Amazon Author Central or Why don't my books sell in Springfield, Missouri, Evansville, Indiana or Davenport, Illinois?

The Amazon Author Website is a wonder to me. Every week on Friday morning, I log in to see how many books I have sold over the last week in the US. What I find most fascinating is the geography tab. The map graphic shows all the markets where my books have sold. There are 100 markets including what they call the "combined markets",  which must be the most unpopulated areas of the country and it is lumped together into one category for book sales.

Top ten markets for all my books: ( How to Mediate Like a Pro, How to Interview Like a Pro, and How to Negotiate Like a Pro)

1. Combined Areas
2. Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne
3. New York
4. Los Angeles
5. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose
6. Washington, DC
7. Chicago
8. Atlanta
9. Dallas/Fort Worth
10. Boston,
11. Philadelphia

The combined areas is not too surprising since it covers such a large geographical area on the map. My number 2 is also not too surprising since I live in Orlando and I know that the University of Central Florida does frequent workshops with my book, How to Mediate Like a Pro.  I would have expected other Florida cities such as Miami since my books are geared somewhat to Florida law.

I thought it would be interesting to compare my top ten sales markets with Central Connecticut State University's ten most literate cities that was just released this week. Only three of the top literary cities matched my sales. I am not sure what it means, but it is still fascinating, Maybe Seattle and Minneapolis are not into "how to" books.
1. Seattle
2. Minneapolis
3. Pittsburgh
4. Denver
5. St. Paul
6. Boston *
7. Atlanta *
8. St. Louis
9. Portland, Oregon
10. San Francisco *

There are 3 markets out of the 100 where my books are not selling according to Author Central:
1. Springfield, Missouri
2. Evansville, Indiana
3. Davenport, Illinois

I have heard the expression, "Will it sell in Peoria?" Apparently my books do sell in Peoria but not in some of the other mid-west locations. I have no anecdotal information to know why my books aren't selling in the midwest. I am probably more surprised that they are selling in all the other 97 locations.

There is a lot of interesting information to be gleaned from the Author Central pages. I can't wait until next Friday to see if can crack one of the cities in the Midwest.

Mary Greenwood, Mediator, Attorney and Author of How To Negotiate LIke A Pro: 41 Rules for Resolving Disputes, Second Edition, Winner of 10 book awards Best How To Book, How To Mediate Like A Pro: 42 Rules for Mediating Disputes, Winner of 12 book awards, How to Interview Like a Pro, second edition, winner of 12 book awards. www.marygreenwood.org