For four years now I've watched many others hit that coveted Orange Banner of BEST SELLER or #1. I have salivated over those banners. Measuring my worth and validity as a writer over a fleeting and what should really be a trivial object. Amazon sales numbers are updated at least hourly so even if you obtain a banner it won't stay forever.

Yet, it still gnawed at me that I saw not only seasoned authors, but new authors bragging about getting an ORANGE BANNER on Amazon. I couldn't help but question my writing or marketing skills since I've yet to achieve such a status. After four years, I just reasoned that it's too hard, because any category you put your book in is filled with competition. There are millions of books out there and millions in each category. So for anyone to achieve an ORANGE BANNER in anyway is monumental.

So LOW AND BEHOLD imagine my surprise when I woke up one day and just happened to look at my book on Amazon and then saw...YES...an ORANGE BANNER. It said #1 NEW RELEASE. The rush of the excitement is what I imagine lottery number winners experience when they double check to make sure they are seeing what they think they are seeing. That's what I did. I refreshed the screen to make sure I was right. Then I did a quick screen shot before it disappeared because I had no clue when Amazon put it up there and when their next update would be and I'd be knocked out of that status.

So it lasted over a day. Maybe two. Then it went away as I said. Then I woke up to it again, but in another category. So. Yeah. It feels pretty good. Sure, it shouldn't make me feel better as a writer, or as a confirmation that I'm doing something right. But...it DOES! I'll gladly take it.

#1 NEW RELEASE!