On numbers and what they mean

Any indie with a book doing reasonably well on Amazon is obsessed by numbers, and Amazon makes it easy to indulge one's obsession.
Once an hour, rankings change. On Author Central, you have a sales graph going back to December last year. You can watch sales tick up on your KDP page (Kindle Direct Publishing) as they happen - last night I waited before turning out the light for the last few UK sales that would take Replica to a total of 7,000. Childish, I know.
What I don't forget, though, is that each time the number goes up, a human being has decided he/she likes the look of my book, and is prepared to spend several hours reading it, and I am very grateful. Now and then, readers write a review, or email me to say they enjoyed the books, which makes my day.
David Gaughran has blogged about some other very interesting numbers, under the title Print Continues Its Death Spiral ; the American Association of Publishers have released their sales figures for April 2011. The figures make it clear where books are heading - away from print and towards digital. The implications of this are enormous for writers, readers, and anyone in the publishing industry.
Winners and losers in the revolution? My guess:
Winners Authors and readers - it's often forgotten, but they're the only essential components of the business. And Amazon, whose business nous is awesome.
Losers Bookshops (we'll all be sad about this), publishers, agents.