I recently changed the name of my THE HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS series to MODO: STEAMPUNK AGENT. Why would I do that since the series has had that title (in English speaking countries) since 2009? Well, because I like to experiment. And I only changed the title on the Amazon store in the UK. I happen to own the rights in the UK (sadly no British publisher picked up the series--but I did just fine on ebook sales) and after doing research on how titles can influence where a book is placed in various "shelves" on Amazon I changed it to what you see above. Since the most often searched term that finds my series is "steampunk" I decided to put it right in the title. I was also influenced by the recent movie news. The production companies settled on MODO as the right title for the movie. So, in a way, I'm market testing the name (oddly enough MODO was the original name of the series before my various publishers and I settled on THE HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS). I like the simplicity of the name. Sales had slowed in the UK so I didn't feel I was confusing the brand too much.
And the effect? Well sales have jumped. But that may be because I've priced the books dangerously low to get a bit of attention. In fact they're holding down the 7-9th spot on Kindle UK's Steampunk Children's Novels bestseller's list (don't you love all the besteller lists on Kindle?):
Of course they've only sold about five copies each to get to that station. But it's a start. And it's the very start of this experiment.
If you happen to be from the UK (the author says...putting on his sales hat) get them today! While supplies of the endlessly reproduced digital book last! Or, while this rock bottom price lasts! Just click here.
So that's my latest little experiment in the world of books. I'll keep you updated if something exciting happens.
P.S. The various series titles are THE HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS (Canada, US, Australia), The Agents of Mr. Socrates (France), Mission Clockwork (Germany) and...I don't have an accurate title for the Chinese version.
