Well, I am a Christian so it should be apparent that God is on my throne, right? I am promoting a novel, The Shattered Vase, which is more His story than mine, so He is definitely at the center of my universe, right? I am blogging almost daily on a blog which reaches close to 20,000 followers. I mostly talk about Him so He is definitely the King of my world, right? I go to church most Sundays and sometimes go to two different churches, so He should be on the throne of my life, right?

WRONG.

I realized lately that success had taken the throne away from Him. Kicked Him right off. It wasn’t that I have been so successful, no, it was the lack of success in sales of my novel which had eclipsed my universe.

My first review was five stars on Amazon. Boy was I thrilled when that happened. I buckled my belt, put my boots in the stirrups and prepared for a wild ride on the donkey of New York Times bestseller status. Except that donkey took one step and then bucked me right off. OUCH! Did that ever hurt!

I reminded God of His promise to me that when I got this book published, He said I would no longer have to worry about money. That didn’t happen with the first month of sales. Hmmm and how long has God been around again? Eternity is an awful long time and one month is nothing to Him.

I have handed out promotional cards to every Tom, Dick and Harry plus every Lisa, Jane and Mary at the many events I have been invited to. I have not seen an increase in sales.

I crumbled into tears when seeing my sales report via my publisher’s dashboard.

Then I thought about my perspective. Maybe this book is more about being obedient and trusting God to bring the increase. I am not starving. (Way too many Christmas parties to accomplish that) I still can pay my bills.

It is just the worry that keeps slyly creeping into my thoughts.

However, God didn’t tell me to worry about my success. He told me to be a Christian author. It is His responsibility, not mine, to bring the increase.

So I don’t look at my Amazon ranking anymore. I instead try to avoid it. I pray that my publishers are honest with their royalty payment system. Many in self publishing are scam artists who take the profit and never pay the authors.

In addition, I cherish the dear friends who have purchased this book. They are raving about it. It is a way I can reach out to others and connect at a deeper level with them, hopefully drawing them closer to God in the process.

I had a radio interview last night with my friend, Jon. God was so amazing at the interview. Jon was such a good host and not only allowed me to tell some of my stories but made sure I didn’t hog the stage. Two of my girlfriends were also being interviewed. Although they did not have published books they had delightful stories to share.

If you can, please buy a copy of my book, The Shattered Vase. All you have to do is click on the picture of my book on the right upper sidebar and you will be redirected to my publisher. Simple Pimple.

I would also like to ask you to notify me, if you are purchasing a copy, with just a short note to my email at gracie.lynne@aol.com. This allows me to interact with you on a more personal basis. It is also a way I can track the sales to make sure my publisher is being honest.

Thank you so much! If you don’t buy a book please continue to read my blog, that doesn’t cost you a penny and I love blogging.

The link to buy my book is https://store.bookbaby.com/book/The-Shattered-Vase