I "unpublished" my mid-life marriage novel "The Consequences of Longing" today on Smashwords and Amazon so it is no longer available as an e-book.
For those really interested, the paperback still may be ordered directly as a print-on-demand title from the Northshire Bookstore (Manchester, VT) on its website or by phone.
Thank you, "to-read" people, for your interest and thank you Goodreads raters and/or reviewers Cheryl in CC Nevada, Paul Sherman and Emily who rated it highly.
Despite their positive responses, I think if I keep this book available it will collect a lot of shrugs and snarls, like the 1-star rating a Goodreads member from the Philippines gave it.
Her rating is not why I'm taking it down, though. Good books get bad ratings.
I can take the bad if there is some good along the way. But I think that more great reviews like Cheryl's and Paul's (neither of whom I have met) are unlikely.
I have felt iffy about this all along, for personal reasons. I wrote it quite a while ago. I am not swept up in it any more. It will eliminate an irritant if I don't have to think about how it's doing.
Self-publishing is perilous for someone with pretensions of literary merit. You can make a real ass of yourself. I don't think I have done so ... yet.
Very few readers of Indie ebooks are interested in literature. There is nothing wrong with that at all. It's just absurd, though, for an author to throw his deeply felt and carefully constructed work into a completely genre-driven market — even if it had professional champions (i.e. a commercial publisher) to back it up and give it legitimacy.
I'm proud of the book but it just ain't gonna sell so what am I doing? I thought it would help sales of my other book. I don't think it's had any impact.
As for "Thomas Jefferson, Rachel & Me," it was meant to be a fun read and, for a non-genre Indie book, it's done pretty well.
Leaving TJRM out there — to please those who enjoy it and take its licks from those who don't — isn't so problematic.

PS - i take it all back. I have republished it. Bring on the snarls. Or perhaps, more likely, the cold shoulder.