Aftermath is again on the NYT Bestseller list. Coming in at #5 amongst hardcovers.
Second week is actually sweeter than the first. See, first week, you could argue that it’s there because a bunch of folks pre-ordered it and because it’s Star Wars and blah blah blah. And then, second week, you might think that the book would drop off the list like a stone. Mmmnope. Still there. Top five. Second week means people are reading it, liking it, and telling their friends. Second week means the book has a little word-of-mouth.
So, thank you all for the SWEET N’ MUSKY EWOK LOVE.
Some of you have asked what’s going on with those Amazon reviews, and I’m not going to address that right now — I’d rather just bask in the glow of the moment. (That said, anybody who takes a long look at the 350+ one-star reviews hovering around it will discern a number of patterns and repeated words, phrases, and ideas. Maybe someone other than me cares to unpack that.)
The book is in its fifth printing (in two weeks). It’s selling well. The publisher is happy. I’ve got two more books in the trilogy to write, so I’m happy, too.
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU WOOOOOOOOOO
*ignites lightsaber and flails drunkenly around garage*
Jason Rohan says:
Congratulations, dude! Hard work pays off. Enjoy the moment – you’ve paid your dues and earned every iota.
September 18, 2015 — 7:31 AM
terribleminds says:
(I guess I should also note that the WHITEHOUSE.GOV petition to have me removed from Star Wars only has 99,993 more signatures before Obama will finally take action.)
September 18, 2015 — 7:38 AM
Gregor says:
I’ll be laughing about this for all of my day. Thanks!
September 18, 2015 — 8:16 AM
innerouterawkward says:
Wait… What?
September 19, 2015 — 9:05 AM
Paul Anthony Shortt says:
That’s fantastic news, Chuck!
September 18, 2015 — 7:39 AM
Kelly Jensen says:
Congratulations!
September 18, 2015 — 7:44 AM
christophergronlund says:
Happy for ya, Chuck. Here’s to much more Wendigness getting the attention is deserves in the future!
September 18, 2015 — 8:05 AM
Corey Peterson says:
I’m only a bit more than halfway through the book, and I’d easily put it in my top three SW books, all-time. I’ve got that awful “I-don’t-want-this-to-end” feeling, coupled with the “holy-shit-I-can’t-believe-there’s-gonna-be-two-more-books” feeling. So that’s cool.
September 18, 2015 — 8:24 AM
Suzanne Joshi says:
Congratulations, Chuck!
September 18, 2015 — 8:29 AM
Stephanie Lormand says:
A few years ago, in the local children’s museum, I listened to two Dads almost come to blows over something Star Wars related. Such strong emotions on a subjective opinion, so much so that the angriest gentleman did not notice his Precious dropping trou to urinate in the corner of the pirate ship. Despite dozens of child-pitched screams. The fans, they take this stuff SO seriously.
You’re like a new Doctor, dealing with all the fans grieving the old one like he had actually died. Not that I’d know anything about that.
But the number of people incapable of dealing with present tense boggled my mind. Really? Dude.
September 18, 2015 — 8:38 AM
Corey Peterson says:
Yes! People are losing their minds about it….at least some of those Amazon reviewers are. I find the style totally refreshing for Star Wars. Frankly, some of the books (I won’t mention which ones) that people consider the absolute best of the best in the SW universe, I find rather dry. I mean, cool stories, yes. But, there’s more to the story than the story, right? There’s also the writing.
September 18, 2015 — 8:52 AM
Paul DeYonghe says:
I feel privileged to be part of the upsurge. Purchased it for my Nook earlier this week. So far, it’s been quite a ride, and I’m still towards the beginning. Congrats on your success; it is well-deserved.
September 18, 2015 — 8:47 AM
conniejjasperson says:
Amazon reviews are worth the paper they’re printed on. Any sock-puppet can spread the joy!
September 18, 2015 — 8:49 AM
steve says:
I read it, and loved it. Gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. I am sooooo looking forward to books 2 and 3, maybe you can add a few more after that, I wouldn’t complain at all.
September 18, 2015 — 8:50 AM
Orlando says:
Congratulations Chuck! Well deserved!
September 18, 2015 — 9:05 AM
Kay Camden says:
Those 5-star reviews make me want to read it. Which is stupid, because I’m not a Star Wars fan.
September 18, 2015 — 9:14 AM
David Southerland says:
Congrats as well.
September 18, 2015 — 9:15 AM
David Southerland says:
Also, the comments and ratings on Good Reads seem to be less orchestrated and the overall ratings a little more believable.
September 18, 2015 — 9:16 AM
terribleminds says:
The spread there is far kinder, yeah — while the average isn’t as high as my other books, and some of the reviews are still a bit o_O for my tastes, the actual shape of the review graph is a saner entity. The one-stars there are a mere 8% of the total account — the majority of the reviews are in the 3- to 4-star range, each at ~31% of the total.
And Goodreads actually has more ratings, so — the overall representation there is greater.
— c.
September 18, 2015 — 9:44 AM
Pamala Knight says:
Woo! Congratulations!! That’s fantastic news for an awesome book 🙂
September 18, 2015 — 9:34 AM
cjlehi says:
Anyone getting that many 1-star reviews has done something interesting.
I read interesting.
September 18, 2015 — 9:54 AM
Justin Gustainis says:
Congratulations, Chuck — you rock!
September 18, 2015 — 10:40 AM
MakeLifeMemorable says:
When I read your Miriam Black series, I’d never read third person present tense book before. It took some getting used to – like 3 pages? – then I thought the style was awesome and unique and the perfect tense given Miriam’s ability. People don’t like change, I think. And I feel sad for them. Congrats on your second week at the top Chuck!
September 18, 2015 — 11:23 AM
Elizabeth Mallory says:
This is SO EXCITING! Even more exciting to know we all helped with that 🙂 Chuck, you’re awesome.
September 18, 2015 — 11:39 AM
Smisk says:
So I’m completely ignorant of how publishing agreements work, but do you get royalties based on the number of copies sold, or is it a flat rate?
Congrats on this success 🙂
September 18, 2015 — 11:41 AM
terribleminds says:
Royalties are standard on most novels. That said, the peculiarities of my contract here are protected under NDA. 🙂
September 18, 2015 — 11:47 AM
Hannah says:
Congratulations! I just finished Aftermath the other day and I have to say I absolutely adored it. I’m /so ready/ for the next two books in the trilogy (and of course Force Awakens itself)!
September 18, 2015 — 11:47 AM
terribleminds says:
I am so excited for TFA, I am nearly always on the verge of fainting.
September 18, 2015 — 11:51 AM
Corey Peterson says:
I had a stress dream last night about getting tickets for The Force Awakens. It was bananas.
September 19, 2015 — 3:58 PM
Tee Morris says:
Sweet and musky Ewok love….
Mmmmmmm…..
September 18, 2015 — 12:03 PM
Dean Mayes says:
I’m sitting here in the ICU where I work at 1.30am (Australian time) & I’m reading Aftermath beside my ventilated patient like a Boss.
Aftermath is the best Star Wars fiction I’ve read in years sir. It’s original. It’s risky. It’s totally immersive and I simply love it.
I’m not gonna be happy when I’ve turned the final page because it means I’ll have to wait for the sequel.
Congratulations on your deserved success.
September 18, 2015 — 12:05 PM
Luna says:
So… I bought both Aftermath and Zeros in hardback. Can I bring them to your next close-by-to-me event for signing? As long as I also buy something from the shopkeep? Is such a thing Kosher?
September 18, 2015 — 12:10 PM
terribleminds says:
Sure! Though I don’t know where you are, so I’ve no idea if I’ll be near you any time soon. 🙂
September 18, 2015 — 12:26 PM
Luna says:
Oh I’m local to you in the Lehigh Valley. 🙂 I attended your recent thing at Let’s Play Books even, so I guess your next localish event would be it then.
September 18, 2015 — 12:43 PM
Shawn Adams says:
To get myself in the mood, I watched Return of the Jedi, then headed straight into Aftermath. Well done Mr. Wendig. Being a fan of Star Wars for 30+ years now, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I dug the style, the characters, and the richness of the story. Keep typing those words. On to Zeroes.
September 18, 2015 — 12:11 PM
Carolyn says:
The one stars and their comments are so obviously plants, even if there are ‘legit’ one star reviews in there, they get stomped and squished into oblivious. Like a lot of readers, I pretty much ignore Amazon’s ratings these days, and this is a great example as to why.
September 18, 2015 — 1:07 PM
Nicholas Bergquist says:
Gratz! But also a complaint: I started reading Aftermath during break at work and can’t put the damn thing down, have been dragging my tablet around reading it every chance I can get…productivity has been shot! Stop writing such good books, or put a warning label on them so I don’t do this while working again or something….
But seriously, amazing book, can’t wait for more.
September 18, 2015 — 5:23 PM
Beth says:
So I’ve been watching the library copy out of the corner of my eye, and what I’m seeing is that people are checking it out and bringing it back within one or two days and it goes *right* back out again. The only authors I routinely see just devoured like this – part “can’t put this book down,” part “other people must be waiting, must get this back to the library” – are local top favorites like Craig Johnson and CJ Box. (This is a small library in a rural, Western, not particularly geeky town.) That’s a word of mouth circulation pattern. And I just tried to renew the copy of Blackbirds I have out and it got kicked back because somebody has it on hold.
Also, no pre-pub holds, and no donated copies a couple of weeks in. I call bullshit on “people pre-purchased/pre-requested it and then didn’t like it.” People are reading and recommending it and looking for other things with your name on the cover. Small-scale anecdata that’s in line with the broader pattern.
September 18, 2015 — 8:07 PM
Tiana LaGrone says:
Yay! Congrats!
September 19, 2015 — 1:30 AM
innerouterawkward says:
Congratulations on much deserved awesome results! I bought a copy for my husband for his birthday. While I knew he wanted it, my motives were not entirely selfless. I suspect he guessed this because he said “It’s okay if you end up reading this before I do.” Love, eh?
September 19, 2015 — 9:10 AM
Laura J. Quinn says:
Congratulations, Chuck. Truly deserved!
But you can’t link to those reviews and say you won’t talk about it now, then expect me to not go over there and take a peek. So I’m fuming a little bit about some of them right now, but as requested, will wait until the time and place when you will allow yourself (and us) to really get into it.
In the meantime: Congrats again, you magnificent beast!
September 19, 2015 — 1:28 PM
whereibelongsf says:
I got to the first same-sex couple in the book. HOW DARE YOU, SIR. How dare you give a character two aunts in a book full of star destroyers, aliens with three eyes, aliens with head tentacles, aliens who are basically calamari, and a space ship the size of a planet that can blow up planets. How unrealistic can you get.
September 19, 2015 — 4:50 PM
writing, writing, words words words. says:
Congrats!!
September 21, 2015 — 11:53 AM
banistersmind says:
I posted my review of Aftermath yesterday. Never have I been torn a new arsehole for writing a positive review of a book. Accusations. Ridicule. Threats of violence. Over a book I just happened to like???
Crazy.
Chuck – I was hoping I might be able to arrange a signed book plate for my copy of Aftermath. Is there any way we could make this happen?
September 21, 2015 — 5:55 PM