A Moment in the Journey

This past weekend, Sally and I were off to dinner at a friend's house when I received a call from Mike.

I figured he was calling to remind me that snowfall accumulation in Fort Lauderdale is running five feet or so less than in Boston. Instead, I heard, "John, did you know that your book made it onto Amazon's Top-100 for Hardboiled Mysteries."

If driving and talking on your cell qualifies as distracted driving, I now slid into delirious driving. "Mike, are you sure?"

"Looking at it right now. A Single Deadly Truth is ranked 49."

Immediately, my mind began to spin in a search for explanations.  Several emerged.  Maybe someone bought my book online and a dictionary fell from their shelf, landing on the keyboard, triggering an ongoing sequence of erroneous orders? I believe that was my first thought, quickly followed by a recollection that I sent an e-mail mention of the book to the staff at Radio Margaritaville. Was it possible that one of those Satellite radio DJ's mentioned the book on the air? Improbable, but no less so than the fact that my sales mysteriously jumped.

"Thanks for letting me know, Mike. I'll check it out when I get home later tonight."

An enjoyable dinner allowed these thoughts to hide away for several hours, but when we drove home around midnight I went to the computer and pulled up the Amazon site for my own look. Sure enough, there I was. Now I was at 45. One behind Robert B. Parker, one ahead of Michael Connelly.

I knew, of course, that the moment would not last. I also knew that those two best selling authors have a whole slew of books up there and they'll sell day after day after day. And when they come out with a new book they shoot to the very top of major bestsellers lists (that's even the case with Parker's recent books that followed his death last year). Still. There it was, my book sandwiched between the works of two of my favorite authors.

"Sally, come here and check this out!"

Out of the warm confines of her sleep came my wife. She leaned over. Focused. Leaned in closer. "Oh, that was worth getting up for."

I had figured it out by then. My book appeared on a Kindle newsletter that day. Twenty-four hours in the world of Internet blogspheres and my sales spiked.

I told my wife, "The sales will slow and I'll drop off the list by tomorrow morning." I was pretty close with that – I stayed on the list until Monday morning.

I have some Internet promotions planned and it's my hope that I get back up on that list. Maybe I'll even have a run like Mike is experiencing and find myself staying up there. Regardless of what happens, I'll always remember the mixture of contentment and joy I had sitting at my computer looking at the cover of A Single Deadly Truth wedged between two of my favorite writers. To the readers who brought me such joy – thank you many times over.

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