Rapper Lil Nas X pleaded with his fans to buy his new children’s book, and they came through in a big way.

The musician, known for his megahit country rap song “Old Town Road,” announced the release of his debut book Tuesday on Twitter, writing, “MY CHILDREN’S BOOK ‘C IS FOR COUNTRY’ IS OUT NOW!!!! GO GET IT PLEASE I REALLY NEED TO PAY MY RENT!”

C Is for Country, published by Random House, is an alphabet book that features a young cowboy with his best friend, a pony named Panini. A reviewer for Kirkus wrote that the book “delivers on expanding the boundary-busting, genre-blending, self-defining, positive-energy universe that Lil Nas X is building for his youthful fan base.”

His fans responded positively, with one tweeting, “i may not be a child, but i know good literature when i see it. im buying this for myself and no one else.”

“This shit better be available at every scholastic book fair in every school district,” wrote another.

Nas’ sales pitch worked. “WE JUST HIT NUMBER 8 ACROSS ALL KIDS BOOKS IN THE WORLD! THANK U GUYS!” the excitable rapper tweeted, along with a screenshot of the Apple Book Store’s bestseller chart.

And the sales bump appears to be enduring. As of Thursday afternoon, C Is for Country ranked No. 1 in Amazon’s “Children’s Books on the U.S.”category

Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.