I was startled to check on my books – I do this at least once a week – to see that I had three on various bestsellers books relating to dogs, animals, dog breeds, training and hospice care.  A decade ago, this would have been cause for great celebration and the purchase of the second camera I would love to buy but cannot afford. Today, it means something else, and I’m not entirely sure what. High up on Amazon’s bestseller list – and also on the New York Times Bestseller list was my book Izzy & Lenore, New York Times Bestseller when it was published in 2008 (almost on the day the Great Recession erupted), re-released by Random House last month as an e-book selling for $1.99 and now on the New York Times Bestseller list again.

The paperback is still being published, still on-sale for $11.47. But the e-book price got the book moving, publishers believe many people will just buy any book at that price and take a risk, whether they read it or not, they have little to lose.

All weekend, Izzy & Lenore, the story of my hospice therapy work with my border collie Izzy, traded places in the number one slot with Danielle Steel’s Pure Joy, which recounted her life with her mouse-sized dog Minnie and their life in San Francisco and and their clothes shopping trips to Paris. Also on Amazon’s bestseller list and others was my first e-book original, The Story Of Rose: A man And His Dog, also a New York Times Bestseller but a book that did not sell tons of copies, even at the price of $2.99 and despite the most uniformly glowing reviews I have ever received.

That was a surprise, but it seemed clear the success of Izzy & Lenore was also calling attention to “Rose,” pulling it up the lists also. But a bigger surprise was seeing Second Chance Dog: A Love Story on a number of dog and animal lists, including Amazon’s. That book isn’t even out for another month, although it is available for pre-ordering, and I guess a lot of people are pre-ordering. It is quite amazing to have three books on bestseller lists at once, even if one of them costs $1.99 and another $2.99. I used to say my books now cost less than a cup of coffee but it’s getting closer to a Morning Glory muffin.

We are in the new world of publishing, and many readers expect books to be free or very, very cheap, and publishes are obliging by dropping prices down to pennies. (For sure, this is one reason I started moving towards subscriptions to the blog.) I never imagined a book of mine, even one likely to be remaindered soon, selling for $1.99. It is interesting how synergy works, because the cheap price of Izzy & Lenore is also pushing people towards The Story Of Rose: A Man And His Dog, and then to Second Chance Dog: A Love Story, even before that book has been published.

I can’t figure out the economics, I hope somebody somewhere along the line is making some money. It is interesting to note that before e-books, Izzy & Lenore would simply have been sent to the shredder and withdrawn from sale. Now it has a vigorous second life and is also bringing new people to my blog and my books. It is smart of Random House to trigger this burst.  This is the new macro-synergistic model of publishing, lots of things published at low prices to many people.

I will have a much better sense of how it works when Second Chance Dog comes out in a month, just four weeks before Christmas. That book can be pre-ordered anywhere books are sold, including Amazon, bn.com, Ibooks and all bookstores, but if you pre-order it from Battenkill Books, Maria and I will sign and personalize it, it is the story of how Maria and I and Frieda came together, a story of second chances and how love and renewal can come at any age.

By the weekend, Izzy & Lenore was two slots between Danielle Steel and Minnie and Second Chance Dog had dropped off of the bestsellers lists, not surprising for a book that isn’t out yet. I was glad I got to see all three of them bouncing around up there.

In the meantime,I’m not quite sure how to feel about my bestsellers, I guess I am excited and confused and optimistic and hopeful. The new world has arrived, and it has landed right in the middle of my writing life. I must confess it was wonderful to see three books of mine on those lists at once, it was never an easy thing to do, it is harder than ever. And who knows, maybe I’ll overtake Danielle Steel and her mousy dog Minnie as they head for Europe to check out the Fall Fashions.