Major Events specific to certain stories and novels are included in brackets. Some of this information contains SPOILERS for The Rook, Lazarus Gray, Eobard Grace and other stories.

~ 800 Viking warrior Grimarr dies of disease but is resurrected as the Sword of Hel. He adventures for some time as Hel’s agent on Earth. ["Dogs of War" and "In the Name of Hel," Tales of the Norse Gods].

1748 – Johann Adam Weishaupt is born.

1750 – Guan-Yin embarks on a quest to find her lost father, which takes her to Skull Island [Guan-Yin and the Horrors of Skull Island].

1776 – Johann Adam Weishaupt forms The Illuminati. He adopts the guise of the original Lazarus Gray in group meetings, reflecting his “rebirth” and the “moral ambiguity” of the group.

1865 – Eobard Grace returns home from his actions in the American Civil War. Takes possession of the Book of Shadows from his uncle Frederick. [“The World of Shadow,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History

1877 - Eobard Grace is summoned to the World of Shadows, where he battles Uris-Kor and fathers a son, Korben. [“The World of Shadow,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History]

1885 – Along with his niece Miriam and her paramour Ian Sinclair, Eobard returns to the World of Shadows to halt the merging of that world with Earth. [“The Flesh Wheel,” The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History]

1890 – Eobard fathers a second son, Leopold.

1895 – Felix Cole (the Bookbinder) is born.

1900 – Max Davies is born to publisher Warren Davies and his wife, heiress Margaret Davies.

1901 – Leonid Kaslov is born.

1905 – Richard Winthrop is born in San Francisco.

1908 – Warren Davies is murdered by Ted Grossett, a killer nicknamed “Death’s Head”. ["Lucifer's Cage", the Rook Volume One, more details shown in "Origins," the Rook Volume Two] Hans Merkel kills his own father. ["Blitzkrieg," the Rook Volume Two]

1910 – Evelyn Gould is born.

1913 – Felix Cole meets the Cockroach Man and becomes part of The Great Work. ["The Great Work," Startling Stories # 5]

1914 – Margaret Davies passes away in her sleep. Max is adopted by his uncle Reginald.

1915 – Felix Cole marries Charlotte Grace, Eobard Grace’s cousin.

1916 – Leonid Kaslov’s father Nikolai becomes involved in the plot to assassinate Rasputin.

1917 – Betsy Cole is born to Felix and Charlotte Grace Cole. Nikolai Kaslov is murdered.

1918 – Max Davies begins wandering the world. Richard Winthrop’s parents die in an accident.

1922 – Warlike Manchu tutors Max Davies in Kyoto.

1925 – Max Davies becomes the Rook, operating throughout Europe.

1926 – Charlotte Grace dies. Richard Winthrop has a brief romance with exchange student Sarah Dumas.

1927 – Richard Winthrop graduates from Yale. On the night of his graduation, he is recruited into The Illuminati. Max and Leopold Grace battle the Red Lord in Paris. Richard Winthrop meets Miya Shimada in Japan, where he purchases The McGuinness Obelisk for The Illuminati.

1928 – The Rook returns to Boston.

1929 – Max Davies is one of the judges for the Miss Beantown contest ["The Miss Beantown Affair," Tales of the Rook]. Richard Winthrop destroys a coven of vampires in Mexico.

1930 – Richard Winthrop pursues The Devil’s Heart in Peru ["Eidolon," Lazarus Gray, Volume Three].

1932 – The Rook hunts down his father’s killer ["Origins," the Rook Volume Two]

1933 – Jacob Trench uncovers Lucifer’s Cage. ["Lucifer's Cage", the Rook Volume One] The Rook battles Doctor York [All-Star Pulp Comics # 1] After a failed attempt at betraying The Illuminati, Richard Winthrop wakes up on the shores of Sovereign City with no memory of his name or past. He has only one clue to his past in his possession: a small medallion adorned with the words Lazarus Gray and the image of a naked man with the head of a lion. ["The Girl With the Phantom Eyes," Lazarus Gray Volume One]

1934 – Now calling himself Lazarus Gray, Richard Winthrop forms Assistance Unlimited in Sovereign City. He recruits Samantha Grace, Morgan Watts and Eun Jiwon ["The Girl With the Phantom Eyes," Lazarus Gray Volume One] Walther Lunt aids German scientists in unleashing the power Die Glocke, which in turn frees the demonic forces of Satan’s Circus ["Die Glocke," Lazarus Gray Volume Two]. The entity who will become known as The Black Terror is created ["The Making of a Hero," Lazarus Gray Volume Two].

1935 – Felix Cole and his daughter Betsy seek out the Book of Eibon. ["The Great Work," The Family Grace: An Extraordinary History] Assistance Unlimited undertakes a number of missions, defeating the likes of Walther Lunt, Doc Pemberley, Malcolm Goodwill & Black Heart, Princess Femi & The Undying, Mr. Skull, The Axeman and The Yellow Claw ["The Girl With the Phantom Eyes," "The Devil's Bible," "The Corpse Screams at Midnight," "The Burning Skull," "The Axeman of Sovereign City," and "The God of Hate," Lazarus Gray Volume One] The Rook journeys to Sovereign City and teams up with Assistance Unlimited to battle Devil Face [“Darkness, Spreading Its Wings of Black,” the Rook Volume Six)]. Lazarus Gray and Assistance Unlimited become embroiled in the search for Die Glocke ["Die Glocke," Lazarus Gray Volume Two]

1936 – Assistance Unlimited completes their hunt for Die Glocke and confronts the threat of Jack-In-Irons. Abigail Cross and Jakob Sporrenberg join Assistance Unlimited ["Die Glocke," Lazarus Gray Volume Two]. The Rook moves to Atlanta and recovers the Dagger of Elohim from Felix Darkholme. The Rook meets Evelyn Gould. The Rook battles Jacob Trench. ["Lucifer's Cage", the Rook Volume One]. Reed Barrows revives Camilla. ["Kingdom of Blood," The Rook Volume One]. Kevin Atwill is abandoned in the Amazonian jungle by his friends, a victim of the Gorgon legacy. ["The Gorgon Conspiracy," The Rook Volume Two]. Nathaniel Caine’s lover is killed by Tweedledum while Dan Daring looks on ["Catalyst," The Rook Volume Three] Assistance Unlimited teams up with The Black Terror to battle Promethus and The Titan in South America ["The Making of a Hero," Lazarus Gray Volume Two]. Doc Pemberley allies himself with Abraham Klee, Stanley Davis and Constance Majestros to form Murder Unlimited. Lazarus Gray is able to defeat this confederation of evil and Pemberley finds himself the victim of Doctor Satan’s machinations [“Murder Unlimited,” Lazarus Gray Volume Three]. Lazarus Gray is forced to compete with The Darkling for possession of a set of demonic bones. During the course of this, a member of Assistance Unlimited becomes Eidolon. ["Eidolon," Lazarus Gray Volume Three].

1937 – Max and Evelyn marry. Camilla attempts to create Kingdom of Blood. World’s ancient vampires awaken and the Rook is ‘marked’ by Nyarlathotep. Gerhard Klempt’s experiments are halted. William McKenzie becomes Chief of Police in Atlanta. The Rook meets Benson, who clears his record with the police. ["Kingdom of Blood," the Rook Volume One]. Hank Wilbon is murdered, leading to his eventual resurrection as the Reaper. ["Kaslov's Fire," The Rook Volume Two]. The Rook and Evelyn become unwelcome guests of Baron Werner Prescott, eventually foiling his attempts to create an artificial island and a weather-controlling weapon for the Nazis ["The Killing Games," Tales of the Rook]

1938 – The Rook travels to Great City to aid the Moon Man in battling Lycos and his Gasping Death. The Rook destroys the physical shell of Nyarlathotep and gains his trademark signet ring. ["The Gasping Death," The Rook Volume One]. The jungle hero known as the Revenant is killed ["Death from the Jungle," The Rook Volume Four]

1939 – Ibis and the Warlike Manchu revive the Abomination. Evelyn becomes pregnant and gives birth to their first child, a boy named William. ["Abominations," The Rook Volume One]. The Rook allies himself with Leonid Kaslov to stop the Reaper’s attacks and to foil the plans of Rasputin. ["Kaslov's Fire," the Rook Volume Two] Violet Cambridge and Will McKenzie become embroiled in the hunt for a mystical item known as The Damned Thing [The Damned Thing]

1940 – The Warlike Manchu returns with a new pupil — Hans Merkel, aka Shinigami. The Warlike Manchu kidnaps William Davies but the Rook and Leonid Kaslov manage to rescue the boy. ["Blitzkrieg," the Rook Volume Two] The Rook journeys to Germany alongside the Domino Lady and Will McKenzie to combat the demonic organization known as Bloodwerks. ["Bloodwerks," the Rook Volume Two] Kevin Atwill seeks revenge against his former friends, bringing him into conflict with the Rook ["The Gorgon Conspiracy," The Rook Volume Two]. The Rook takes a young vampire under his care, protecting him from a cult that worships a race of beings known as The Shambling Ones. With the aid of Leonid Kazlov, the cult is destroyed ["The Shambling Ones," The Rook Volume Two]. The Rook battles against an arsonist in the employ of Bennecio Tommasso ["Where There's Smoke", Tales of the Rook]

1941 – Philip Gallagher, a journalist, uncovers the Rook’s secret identity but chooses to become an ally of the vigilante rather than reveal it to the world ["Origins," the Rook Volume Two]. The Rook teams with the Black Bat and Ascott Keane, as well as a reluctant Doctor Satan, in defeating the plans of the sorcerer Arias ["The Bleeding Hells"]. The Rook rescues McKenzie from the Iron Maiden ["The Iron Maiden," The Rook Volume Three].

1942 – The Rook battles a Nazi super agent known as the Grim Reaper, who is attempting to gather the Crystal Skulls ["The Three Skulls," The Rook Volume Three]. The Rook becomes embroiled in a plot by Sun Koh and a group of Axis killers known as The Furies. The Rook and Sun Koh end up in deadly battle on the banks of the Potomac River. ["The Scorched God," The Rook Volume Six]. In London, the Rook and Evelyn meet Nathaniel Caine (aka the Catalyst) and Rachel Winters, who are involved in stopping the Nazis from creating the Un-Earth. They battle Doctor Satan and the Black Zeppelin ["Catalyst," The Rook Volume Three]. Evelyn learns she’s pregnant with a second child. The Rook solves the mystery of the Roanoke Colony ["The Lost Colony," The Rook Volume Three] The Warlike Manchu is revived and embarks upon a search for the Philosopher’s Stone ["The Resurrection Gambit," The Rook Volume Three]

1943 – The Rook teams with Xander to deal with the Onyx Raven ["The Onyx Raven, Tales of the Rook]. The Rook is confronted by the twin threats of Fernando Pasarin and the undead pirate Hendrik van der Decken ["The Phantom Vessel," The Rook Volume Four]. Evelyn and Max become the parents of a second child, Emma Davies. The Rook teams with the daughter of the Revenant to battle Hermann Krupp and the Golden Goblin ["Death from the Jungle," The Rook Volume Four] The Rook battles Doctor Satan over possession of an ancient Mayan tablet ["The Four Rooks," The Rook Volume Four]. The Rook travels to Peru to battle an undead magician called The Spook ["Spook," The Rook Volume Four]. The Rook clashes with Doctor Death, who briefly takes possession of Will McKenzie ["The Rook Nevermore," Tales of the Rook]. Baron Rudolph Gustav gains possession of the Rod of Aaron and kidnaps Evelyn, forcing the Rook into an uneasy alliance with the Warlike Manchu ["Dead of Night," The Rook Volume Four]. Doctor Satan flees to the hidden land of Vorium, where the Rook allies with Frankenstein’s Monster to bring him to justice ["Satan's Trial," The Rook Volume Four]. Tim Roland is recruited by The Flame and Miss Masque ["The Ivory Machine," The Rook Volume Five]. The Black Terror investigates a German attempt to replicate his powers and becomes friends with a scientist named Clarke ["Terrors"]

1944 – The Rook organizes a strike force composed of Revenant, Frankenstein’s Monster, Catalyst and Esper. The group is known as The Claws of the Rook and they take part in two notable adventures in this year: against the diabolical Mr. Dee and then later against an alliance between Doctor Satan and the Warlike Manchu ["The Diabolical Mr. Dee" and "A Plague of Wicked Men", The Rook Volume Five].

1946 – The Rook discovers that Adolph Hitler is still alive and has become a vampire in service to Dracula. In an attempt to stop the villains from using the Holy Lance to take over the world, the Rook allies with the Claws of the Rook, a time traveler named Jenny Everywhere, a thief called Belladonna and Leonid Kaslov. The villains are defeated and Max’s future is revealed to still be in doubt. Events shown from 2006 on are just a possible future. The Rook also has several encounters with a demonically powered killer known as Stickman. ["The Devil's Spear," The Rook Volume Five]. The Rook encounters a madman named Samuel Garibaldi (aka Rainman) and his ally, Dr. Gottlieb Hochmuller. The Rook and his Claws team defeat the villainous duo and several new heroes join the ranks of the Claws team — Miss Masque, Black Terror & Tim and The Flame. ["The Ivory Machine," The Rook Volume Five]

1953 – The Rook acquires the Looking Glass from Lu Chang. ["Black Mass," The Rook Volume One]

1961 – Max’s son William becomes the second Rook. ["The Four Rooks," The Rook Volume Four]

1967 – The second Rook battles and defeats the Warlike Manchu, who is in possession of the Mayan Tablet that Doctor Satan coveted in ’43. Evelyn Davies dies. ["The Four Rooks," The Rook Volume Four]

1970 – William Davies (the second Rook) commits suicide by jumping from a Manhattan rooftop. Emma Davies (Max’s daughter and William’s brother) becomes the Rook one week later, in February. ["The Four Rooks," The Rook Volume Four]

1973 – The third Rook is accompanied by Kayla Kaslov (daughter of Leonid Kaslov) on a trip to Brazil, where the two women defeat the Black Annis and claim the Mayan Tablet that’s popped up over the course of three decades. Emma gives it to her father, who in turn passes it on to Catalyst (Nathaniel Caine) ["The Four Rooks," The Rook Volume Four]

~1985 – Max resumes operating as the Rook, adventuring sporadically. Due to various magical events, he remains far more active than most men his age. The reasons for Emma giving up the role are unknown at this time.

Events depicted in the years 2006 forward occur in one of many possible futures for The Rook. As revealed in Volume Five of The Rook Chronicles, the events of 2006 onward may — or may not — be the ultimate future of Max Davies.

2006 – The Black Mass Barrier rises, enveloping the world in a magical field. The World of Shadows merges with Earth. Fiona Grace (descended from Eobard) becomes a worldwide celebrity, partially due to her failure to stop the Black Mass Barrier. ["Black Mass," The Rook Volume One]

2009 – Ian Morris meets Max Davies and becomes the new Rook. He meets Fiona Grace. Max dies at some point immediately following this. ["Black Mass," The Rook Volume One]

2010 – The Ian Morris Rook and Fiona Grace deal with the threat of Baron Samedi ["The Curse of Baron Samedi," Tales of the Rook]

2012 – The fourth Rook (Ian Morris) receives the Mayan Tablet from Catalyst, who tells him that the world will end on December 21, 2012 unless something is done. Using the tablet, Ian attempts to take control of the magic spell that will end the world. Aided by the spirits of the three previous Rooks, he succeeds, though it costs him his life. He is survived by his lover (Fiona Grace) and their unborn child. Max Davies is reborn as a man in his late twenties and becomes the Rook again. ["The Four Rooks," The Rook Volume Four]

Finished mystery project # 1 last week though I haven’t heard back from the editor about what he thinks of it. In the meantime, I’m working on mystery project # 2, which is due in a few weeks. Then it’s on to mystery project # 3, assuming that one finally gets some kinks ironed out.

And then I hope to finish off what will be the third story in Lazarus Gray volume 3. Speaking of Lazarus, I got back the edits for volume two and went through all of those, so it’s now in the hands of the Pro Se folks. I don’t believe you’ll see it until after Tales of the Rook and The Family Grace, though.

Things are pretty hectic right now, with lots of due dates looming over my head. I just tell myself that I’m living the dream and keep going! But hopefully it will calm down a little bit and I’ll be able to relax and focus on some of my own creations. Fingers crossed

Hope you all enjoyed seeing the Fu Manchu writeup yesterday. That’s one bad dude – and if you use him in one of your rpg campaigns, let me know how it goes. In the meantime, buy William Maynard’s newest Fu Manchu novel, The Destiny of Fu Manchu.

FU MANCHU
Created by Sax Rohmer

Affiliations: Solo D10 Buddy D8 Team D6

Distinctions: D4 (+1PP) or D8
The Yellow Peril
Master Schemer
Elaborate Death Traps

Power Sets:

Elixir Vitae
Enhanced Reflexes D8
Superhuman Stamina D10
Limit: Gear. Shutdown the Power Set by removing his access to the Elixir Vitae and over time, his powers will fade. Gain 1 PP and take an action vs. doom pool to recover.

Arcane Methods of Death
Fungi D8
Bacilli D8
Trained Creatures (favored: pythons or cobras; black spiders; scorpions) D6
SFX: Dangerous. Add D6 to dice pool for an attack action and step back highest die in pool by -1. Step up STRESS TYPE inflicted by +1.
Limit: Gear. Shutdown the Power Set and gain 1PP. Take an action vs. doom pool to recover.

Specialties:
Business Master D10 or 2D8 or 3D6
Combat Expert D8 or 2D6
Covert Expert D8 or 2D6
Crime Master D10 or 2D8 or 3D6
Medical Master D10 or 2D8 or 3D6
Menace Master D10 or 2D8 or 3D6
Mystic Master D10 or 2D8 or 3D6
Science Master D10 or 2D8 or 3D6

Milestones:
Arch-Foes
1XP when confronted by either Denis Nayland Smith or Dr. Petrie.
3XP when either placing Smith and/or Petrie in a death trap or forced to narrowly escape being captured by them.
10XP when forced to fake your own death in order to evade Smith and Petrie.

To Rule the Si-Fan
1XP when making a move to consolidate power over the Si-Fan organization.
3XP when challenged by another member of the Si-Fan.
10XP when challenged directly by his daughter, Fah lo Suee, for control of the Si-Fan.

Good supplemental material can be found at the Wikipedia entry on Fu Manchu. Keep in mind that Fu Manchu is a brilliant foe, with a wide range of skills. He could be the master planner who leads the heroes on many a merry chase and would even be a good foil for many modern superheroes. Also, Fu Manchu disdains weapons like guns or explosives, preferring to use his arcane methods of death or employing agents like dacoits or Thuggees. If do decide to use Fu Manchu in your games, let me know what you do with him — and in the meantime, check out William Maynard’s newest Fu Manchu novel, The Destiny of Fu Manchu.

1) This list only tracks sales through AMAZON. It does not keep track of sales through Barnes and Noble, face-to-face or anything else!
2) This list only tracks PRINT sales. We do not currently track e-books. Exactly how Amazon calculates these things is mostly a trade secret and they vary wildly from day to day. If I checked this tomorrow, the list could be very different. This list reflects sales ranks as of Monday morning May 21, 2012.
3) In order to keep the focus on new releases, eligible works must have been published within three months of the current date. So, since this list is being done in May 2012, I’m only looking at books published since February 2012. Please keep that in mind before complaining that Title X is not listed.
4) I am no longer tracking pre-release orders. Some publishers never actually release their books and when they do, it’s months after they were supposed to be released. Everything listed in the Top Ten is currently for sale.
5) Like the name suggests, we’re tracking “New” pulp — I’m not tracking sales rankings for reprints of classic material. In order for something to qualify for this list, it has to be at least 50% new material that has not been printed in book form before.
6) I am human. I make mistakes. If you are aware of a title that should be listed below (keeping in mind all the rules above), please let me know and I will make sure to remedy the situation.
7) I get most of my information from All Pulp, New Pulp, the Pulp Factory mailing list and a few other sites. If you think I might miss your release, let me know in advance — drop me a line and tell me when it’s being released.

Without further ado, here’s the completely and totally unofficial New Pulp bestseller list as of right now (title, then publisher, then release date, then sales rank):

1) Doc Savage: The Infernal Buddha by Will Murray (Altus Press, May 2012) – 10,877
2) Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Casebook by Various (Moonstone Books, March 2012) – 54,061
3) The Lone Ranger: Vendetta by Howard Hopkins (Moonstone Books, May 2012) – 161,034
4) The Lone Ranger Chronicles by Various (Moonstone Books, May 2012) – 174,150
5) The Destiny of Fu Manchu by William Patrick Maynard (Black Coat Press, March 2012) - 438,295
6) Sherlock Holmes: The Baron’s Revenge by Gary Lovisi (Airship 27, February 2012) - 574,021
7) New Adventures of Thunder Jim Wade (Pro Se Press, March 2012) – 620,498
8) Dr. Watson’s American Adventure by Erwin K. Roberts (Airship 27, April 2012) – 640,919
9) The Sting of the Silver Manticore by P.J. Lozito (Pro Se Press, April 2012) - 641,458
10) Dragon Kings of the Orient by Percival Constantine (Pulpwork Press, May 2012) – 897,242

Just missing the list were: Secret Agent X: Master of Madness by Stephen Payne (Altus Press, April 2012) – 903,260 , Call of Shadows by David Smith (Airship 27, March 2012) – 939,555, The Moon Man Volume One by Various (Airship 27, March 2012) – 964,288 and The Ruby Files Volume One by Various (Airship 27, March 2012) – 1,066,639.

And the big guns have returned. The top six spots are all “classic” characters – Doc Savage, Sherlock Holmes, Fu Manchu and the Lone Ranger. With Will Murray’s latest Doc, I’d imagine a typically long run for the title at the top of the list. Howard Hopkins’ posthumous release jumps into the top ten this week, outselling the anthology Lone Ranger title. Dragon Kings of the Orient nabs the tenth spot, narrowly edging out several titles that were just behind.

From a publisher standpoint, Moonstone led the way with three titles, followed by Airship 27 and Pro Se, who each had two.

Take it all with a grain of salt, folks.

I have three weeks to finish off my next (name removed for non-disclosure purposes) story for (publisher name removed). I hope it goes well. Always want to make the fans happy, after all – and (name removed for non-disclosure purposes) is actually a character that means a lot to me, anyway, so that makes it even more important to get it right.

Art today is Bob Hall’s cover to the upcoming Tales of the Rook.

I’m also doing some side work on another Lazarus Gray story, that I hope to sneak into volume three if Tommy Hancock lets me. He doesn’t like it when my books go way past 60,000 words and volume three is at 65k before I even look at a third story. Shh, we just won’t tell him, okay?

The rough sketch today is by George Sellas and will appear in The Rook Volume Two, when it’s re-released in 2013. It comes from the story, “The Shambling Ones.” Very violent. I like it!

My next rpg writeup will be of a villain but I’m still thinking about who to do — Doctor Satan, Walther Lunt or John Sunlight. Maybe even Fu Manchu? We’ll see.

This is one of those New Pulp books where the author pays homage to all of his favorite tropes from the “golden age.” The Silver Manticore himself is mostly The Shadow crossed with the Green Hornet but there are also thinly-disguised versions of Operator No. 5, G-8, Secret Agent X and many, many more. With works of this sort, it’s sometimes easy for the story to be crushed under the weight of the “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” factor. We spend so much time going “Ohhhh, it’s like character X” that the plot can be obscured. The Sting of the Silver Manticore mostly manages to avoid doing that, though there are chapters where the homages are a bit too numerous for my liking. I enjoy a good homage, now, but think they should be spaced out a little more evenly.

As for the actual story, it’s well told and exciting. Lozito’s tough-talking style took me a few chapters to get used to but once I did, it flowed smoothly. I really enjoyed the character of Bako, the hero’s chauffeur and houseboy. The Silver Manticore himself also had quite a few smile-inducing scenes. Being more of a Shadow fan than a Green Hornet one, I particularly enjoyed the parts where the Manticore cut loose on a crowd of thugs, even letting loose with his own version of the Shadow’s famous laugh.

The villains are also pulp homages (think Fu Manchu and Shiwan Khan) which makes this all seem very epic. In fact, the author it most reminds me of is Wayne Reinagel, who writes the Pulp Heroes series. I don’t think PJ has quite the knack that Wayne does for the massive scale storytelling but it’s an impressive debut nonetheless.

Should you buy this book? Well, it comes with a gorgeous cover, is reasonably priced and features classic pulp storytelling. I think that’s a definite “Yes!” from me. I’m very interested in seeing where the author (and the Silver Manticore) go from here.

Feel free to “Ooh” and “Aah” at y our leisure.

1) This list only tracks sales through AMAZON. It does not keep track of sales through Barnes and Noble or anything else!
2) This list only tracks AMAZON KINDLE sales. Exactly how Amazon calculates these things is mostly a trade secret and they vary wildly from day to day. If I checked this tomorrow, the list could be very different. This list reflects sales ranks as of Thursday morning May 17, 2012.
3) In order to keep the focus on new releases, eligible works must have been published within three months of the current date. So, since this list is being done in May 2012, I’m only looking at eBooks published since February 2012. Please keep that in mind before complaining that Title X is not listed.
4) I am no longer tracking pre-release orders. Some publishers never actually release their eBooks and when they do, it’s months after they were supposed to be released. Everything listed in the Top Ten is currently for sale.
5) Like the name suggests, we’re tracking “New” pulp — I’m not tracking sales rankings for reprints of classic material. In order for something to qualify for this list, it has to be at least 50% new material that has not been printed in book form before.
6) I am human. I make mistakes. If you are aware of a title that should be listed below (keeping in mind all the rules above), please let me know and I will make sure to remedy the situation.
7) I get most of my information from All Pulp, New Pulp, the Pulp Factory mailing list and a few other sites. If you think I might miss your release, let me know in advance — drop me a line and tell me when it’s being released.

Without further ado, here’s the completely and totally unofficial New Pulp bestseller list as of right now (title, then publisher, then release date, then sales rank):

1) Counter Punch by Jack Tunney (Fight Card Productions, March 2012) – 127,210
2) Hard Road by Jack Tunney (Fight Card Productions, April 2012) – 129,085
3) The Sting of the Silver Manticore by P.J. Lozito (Pro Se Press, April 2012) - 158,460
4) Dragon Kings of the Orient by Percival Constantine (Pulp Work Press, May 2012) – 170,779
5) Tales of Masks & Mayhem Volume 4 by Various (Night to Dawn Magazine & Books, February 2012) – 342,810
6) Pro Se Presents # 9 by Various (Pro Se Press, April 2012) - 384,179
7) Pro Se Presents # 7 by Various (Pro Se Press, February 2012) – 432,813
8) Pro Se Presents # 8 by Various (Pro Se Press, March 2012) – 438,382
9) New Adventures of Thunder Jim Wade (Pro Se Press, March 2012) – 500,662
10) Heroes of Mars by Various (Pulp Empire, February 2012) – 589,258

Just missing the list: Exiles on the Dire Planet by Joel Jenkins (Pulp Work Press, May 2012) – 640,381.

Okay. Now this list looks VERY different from our print one… mainly because Airship 27 and Moonstone aren’t on it. From what I could see, neither of those publishers had anything listed in the Kindle store. I know Airship 27 does eBooks but apparently they’re not going through the Kindle store to do it. As for Moonstone, I had no idea that they weren’t doing eBook versions of their titles (at least not as far as the Kindle goes). So, Fight Card Productions grabs the top two spots here and from there, we’re basically the Pro Se Press show as they publish five of the next eight books on the list. It’s interesting to see that Dragon Kings of the Orient and Tales of Masks & Mayhem both make this list — neither has cracked the print top ten. Rounding out the list is Heroes of Mars, which has also done very well in print.

Take it all with a grain of salt, folks.

But thanks to Mat for doing this and I’m glad that he enjoyed the book so much!