Constantly check its position in the Amazon chart? Read every review? Go into bookstores and re-arrange the shelves so that your title stand out?

Me, I'm a total wimp. I should be thrilled because The Accident Man shipped to UK supermarkets on Thursday and apparently bookstores have started racking it, too. But I can't bear to go into any stores or look on any retail websites. I never read reviews. It's pathetic, I know, but it comes down to a terror of being disappointed if/when I discover it's not doing nearly as well as I hoped.

The one thing I did do was post a thread on my West Ham (football club) fansite, letting the guys there know about it.

http://www.kumb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=89902

So far I've had almost 6,000 hits on the thread, 102 replies and about a half-dozen confirmed purchases. Now THAT I can stand.

What about you folks? Are you bold and outgoing ... or wimps like me?!

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Fair enough, but I have an additional problem ... I'm not Tom Cain ... not in the real world, anyway.

So how do I prove my identity??

Bizarrely, I'm writing this minutes after watching the last-ever episode of Life on mars on DVD. Anyone who knows the series will understand the relevenace ...

And if you don't know Life on Mars, just buy it. You'll never regret that decision ...
Is there an author pic on your book? That would help. If not, business cards might work, either double sided, one for each ID, or DT writing as TC kind of thing.

The stats on Amazon mean nothing to me, although I do very occasionally check for reviews. I got one, once. And I love Life on Mars.

Congrats on the book!
No author pic on the book .. But if you buy one I'll sign it in Harrogate!

(Yeah, I know ... cheeky sod!)
As we say round here, shy bairns get nowt!

Any discount for the unemployed? Hmmm? Free pint with every signature? No? Oh, well! I was planning to buy it anyway!
You'll certainly qualify for that free pint!
I had one bookstore decline on my offer to sign because I could have been anybody. Driver's license and business cards made no difference. But otherwise, no one has even asked!
I so relate to that!
I took a couple of road trips to sign stock in both Northern and Southern California. And, yes, I did check Amazon obsessively for the first few days, then finally said to hell with it. The numbers seem to fluctuate so wildly, I have no idea what they mean.

Congrats on your release.
Does anyone know what the numbers on Amazon actually mean? What is their algorithm? (Not that I know an algorithm from a rumba rhythm, just a general idea of how they put these numbers together).
I don't know what they mean, but I DO know - thanks to a previous thread on this very forum - that Amazon only accounts for a tiny proportion of book sales. So I guess we couldn't get too thrilled if the Amazon numbers are good, or too despondent if they're bad. they are, at best, a snapshot of how a book is doing, relative to everyobe else, at any given moment. As for analysing the numbers, I'm afraid I don't have a natural sense of algorithm ...
Thanks! I'd heard that too, that Amazon is just a tiny part of the bookselling scene.
Amazon has grown since my first books came out. Yes, they are still only a small part. You can guess at reader interest, but beware: crisp sales at amazon may mean that none of the bookstores stock your book any longer. And when that happens, we might all better be grateful for Amazon. They are there when the bookstores have let you down.

Besides, Amazon can be very encouraging when people order a book 5 months before its release date. It means that someone knows the author's name, has read a previous book, and is eager for more. To me that is a very cheerful sign indeed.

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