Stripping Down: A Memoir Free Kindle on Amazon Today

My book STRIPPING DOWN: A MEMOIR is free for Kindle on Amazon today!

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Why You Should Keep Writing and Not Feel Bad About Low Amazon Rankings

Credit: Chicago Sun-Times

Come on—admit it. If you have a published book you check your Amazon ranking on a consistent basis. Maybe not every day, but you keep an eye on it.

There are good reasons to keep tabs on your numbers—how else are you going to know if your publicity attempts are having an effect on your book sales? Or if your latest blog posts have sent people to your Amazon book page?

But don’t get discouraged when you are number one-million-something because just having a better-ranking does not necessarily mean your book is going to be a best seller.

Case in point: if you are anything like fired highschool coach Bryan Craig who wrote a 47-page book called “It’s Her Fault,” your excellent Amazon ranking will likely diminish once your fifteen minutes of infamy are over. And keep in mind that a good Amazon number does not necessarily mean the book is selling well, just that people are visiting the page.

Craig’s self-published 47-page, I hesitate to call it a book, perhaps booklet, which contains wisdom such as “the easiest kill for a man is through the young lady with low self-esteem,” sits as of now at #10,000 on Amazon’s best-sellers.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Craig’s numbers improve even more as his notoriety and curiosity spreads, but will it be because he has written the next classic tome?

Perhaps not—with such classic quotes as, “Women far exceed men in terms of brainpower” and “For some reason, I always find a trail of popcorn leading back to it being her fault.” Hmm…seems curious if women are so much smarter that all relationship problems would stem from us…

So the next time you are feeling like your book is unworthy, remember your Amazon ranking has nothing to do with your book’s vale or your worth as a writer.

Stay true to your mission and keep writing regardless of what the “numbers” tell you.

Minnie Mouse and Lady Gaga Want You to Know They Are Skinny

From Celebuzz.com

If almost everybody agrees that scary skinny isn't even pretty, then why do we still see that body image being presented to us as everyday as the ideal?

My latest blog for the Huffington Post looks at last week's examples of extreme Photoshopping and what it says about us.

Minnie Mouse and Lady Gaga Love Them Some Photoshop

How do you feel about beloved children's characters like Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck being made into skinny supermodels to hawk clothes for Barneys?

From Shine.Yahoo.com

And what about Lady Gaga? I thought she was all about us being proud of being "Born this Way"?

Do you think the Photoshopping of her Vogue cover sends the wrong message?