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Temptation
I fell off the wagon last night.
And I’d been so good, lately, too. But the temptation was just too much. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I gave into a moment of weakness and…checked my Amazon numbers.
Yes, I know, I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t help it. It started off innocently enough. I was at Amazon looking to see when a new book from a favorite author would be out and I thought I’d checkout my books, see if they had the new edition of the large-print version up. I can hear you now, yeah, right.
But it’s true. Well, almost true. I did look for the new edition.
I shouldn’t have fooled myself. One glance at those numbers and I couldn’t move on. I had to check the numbers on all my books.
It was awful. I couldn’t stop. I looked at the numbers of other books released the same month as mine. Then I checked the numbers of other books from my publisher. Then I went to BN.com and did the same thing.
You know what the sad thing is? It doesn’t mean anything. Or, at least, no one can tell you what those numbers mean. I’ve heard they’re based on a combination of sales and page-views. So, realistically, they don’t tell you much about how your book is really doing. For that, I have to wait for the statement from the publisher, which comes twice a year. Twice a year, people! Is it any wonder those ranking are sooo seductive?
So, there. I’ve admitted it. That’s the first step, right? Hello, I’m Sara, and I’m an Amazon-ranking-aholic.
Anyone else want to fess up? Do you check your ranking on the on-line booksites? Got any ideas for a twelve-step program for authors to break the Amazon habit?
