Also, did you do the cover for your book, The Prodigal Hour? Very nice!

Second, I very much agree with you, and I’ll be honest: I’m no closer to understanding Amazon’s algorithms and usage statistics than anyone else. I do have a theory about your observation that The Prodigal Hour doesn’t show up among those 20 clicks x 5 books, and that’s that, even though I published Meets Girl in November 2010, this is still a nascent venture for me, and it’s still very much growing. Which is to say, I’m not sure “customers who read The Prodigal Hour also read Meets Girl.” I think that’s what Amazon uses to populate that recommendations engine (again, not sure, but that’s my wager), and what I don’t have–and those big guns do–is readers who have bought everything I’ve written. I’ve got a lot of work available through Exciting Press, but unfortunately for now, the only way to navigate those works is clicking author names on a book page. And how many people do that?

I’m just grateful you did, and found me.

My hope is that as Exciting Press grows, people will find more books by Nick Earls and Martin Lastrapes and Miya Kressin and myself more easily. We’re hoping that’s what readers want, and that Amazon will make it ever easier for readers to find what they want.

Thanks again for your comment, and for reading. I hope you continue to enjoy the books straight through their endings.

 Ive also been thinking hard on this next fact, but I really can’t recall any time, ever, when I actually messaged a writer whom I’ve read, about anything he’s written. Or her for that matter. That’s not to say I’VE never been approached. I have. Books exchanged for my honest reviewing and things of this nature. But, that’s not what this is about, ok? Your article caught my attention for several reasons, and while I agree I could be one of just a few, an anomaly, surely I’m not THAT much of a singularity? 

As a true southerner, NOT a writer, I do a lot of digressing, and tend to tell too much backstory. Sorry. Still, one more thing first. This is about a “newish” thing I’ve noticed Amazon has started doing which I think is very bad for Authors. As for THIS consumer, I can see how it negatively affects them even getting a fair shot at selling their books. It’s this: (Lets go on and agree-my grandmothers rolling in her grave for my lost grammar. I’m aware, it’s shameful.) When I click on, say, “Meets Girl:A Novel” and you have the 20 clicks x 5 books underneath, not one of them will be “The Prodigal Hour.” What’s up with that? I have found this to be true for nearly all “indie” authors, not the big lit guns like Koontz, Irving, McCarthy and King, so it DOES seem a bit too contrived. To me anyway, or anyhow. Whatever. 

Anyway, as for me being an anomaly, am I? I personally click on Literary Fiction-Best 100. AND Best Rated. I AM a woman, but, I along with many others, and I know this for a fact, have no interest in “Romances.” And not even  ”Historical Romance” unless it’s also considered “Literary”. Of course there is nothing inherently wrong with a person loving, reading and sticking with their beloved Romance genre. But, it’s not for everybody. Yes, I do go through the “Best-Seller” List, mostly out of curiosity. 

Just for the record, this point does tie in with my previous one. After reading, no, that’s not quite 100% true, as I’m not even half-way through yet, but I AM thoroughly impressed, “Meets Girl: A Novel” I clicked on your name to see if you had any other words out there, floating in the ether. You do, and for that I am glad, but part of my point is: ease of use, and Amazon SHOULD make it easier for us consumers, and more profitable for you writers, to have works of previously bought authors shining bright in our face, until we click on something saying, “Nope, not interested.” To me, at least, that just makes sense.

 I do admit to partaking in many of the free offerings available on Amazon. I have to. I’ve read 65-68 books, this year alone, and I’m not an Apple or Microsoft retiree, so I have to be thoughtful when I click the DL NOW button, lest I run up $200.00 a month in books. My cat DOES want to be fed. Daily.

I think you are an amazingly talented writer. I was more than impressed by your book, i was spellbound by your words, your love of wordplay. I’m fixing to get “The Prodigal Hour.” Based on 1/2 a book by an author I’ve never read, heck, never heard of before. I also DL your NY Essay’s. I’m 50, probably not your target market, but words well-crafted are just that. They’re for everyone. My cousin, in another NYC time, was a respectable poet, his sister (obviously, also my cousin) was Editor of The Saturday Literary Review. My aunt was Poet Laureate and author, so I think it’s cool you’re a poet, and will be reading some of yours. If they are anything like some of the paragraphs in your novels, no doubt they will impress me as well. Good luck from an opinionated fan. : )