Friends sometimes ask me, “How’s your amazon ranking?” a question I take as a well-intentioned show of interest in my work, but which I am finding increasingly annoying because it taps into all the ego challenges of promoting a book that I felt called to write and promote. On a spiritual level, I feel my answer should be, “I don’t care,” though, of course, that’s not true.
For those who aren’t sure what I’m talking about, amazon ranks its products by how much they are selling compared to other products. Because publishers are very slow to tell authors how many books they have sold, it’s often the only metric a writer has to measure whether or not people are buying their book. What the number means in absolute sales is a mystery since it only tells you how you’re doing compared to everyone else. As one writer (whose name I forget) estimated, less than 1,000 means you’re a bestseller. Between 1,000 and 10,000 means you’re doing well. Over 10,000 means you shouldn’t quit your day job. That’s where my book is right now, even though I did quit my day job 17 years ago. You see part of the problem. I am trying to unite my vocation and my avocation (as Robert Frost put it), and selling books is not irrelevant to this endeavor.
Another problem is that, while I think there are great things about amazon, I also want to support bookstores, including Borders and Barnes & Noble, and especially independent booksellers like Quaker Books and the Big Blue Marble, both of which are selling copies of my book, a fact that does not show up in the ranking that everyone else looks at. I have absolutely no way of knowing how many copies are being sold in bookstores where I don’t happen to know the managers. The accuracy of the ranking is further complicated by the fact that several websites in the last few weeks linked to the hardcover version of the book on amazon, which is now deeply discounted. The part of me that only cares about getting the message of the book out into the world is happy to see that people are buying the hardcover. The ego-driven part of me would rather see good numbers for the paperback, which is how my current publicity efforts will be evaluated by people in the publishing industry.
By other measures, my publicity efforts are going very well. The book has gotten three new positive reviews since the paperback release two weeks ago. I’ve had a personal essay on Finding Serenity as a Caregiver on the Washington Post site and an article on the Huffington Post that got a lot of comments. I’m doing my third radio interview tomorrow with more to come. I feel I’m being faithful to the leading to promote this book, and it feels like way is opening on many fronts. (God sent a great new publicist to work for my publisher, for which I’m very grateful!) That’s what I want to focus on, rather than the numbers, which so far, haven’t been that encouraging. In that vein, I decided a few weeks ago not to look at my amazon ranking at all, which went about as well as my summer decision not to eat chocolate for the rest of my life. I am looking at amazon less, though. I need it for information, just not for validation.
I will be in Boston hawking my book during the upcoming Ministry and Writing Colloquium at Earlham, but I’d love to sit around with other Quakers who feel led to write and talk about how we handle this tension. Not everyone feels led to try to make a living from their writing, and not everyone feels led to put effort into promoting their work, but I’m clear that I am. How to do that in a Spirit-led rather than an ego-led way is an ongoing question.
Ah Eileen you have hit the proverbial publicity nail on the head. Especially for those of us who write as a matter of ministry.
I've long struggled with this dilemma we face — how to promote our work/ministry without feeling like we are just promoting ourselves. Indeed, I experience a twinge of guilt every time I post a blog or mention my writing on facebook. And yet the ministry of writing is something that I feel God called me to. And after many years I am finally getting more comfortable with the idea that I need to let people know about my books. After all, if I have felt led by God to write them, then I must also respect the idea that the reason I was called to address that topic is that there are people who need to hear/read it.
No, they don't need to about "me" — or even my book. But hopefully the message(s) of my writing will be of some worth to some people along their pilgrim path. And while I have encountered writers who said that they did not care if their books sold or not, I frankly admit that I do. I hope that the time I've spent crafting the message that I feel led to give is worthy of a readership that can be helped or encouraged by those words. I've told writing classes in the past, "I didn't write it so nobody would read it." So, as an author, I've had to find ways to become more comfortable in getting the word out. My comfort has finally come as I've seen book promotion as a ministry — a way of encouraging others with the words I've been given.
Still, I have a feeling that this is something with which I will always struggle. Sort of like I do with my pride in being a humble Quaker. 😉
Brent
Wise words Eileen. I am right there with you! I wish I could find the will to stop checking, but I cannot.
If you really want to get obsessive about Amazon rankings, follow your books on Title-Z http://www.titlez.com/ You can watch your lifetime rankings there. It is either very uplifiting or discouraging … deepending on whether you are John Brent Bill or John Irving.
Thanks, Brent and Lori. One of the things that helps is having fellow authors to share these things with! Thanks, Brent, for another potentially addictive tool. You told me about Title Z before, but I didn't realize you could see lifetime rankings. That should be a nice distraction.
Nothing really constructive to add…I just wanted to congratulate you on all of your great appearances in the media!
Eileen, I live in the midst of this tension, too. One thing that helps me is my oversight committee. Early in my writing ministry, someone on my oversight committee asked, "Do you believe in the message of this book?" When I replied in the affirmative, she said, "Then you have to go out there and talk about it." It was a good reminder that offering the message God has given me to share doesn't stop with writing a book; it is ongoing.
Congratulations on your media coverage for the new release of the paperback, Eileen!
Yes, Margaret, that's why we have oversight committees, isn't it? Mine has been in transition, as our meeting is beginning an experiment with joint care committees. We have our first meeting Monday, and I am very much looking forward to having Friends help me think through these issues.
One of the things that I like about you Eileen is that you always try to be honest with yourself. And that you try to improve yourself but also admit that it doesn't always work. It's refreshing to read.