been my goal to receive that best seller badge, and technically, I have, but I don’t count it because it wasn’t for either Lesbian Romance or Lesbian Fiction, and it was only in the “New Releases” category. I’ve come close several times, reaching the #2 spot and not just in the “New Releases” category or in the lesser-known categories like LGBT Science Fiction and LGBT Action and Adventure, which was where I achieved those Best Seller badges. For whatever reason, I don’t count that. I also don’t count when I achieved that in LGBTQ+ Thrillers and Suspense for new releases in audio. I should be satisfied that I’ve achieved the top ten or top five on multiple occasions, but again, I don’t count those successes. Thus, I’ve never believed that I could honestly state I am a best-selling author.

I’ve seen many authors use both “award-winning author” and “best-selling author” in their marketing. Because I’ve won a Goldie and several Lesfic Bard awards, I felt I could add that badge to my marketing, but I’ve never felt comfortable using the best-selling author badge. Why? Because the books I actually got the new release best seller badges for were two of my lowest-selling books (ironically, I have a soft spot for both of them and believed them to be some of my better work). I thought that would be cheating, dishonest, and false marketing. I’m not sure how realistic my goal will be because I’m not sure how many more books I have inside me. I’m not getting any younger. Add to that the post I saw regarding how infrequently books that are not on Kindle Unlimited make it into the top twenty, and I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed! I’ve wondered how other authors and readers perceive those marketing badges. Does it really help to sell books? Or are we kidding ourselves that those marketing badges are important? Like those books that made it into those obscure categories as a best seller, a relatively recent book that won two awards was also one of my worst sellers. So, my guess is that they don’t really mean all that much! Letting go of that goal to reach the #1 spot for Lesbian Romance or Lesbian Fiction might be a whole lot easier than I thought!

Want to know which books legitimately made it into the top five? They include, Artist Free Zone, Sculpting Her Heart, Asset Management, Inspiration Takes a Vacation, and Locked Inside. Were they my best books…hard to say…but at least they were all books that sold a decent number of copies! Want to check those books out or any others…you know the drill…just click the links below!