But it gets better.  Despite being only recently published, Answers from Aslan: The Enduring Apologetics of C. S, Lewis (Tampa: DeWard, 2023) has already vaulted up into second place.  It is the 1,286, 861^st most popular book on Amazon.  Right behind it is The Young Christian’s Survival Guide: Common Questions Young Christians are Asked about God, the Bible, and the Christian Faith Answered, vol. 1(Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2019). It is the 1,288,173^rd most popular book on Amazon.   Lagging behind is Ninety-Five Theses for a New Reformation: A Road Map for Post-Evangelical Christianity (Toccoa, GA: Semper Reformanda Publications, 2021).  It is only the 1,288,328^th most popular book. Curious that I have three bunched right together there in or near the 1,288,000s. Then come Mere Humanity: G. K. Chesterton, C. S, Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition, 2^nd ed. (Tampa: DeWard, 2019) at 1,349,130^th and An Encouraging Thought: The Christian Worldview in the Writings of J. R. R. Tolkien (Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2018) at 1,859,265^th.

Lest I get the big head from these exalted, atmospheric numbers, I note that Stars through the Clouds: The Collected Poetry of Donald T. Williams, 2^nd ed. (Lantern Hollow Press, 2020) is the 4,267,052^nd most popular book in America.  That does bring one down to earth a bit. Inklings of Reality: Essays toward a Christian Philosophy of Letters, 2nd ed. (Lynchburg: Lantern Hollow Press, 2012) does a little better, limping in at 3,455,342^nd. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, 2^nd ed. (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2002) brings up the rear for my volumes as the 4,721,755^th most popular book. I daren’t think what scintillating title comes in 4,721, 756^th.  I will just say that its author is in good company.

Takeaways from these fascinating numbers? First, I am not a popular author. Sorry to disillusion anyone who might have thought otherwise.   But there are people who profess to have been helped by or even to have enjoyed my books, and more than once a sho’ ‘nuff scholar in a relevant field has reviewed one and called it the best book available on that topic.  So I can’t help thinking that it would be a good thing if they labored in a little less obscurity than they do. How to make that happen has so far eluded me.  I think I’ve had some success as a writer.  As a promoter of what I’ve written?  Total, abject failure.  Well, almost total. Definitely abject.

Second, the glut of books that you hear about is real.  The good ones (assuming any of mine qualify) do not rise to the top as easily as they once did.  They need help to do so.  You would think that is the publisher’s job, but I can tell you that publishers will not lift a finger to promote one of their own books unless its author already has so much name recognition that he doesn’t need them to. And the author can only talk it up himself so much before he starts sounding like a broken record or like a person who is so evil as to engage in (horrors!) self-promotion!

Is there anything you can do about this sad situation? Yes, there is! If you are a fan of one of my books or one by any other author who lacks the circumstances, the connections, or the gimmicks that lead to name recognition, do the author, the book, and the world a favor by going just a little out of your way to help. Give the book as a Christmas or Birthday present to any friend or relative with an interest in its topic. Donate copies of the book to your church, school, and local libraries. Write a short review and post it to the book’s Amazon page and to your own blog or social media homepage. Suggest the author as a speaker for your church, school, or group. Talk about the book to your friends.

If enough people did enough of these things, it would make a real difference.  If you do any of them, you will win my undying gratitude.  Let’s get a few more of my books into the top million! Is that too much to ask? 

Oh.  My own Amazon author page is here:

https://www.amazon.com/author/donaldtwilliams

Donald T. Williams, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Toccoa Falls College and a past president of the International Society of Christian Apologetics.  An ordained minister in the Evangelical Free Church of America, he has spent many years in pastoral ministry and others training local pastors in places like Kenya, Uganda, and India for Church Planting International.

A border dweller, Williams stays camped out on the borders between serious scholarship and pastoral ministry, theology and literature, Narnia and Middle-earth. He is the author of numerous articles in publications such as Christianity Today, Touchstone, Academic Questions, Christian Research Journal, Philosophia Christi, Christian Scholar’s Review, etc. He is the author of fourteen books, most recently Answers from Aslan: The Enduring Apologetics of C. S. Lewis (Tampa: DeWard, 2023). A complete list of his books can be found at the Amazon author page linked above.