I didn’t exactly waste the day. Yesterday, I mean. I might have wasted today. Eh, actually, I made a bunch of possible covers for Ghosts, signed up for CreateSpace, submitted my files — okay, I didn’t waste today either.

But yesterday, the day I might have wasted by making Ghosts free on Amazon without doing anything to tell anyone that it was free? Not wasted.

12,286.

That’s how many people downloaded Ghosts yesterday.

I have no idea why. Perhaps a $4.99 book looks like a better value and more worth downloading than a less expensive book? (That was part of my theory.) Perhaps my reviews have hit some point of critical mass where people actually believe them? Perhaps my blurb — which is a little more typical although still not exactly revealing — gives enough information to make readers feel safe in what they’re getting? Honestly, I have no idea.

But twelve thousand people will get to meet Akira and Zane in the next few weeks, if they remember and if they feel so inclined and if they actually are readers and not just downloaders of every free text out there, and that’s…well, exciting and scary and exciting again. It’s sort of like having twelve thousand potential English teachers grading your work and it’s also sort of like having twelve thousand potential new friends. I’m quite sure that if I ever do have a legitimately best-selling book, not just a temporarily best-giving-away book, chatting with readers will become my drug of choice.

Anyway, I got my first one-star review today, which was initially anguishing and then almost a relief. Whew, I got that over with. But the reviewer was just mad about the price changing at the moment between reading the Look Inside (free) and hitting download (4.99) and I totally sympathize with that. I think actually that made it even better — she didn’t actually hate the book, she was just mad. I hope that the experience will make me a little tougher for when the next one-star review shows up.