Never Lose the Faith

Here's an example of the power of the press, the volatility of Amazon sales rankings, and the reason why authors should never lose the faith.

And it has nothing to do with Oprah or James Frey. Well, almost nothing.

Two days ago, A Story of Afflications, a Frey-like memoir of recovering from drug addiction written by Dr. Kenneth Nave that was published a year ago by Lumen-Us Publications, an obscure small press out of Richton Park, Ill., had an Amazon sales ranking over 1.5 million. How small of a press is Lumen-Us? So small that I couldn't even find a website for them.

This morning that same book is ranked among Amazon's top 1,000.  

How did this happen?

The answer to that one is easy. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell devoted an entire column yesterday gushing over the book.  She even begins her column by writing "Forgive me if I gush like Oprah." Ugh.

I don't mean to take down either Nave or Mitchell, but there are probably hundreds if not thousands of stories just like Nave's Afflications  out there in the book world. The only difference between this one and all the others: it ended up in Mitchell's hands.

I go back to my lead: This is a story of the power of the press, the volatility of Amazon sales rankings, and the reason why authors should never lose the faith. You just never know who might pick up your book.