The hardcover edition of Ebenezer was #3,116,543 on the Amazon book best-seller list as of Tuesday morning. It was #8,062 on the Holiday Romance list, #9.184 under Ghost Fiction, and #14,365 among Holiday Fiction entries.

Clearly, one might conclude I should have spent more than zero dollars on advertising and promotion to get the word out about my sequel of sorts to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. But I’m fine with that; my model is It’s A Wonderful Life, the classic film that was released in 1947 and became a beloved holiday tradition about 30 years later.

Although I hope people discover Ebenezer before I’m 100 years old, I am content to have made my contribution to the legacy of the man who kept Christmas in his heart year-round. God bless us, every one.

I was a little disappointed to see Amazon is now promising delivery of the print editions not until Dec. 27, so it might be a little late to get the book under the tree for your favorite loved one. It’s not too late to get an early start on stocking up for next Christmas season, of course. And you still have plenty of time to buy an e-reader and load it up with Ebenezer for you and yours.

Even though I had it in the back of my mind that my books could be an extra income source in my retirement years — whenever that time may finally show up! — I’ve never been terribly comfortable with the sort of self-promotion that is required to generate income with books, or any other product for that matter. It’s always been enough for me to write the books, or the blogs, or the songs. That’s where all of the fun is, anyway.

Of course, people like me do get a thrill when someone goes out of their way to say, “Hey, that was a pretty cool thing you wrote.” I was amazed and deeply moved the other night when a friend stopped all conversation in a fairly crowded room to announce that I had written a book that he thought everyone might want to read. And he is a friend whose opinion is well respected around town, so this was as grand a boost that any of my works has ever received. Thanks, Cory. Shucks, folks, I’m still speechless.

One thing “they” tell me is that people make buying decisions based on the reviews they read with the books at Amazon and other such places. If you’re so inclined, if you have read the book and care to share a review — or even just rate it by stars — I would appreciate your help beyond measure.

OK, that’s enough for today. Thank you for sitting through this bit of shameless self-promotion, and please think about buying a copy of Ebenezer or two or 10 — it makes a terrific Christmas gift, don’t you know. Together, maybe, we can crack the Top 10,000 on the Holiday Fiction best-seller list!