Crowdfunded Crime Novel Sells Over 1,000 Units in First Week of Release

Author Darren Hackett makes guest appearance on TYT Interviews to discuss how Kickstarter, social media and insider knowledge of Amazon’s algorithm allowed him to drive sales of his independently published debut novel.
 
THE ANTIQUITY Kindle Cover Art
THE ANTIQUITY Kindle Cover Art
LOS ANGELES - Sept. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- Three years before it was published, The Antiquity: An L.A. Crime Novel raised over $12K on Kickstarter, surpassing the original goal of $10K. Today, it’s an Amazon best seller.

When the Kindle edition was released last month, The Antiquity soared to #1 in the pulp thrillers category and to #300 on the overall Kindle Store best sellers list. For the majority of the time since then, it has been ranked in the Top 20 best selling books in three Kindle categories: pulp thrillers, noir and occult suspense.

With over 2,500 ebooks sold in the first six weeks, The Antiquity has gained even greater exposure through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, which allows members to download and read ebooks free of charge. To date, The Antiquity has tallied nearly half a million Kindle page reads.

“I used to write screenplays, thinking that was the best way to get my stories out into the world, but there were just way too many gatekeepers and far too much luck was required to get anything done,” said author Darren Hackett, who spent more than eleven years developing The Antiquity. “I started writing this novel with the die-hard notion that I would never let an agent or a publisher stand in the way of me getting my story out there for people to enjoy. I always knew I had enough hustle in me to sell copies from the trunk of my car if I had to.”

While a robust social media campaign and strategic online promotions have played a major role in the book’s early success, Hackett also takes to the streets on weekends to sell paperback copies of The Antiquity to locals and tourists on the world famous Venice boardwalk.

“People are always interested to learn that my novel was funded with Kickstarter,” he said. “It's one of the biggest selling points. I think they really like the idea of being a part of a grassroots effort. Some people may think I’m wacky for setting up a table of books on the Venice boardwalk, or for handing out business cards to total strangers in supermarket parking lots, but as long as I keep selling copies, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Hackett premiered the paperback edition of The Antiquity at the 2015 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April, where he sold more than 125 copies (at the $14.95 price point) in just two days. Within weeks, The Antiquity was flagged as a STAFF PICK at Book Soup, a longstanding independent book store on L.A.'s Sunset Strip, where it has been one of the best selling consignment titles of the year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

DARREN HACKETT has worked as a professional writer for more than twenty-five years. As a journalist, he wrote news and feature stories for The Washington Post, The Miami Herald and The Baltimore Sun. While working in the entertainment industry, he penned several screenplays, including a suspense thriller for film director Richard Donner. He also spent time traveling the world as a writer/director of shark programming for the Animal Planet cable network. The Antiquity is his first novel.

MEET THE AUTHOR ON TYT INTERVIEWS



BUY THE BOOK ON AMAZON

BUY IT AT BOOK SOUP

KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN RESULTS

AUTHOR'S TWITTER ACCOUNT

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Tags:Kickstarter, Mystery, Kindle, Amazon, Crowdfunding, Fiction, Crime, Ebook
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Page Updated Last on: Sep 15, 2015



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