Does a successful novel help with the sales of previous novels?

Paula is curious that a successful novel hasn’t bumped up the sales of her previous novels.

“Get a back list,” they said.

“Once you’ve written three (or was that six?) books, and built up a fan base, your earlier books will sell,” they said.

Well, in my experience (so far anyway), they were wrong!

My sixth book ‘Irish Inheritance’ took off last April, after selling slowly in February and March. You may even remember how depressed I was at the end of February because of the low sales. I’d almost decided to give up writing, since only a handful of people were reading my books.

From April, however, ‘Irish Inheritance’ has sold steadily. Okay, not millions of sales but way higher than any of my other books. I won’t go into the whys and wherefores of that, except to say I have not done any more promotion and marketing than I’ve done for any of my other books, and I am at a loss to explain the continuing steady sales, especially on the Amazon USA site. My publisher’s suggestion was: “The word "Irish" in the title might be the draw factor. Then again, it might just be that we have hit the very magic combination of great story, right cover, excellent price, and timely market (which only happens once in a blue moon!)”.

Whatever the reason, it is still selling, and so far has garnered 22 five star reviews and 13 four star reviews on the USA site, plus 20 five and four star reviews on the UK site, and four good reviews on the Canadian site.

However, back to my original point. ‘Irish Inheritance’ has been relatively successful – but has that success had an impact on the sales of my previous novels? The short answer to that is a resounding NO.

This month, ‘Changing the Future’ is featured in my publisher’s November Sale, and is being offered at 99 cents. The result? Maybe a few more downloads than in previous months, but nothing to shout about (i.e less than 5 so far!). My very first novel, ‘His Leading Lady’ was also re-released this month (with a great new cover), but again, only a few sales. As for my other 3 novels, the effect has been nil.

It appears, therefore, that one successful novel does not, despite what the ‘pundits’ say, lead to more sales of one’s other novels.

I’m not complaining, by the way! I’m more than happy that ‘Irish Inheritance’ continues to sell well, but I thought it was worth pointing out that even the reviewers who have enjoyed this book aren’t rushing to buy my other books. Well, apart from one reviewer who said, “I had not encountered this author before but now I can't wait to read more.” I hope he/she does!