Walking in my shoes (the 2005 stats!)

When I said it has been a long journey to the Needles, I was not kidding. I kept a running list of statistics from the beginning (for some things) at the advice of one of my POD sisters-in-crime. I'd find a good book and she'd always say, "Yeah, but how many crappy books did you have to read to find it?"

So I started keeping track.

Below you will find the hard truths of this past year. You will know about everything that happened in order to bring you a mere 50 titles worth reading.

And it's been a blast. I have met some great folks and read some great books and made some super friends. I can only hope it was as worth it for you and is was for me.

Read 'em and weep:

Total number of queries received: 5,959
Total number of books considered: 1,398
Total number books read to completion but did not get reviewed (the ones that came "this close"): 43

Total number of books submitted to me via email: 927
Total number of books submitted the first week of the blog: 6
Total number of books submitted last week: 81

Total number of books not read past first page: 132
Total number of books not read past first paragraph: 12
Total number of books not read past first sentence: 2

Total number of books I read past 3:00 a.m because I simply could not stop: 2

Total number of books (print) that fell apart before I finished them: 2

Total number of book covers that had me laughing hysterically: 14
Total number of book covers that had me laughing so hard I nearly peed myself: 2

Total number of times my editor told me I was wasting my time: 7
Total number of times my agent told me I was wasting my time: 1

Total number of times I was harassed for not reviewing a submitted novel: 4
Most times a single author submitted a single book: 14

Total number of POD books (that I had purchased) donated to local libraries: 78
Total number of POD books (that I had purchased) rejected from local libraries: 227

Total dollar amount spent on this venture: $0.00 (I do not count books purchased since I own them.)
Total dollar amount made on this venture: $0.00

Total number of emails received (non-spam) to girlondemand@yahoo.com: 63,345
Total number of gigabytes worth of data I received in PDF files: @ 3.1 GB

Number of selected/reviewed books by publisher:
iUniverse: a mind-blowing 22
Lulu: 4
Xlibris : 4
PublishAmerica: 3
Authorhouse: 2
UKA Press: 2
VirtualBookWorm: 2
Booklocker: 2
Llumina: 1
CafePress: 1
PageFree: 1
Zumaya: 1
Firewalk Press: 1
Ricochet: 1
Pearl Street: 1
Eraserhead Press: 1
Dog Ear Publishing: 1

Based on a search, number of emails with "murder" in the text: 227
"sex": 132
"thriller": 119
"literary": 5

Number of people who, while on my book tour, asked me if I was POD-dy Mouth: 0
Number of people who, while on my book tour, asked me if I knew where the book store bathroom was: 7

Total number of authors who submitted a nude or semi-nude picture of themselves along with their manuscript PDF: 4 (3 men and 1 woman--at least, I think it was a woman)

Total number of agents (so far) who requested to see the Needle awards data: 18
Total number of editors who requested to see the Needle awards data: 15

And the most painful statistic of all: Total number of offers to buy my book if I surrendered my identity: 677.

Total number of regrets I have for starting this project: 0

Happy reading everyone.