Something's Rank

You know I don't like you to visit that electronic place to buy books which is named after a famous river of some repute. I never mention it by name or "link" to it. I prefer that you frequent your local independent bookseller. But I would like to point out an interesting anomaly for the curious. I checked my "ranking" on that aforementioned "web" location recently. One minute it said that "3 books" were left in stock. My "ranking" was somewhere around 670,000. The next minute, there were "2 books" left in stock. My talent for mathematics told me that I had sold one copy of my book. My improved "ranking"? 22,000. This is just so you know. Selling one book means a jump of - in my case - roughly 650,000 "points." I can't see how such "rankings" can be of any practical use, and yet I see them reported upon with consummate seriousness in respected newspapers. It's odd. I believe that my fellow writer John Warner, who was kind enough to interview me once, has expressed similar misgivings about the "system." It certainly is "food for thought." You're welcome!