Some people
look at Amazon rankings
as a determination
of a book’s or a writer’s
success.
That’s a bullsh*t
barometer.
If I didn’t offer pre-orders
on my books (products),
my Amazon rank on release day
would be VERY good.
If I enrolled my books
in KU (Kindle Unlimited),
Amazon’s subscription service,
my Amazon rank
would likely be VERY good
every dang day
(Amazon gives KU books
a boost in the rankings).
If I had a shorter pre-order duration
or I had aggressive marketing,
my release day rank
would likely be good or very good.
I can easily
manipulate my books’ ranks
without increasing or decreasing
total sales.
Rankings are a weak barometer
of sales success.
It is NO barometer
of things like happiness
or the quality of the book.
“A precision ranking is nothing
but a number,
an inaccurate
and ultimately useless
stand-in.
These proxies are created
and spread
and relied upon
by a system
that craves certainty and order.”
Your worth has nothing
to do with your rank.
People or businesses
that rank higher than you
aren’t necessarily doing better
than you are.
They have merely figured out
how to work the ranking system.