Do Ghost Sales Count?

Did you know that if an author buys books from their publisher to resell, those sales don't "count;" they are considered ghost sales? Neither did I, until I published a book.

I used to think, sales are sales. If I sell 5,000 copies of Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top myself and Amazon and Barnes and Noble only sell 4,800, it's still 9,800 books sold, right? Not necessarily.

How The Publishing World Counts Sales

In the publishing world, it's 4,800 sales through conventional channels and 5,000 ghost sales. Perhaps the reason they don't count the ones I buy as "real" sales is that in the past, authors have bought thousands of copies of their own books to manipulate sales numbers, making them appear larger than they really are, so they can brag about their sales figures to the next prospective publisher.

                             Making Jesus Laugh

Of course, I would never do that. In fact, I am sold out now, and awaiting my fourth shipment of books. These babies are not gathering dust!

So even if the publisher doesn't count them, Jesus does. In His world,when I tell others via my book about His bottomless grace, unending favor, and sweet surprises, He chuckles. And His laughter is better than any sales figures I could add up.

What do YOU think?

Had you ever heard of ghost sales, or have you imagined Jesus laughing?

Publishing: Fruit or Seed?

From my prayer journal one month ago:

It’s all so crazy, Lord, this building a platform. My head is spinning, causing things to fall out my ears. I want to write, and publish, even make some money at it, but all the preparation seems eternal. Help! I need Your perspective.

You are beset by impatience. You want everything today, or in ten minutes. This is the way of the world, but it’s not My way. My way is: till the soil, plant the seeds—many, many, many seeds—wait for rain, pull the weeds, wait for more rain, fertilize, more weed pulling, more waiting, then the harvest. Do you see the progression? Are you willing to do all these to reap your harvest? Or will you pull up the baby plants, never to bear?

And another thing: if you were training for a new job, it would take months, in some cases, years to fully learn the job and function in it at peak performance. Why should an artistic endeavor be less effort and commitment than learning mechanics or bookkeeping?

Publishing and making money are not fruits of your labor—they are the planting part. The fruit is changed lives in My kingdom. Obey Me, follow My lead, and calm down and wait, continually planting, and you will see fruit. You will see fruit.

P.S. I will be visiting my grandkids in Tulsa, OK Sunday Sept. 6th through Wednesday, Sept. 9th. My posts are scheduled, but I may not be blogging much during that time. Love you, Jen