A heartfelt thanks to everyone who preordered or purchased Be Disarming on opening day. In a time where algorithms are one of the determinant factors as to whether your work is offered, every little bit helps, and launching at #1 in any category, no matter how niche (but it was also #50 in New Release Young Adult and Teen Dystopian!) can only help, and so thank you.

I know it is tedious for authors, favorite and otherwise, to continually ply you for favors even beyond the ultimate favor of spending your hard-earned bucks on their work. I’m sure there are several of us who find it both tedious and generative of even more toxic emotions. But writers want to write, and writers above all want to be read, and as long as algorithms drive what gets seen and what gets hidden deep in the cave, we’re in a position where we need to chase likes, shares, mentions, posts, and especially Amazon reviews. For many writers, their success or failure in summoning and motivating the virtual street team to boost the signal might mean the difference of whether they can write their next book.

I’m not in that position (thank heavens; one of my favorite novels Aural History disappeared without a ripple and if I’d relied on that to be a hit I’d never have written again). Certainly I was earlier in my life and career, and while the pressures often sharpen and clarify, sometimes they bend or break, and so I’d encourage you to consider a review, mention, or post to whatever social media you prefer a normal part of the reading process, as necessary as turning pages or scrolling to the next paragraph for any work you engage with.

I’m afraid I will have to keep extolling my readers for additional favors, at the risk of further taxing their patience. I do so only because I want more than anything to be read, and so thank you, thank you, thank you for whatever you are willing to do to help.

Believe me, I’d much rather be writing.