Self-publishing is where great ocean-going vessels go to die.

I've been checking Sales Rank Express to see what happened to some writers I know. Amazon gives you that vicarious, world traveler thrill by touching countries you may or may not get to travel in person. 

But once again, National Geographic featured an article on defunct tankers on the beaches of Bangladesh (or somewhere like Bangladesh) where men covered in soot use hand-made blow torches to take these great "elephants" of the ocean apart. This "beach" is truly where old ships go to die. 

I know writers personally, who write better than I do, who over the last ten years probably lost track of what happened to their freshman, sophomore and sometimes junior efforts. That's what Sales Rank Express is for; sale or no sale, it gives you a hint of what happened and what could have been. 

My vision is not limited to Amazon. I know for  example, "bol.com" is a good indicator of what goes on in the Netherlands. I've never been to Amsterdam. But I'm encouraged by people like Aaron Shepard, who keep a "peep-hole" for people like me to sneak a view of what happened to our work.