January 2026 Amazon Results
After a more quiet month of December, well actually after Christmas things got busier, I didn’t know what to expect for January. I was hopeful for my new book the Hucow Hotel that I released on the 26th December, but after the non-event of Women in Warehouse 13, I didn’t have high hopes. But I was pleasently surprised. Maybe it’s the name, the keywords, the people who read it shouted about it, I don’t know. But to date it’s almost doubled the page reads and book orders and it’s been out less time. I think what I learnt here is that I stick to the kinks, at least under this pen name. I have this sweet / spicy book idea I would like to write at the later end of this year, but I think depending on how spicy I make it, it might be one for a new pen name.
Anyhow, Ginger & Spicy very kindly did their end of year reading wraps and included my book - The Secret Club, which in turn generated a little boost in KU page reads and book sales. Yay.
I was getting a little worried I didn’t know if my audio producer was working on my book or not, but she was and has been awesome. I now have my Rosie, James and 4 other men brave enough to read my words out loud. Yep, going full cast to bring The Secret Club to life. Because of this months little boost in sales, I was able to ask for The Secret Job to be scheduled to be recoreded at the same time. Eeek, I went from one audio book budget to two! I wish it was three, but right now, I don’t have that money coming so I simply have to wait. Plus, I am writing Sophies story and feel like I’d like to have her audio created to come out the same time as her book. So any new funds are really going to be put towards her. Oh gosh, I have this idea to go along with this story and I cannot wait to bring it to life. I just need to write the next 60-80k words first and make her good enough for my readers. That’s the pressure now, when I wrote my first books, I wrote blissfully for my own indulgence. Now I have fair few more people who are waiting for a half decent book. And a decent book I shall write. Because I’m the bar, if I’m not enjoying it or feeling the tingles, why would I expect my reapers too?
Something new for 2026, I have decided to treat writing as my part time job. I already work for myself, but that seems to only take up my afternoons these days. So as much as I can, I am going to write on Mon, Thurs & Fri mornings, along with some evenings and weekends. I confess, I can't switch off until the book is written, so I do struggle to relax outside of writing. But it’s a step in the right direction.
Yesterday I received a follow up email from Podium to see if they could aquire the audio rights to my clarendon series. The email they were following up on was from October. How different my journey may have been if I went with them instead of producing myself (well with two birds audio). I’m going to have a chat with them anyways because I learnt last weekend that I cannot upload my audiobooks direct to Amazon, therefore I am not illegible for their exclusive 40% payout. I can only achieve their wide payout of 25% and I also have to pay a third party platform 20% of any earnings. That hurt me. But maybe it’s for the best. If I go wide, maybe more people really will listen to my books. I hope so. I have no other choice. Maybe going with Podium will make it work out better, I don’t know. But it’s worth a chat.
I think that wraps up everything in January. Here are the results:
Orders: 686
KENP: 2,234,490
Amazon Reviews: 847 (4.3) - Based on Book One: The Secret Club in the US
Amazon Followers: 791
Goodreads Reviews: No longer checking for my mental health
Goodreads Followers: 60 from memory
Preorders Book #4: 67
January achievement: The Hucow Hotel staying at #1 New Release in Horror Erotica & Suspense Erotica in the UK for much of the month
January lesson: More people read when its cold or they’re snowed in.