Last month I had a little surprise in my bank account.

Three deposits appeared from Amazon totaling $11.04 for sales of the e-book edition of The BIG PICTURE - A Camera, A Young Woman, An Uncompromising Ethic.

Oh! my! gosh!

Upon investigation I discovered five e-books had been sold, one in March and four in April. Two were in Canada, two in the United States and one in Great Britain. Amazon doesn’t notify you when sales are made, and royalties are paid approximately sixty days following the end of the calendar month in which the applicable sales occur.

Since I’m more or less done with checking the reports and analytics on the sites my books are posted on I really have no idea what prompted these five strangers in three different countries to buy my book. I can’t think of anything I did during that period that might have brought my work to their attention.

Like Manuel, “I know nothing.”

If you’re an author with Amazon you can check your sales ranking. On April 13th, two copies of The BIG PICTURE were purchased which sent that book's ranking soaring from 2,593,668 to 173,973.

For that day my book sold more than at least 2,419,695 other books on Amazon.

It’s not hard to understand how book promoters can make you an Amazon bestselling author – at least for a day or two. Three months later and coming up to The BIG PICTURE's for anniversary I’m back down to 2,0008,844

It also gives me pause when I think of how many books are listed on Amazon that have very few sales, like none. Why am I surprised, up to that point I was one of them?

It’s all a mystery to me so I guess it’s still probably best to...

Stay calm, be brave, and watch for the signs (hopefully in my bank account)

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Video book reviews of self-published authors now at Not Your Family, Not Your Friend Video Book Reviews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH45n8K4BVmT248LBTpfARQ

My new novels, FOREST – Love, Loss, Legend and The BIG PICTURE – A Camera, A Young Woman, An Uncompromising Ethic are available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU and as e-books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/raglin

Read Reviews https://readersfavorite.com:book-review:39014

Visit my publisher’s website for excerpts from, and buy links to my Eco-Fi series ECO-WARRIORS, that includes Spirit Bear, Eagleridge Bluffs, and Not Wonder More – Mad Maggie and the Mystery of the Ancients http://www.devinedestinies.com/?route=product%2Fauthor&author_id=92

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View my flickr photostream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/78791029@N04/

Or, My YouTube channel if you prefer photo videos accompanied by classical music

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsQVBxJZ7eXkvZmxCm2wRYA