Ever since I appeared on Coast to Coast AM on June 1, I have been looking in at Amazon to see the size and duration of any boost in sales attributable to the show. I’m interested not only in The Cosmic Internet, but my earlier books, as well: The Sphere and the Hologram, Muddy Tracks, Babe in the Woods, and Messenger. (A sixth book, Chasing Smallwood, isn’t listed with Amazon.)
As you no doubt know, the lower the number, the better a book is selling. As I learned years ago when I was with Hampton Roads, though, the fact that a book falls even hundreds of thousands in the rankings doesn’t mean you sold more than a couple of books! Anyway, it’s sort of fascinating to watch. One thing, clearly, that one appearance gave a strong boost to my other books.
Very interesting graphic, but it’s tough to interpret without a label on the Y axis. What do those numbers represent? Is it Amazon sales rank?
Yes, it’s the sales rank, so the lower the better — the problem is, nobody seems to know how many books a given drop represents. Time will tell.
Frank, the way you conducted yourself on the 5/31 Noory interview was stellar. On one hand, no other radio venue offers us such extended access to authors like you, to such a large worldwide audience.
On the other hand, the coast to coast AM hosts can be insufferable blowhards parading their egos while they talk over their guests.
Sometimes when one of their 3 or 4 hosts goes on a hyper-pontification, my gentle, highly educated Japanese-American wife – a retired therapist – looks over at the radio muttering “shut the fuck up!” That’s when you know it’s excessive.
Noory was in rare form that night (5/31), and you did an expert job gently assuring your message wasn’t lost when he misinterpreted your views.
You also showed constraint when it was clear that he just wouldn’t fly right, like when he insisted in serving up an incorrect analogy to restate a caller’s question on synchronicity … when all you wanted was the caller’s verb.
You made it really clear that you actually walk the walk. That interview teaches on several levels … WELL DONE.
Trent Blackburn
Thank you. George Noory’s job isn’t easy. He has to be able to respond to what the guest is saying while still using part of his attention to decide what his next question should be. I thought he did a pretty good job, myself.